When she awoke, starlight flooded her eyes. The tiny glimmering silver spheres on the black velvet sky were the first things she saw. She didn't know a word for them, in fact she found that she knew no language but her breathing and the quiet rolling of the sea. Still, she wanted to name them - these fragile flecks of light in the darkness that appeared as though they could be scattered with the beat of a butterfly's wing. She extended a hand to touch them, but found that her fingers enclosed only on cold night air. She sat up. Dragging her eyes away from the sky, she looked to see others like herself awakening on the shore. They, like her, were dressed all in white, faces tilted to the heavens. None of them turned to see the shadows of the forest. Except for her. She shivered to think of what could hide in the darkness and secrets of the forest. She was the first of them ever to know fear. She wished that she could tell the others what she felt, but she didn't know how and they wouldn't know how to answer her. She sighed - and realized the sound it made. In a voice no louder than a whisper, she listened to the beginnings of speech. She thought of making a word for the gloomy expanse of trees behind her - but no, giving them a name might give them power. She turned back to the stars and said, in a voice only a hint louder than silence, "Elen."

Then the others came, seeming to be woven out of light and music. They were taller than the stargazers by the water, and perhaps even more beautiful. They seemed to be made of something brighter than starlight, and of many colors. They had feathery, prismatic wings on their shoulders and were cloaked in a soft white fabric. Her kindred, who would later be called the elves, named the brilliance the Valar, or angels. Some of the elves fled to the trees. They feared the unknown, these terribly wonderful folk more than the familiar darkness of the forest. Her fear was drowned out by curiosity and awe. She stepped forward and shared her secret word. The winged ones smiled at her, but she knew they didn't understand. The remaining elves were no different, they had no idea what she meant. Undaunted, she looked up at the stars and repeated herself. "Elen."

The Valar invited the elves to come live on their island. They said that the elves would be happy there, that this island had a light on it that far outshone the stars. The light creatures never made a sound: the promise was unspoken.

She was the first elf to volunteer to go on the ships. The Valar named her, affectionately, Eleniel, star. She, who was the first of the elves' to speak and kept starlight in her eyes.

The End.