EDT: Alright, I guess I will be putting the EDT at the beginning of my little anecdotes that I write. That way, you can rely on more than just the little lines across the screen. Enjoy reading!
Things appear differently to me than most whenever I look up at the stars. They are much more important than tiny little dots in the sky that provide the night with variable amounts of ambient lighting. Stars have the power to influence everything; however it seems that they choose not to. Simply, they watch over us—like distant deities of the night. They choose to calculate events that will occur; they do so without fault. After they determine the result, they will change their position in order the match the result. For most of us, this change means nothing. But, in reality, it can affect our entire outcome.
Since the beginning of time, my kind has watched these lights in the sky. We have become quite skilled in reading their movements. We've come to realize that whenever a star changes position, it creates a ripple, which causes other stars to move, which will affect something in our world. We seem to know so much about them, but still so little. We cannot determine if the movement of the stars is caused by things changing in our world or if things changing in our world is because of the shifting of the stars. The only thing that we can distinguish to is how to read the changes. Some of us feel as though a ripple is calling us to be somewhere—as though we need to follow it.
That is why I came here. Throughout my time of living, I had seen many ripples. Some of which have foretold great disasters; while others have told of immense fortune. My parents always told me about these ripples and how one may call out to me one day.
"Astra, do you see these stars in the sky?"
"Yes Mom. What's so special about them?"
"One day, one of them will call out to you."
I never understood what she meant until a few years later. She left in the middle of the night: no one even knew she left until the following morning. She went without question, without reason. It made no sense to me at the time. Why would she just walk out on her family like that? It didn't make sense to me. Until the day that I realized what she meant by 'a star will call out to you'. That day was just recently.
After I was exiled from my home I wasn't sure what to do with myself. In fact, I spent the first two days wandering about aimlessly. For the next three days, walking took up most of the day. But, at night, the stars always took my gaze away from everything else. The hours would go by continually and without warning. Eventually, drowsiness would take me and I'd sleep. This repeated night after night. However, on the third night of stargazing, I saw something in the sky. It was just like any other star, but something was odd about it. It tugged at my soul, as though it was calling me by name. When it came into complete focus, something strange happened. Images shot through my mind instantly. I still have trouble deciphering what they meant. They scorched the front of my brain rapidly. I saw an ocean; then a raft on a shore. Was there a steep mountain? I also heard thunder and lightning? What does this all mean?
Within the few moments the vision came, I felt something. It felt odd. It told me there was some place I needed to be, but which way? I looked around. All of the terrain around me looked to be of no significance, but I felt where to go. I began walking towards it, almost autonomously. I wanted to see what could have been so important. However, even if I didn't want to see what it was, I probably couldn't have stopped myself. Maybe this is what my mother went through; maybe she couldn't stop herself from leaving. I remember being so anger at her. I had a deep rage within me for all this time. I wanted her to die. She should have died. What if she did? And it's all because of this stupid ability to read the stars. Tears began flowing down my face. Why did it happen? Why was she forced to go? She was more than my mother, and she was taken away from me. All of these years, the wrath inside of me built up, and only now is it being released.
Eventually, I heard someone talking. I saw a figure in the darkness; it appeared to be bent over. Every few seconds, the sounds of leaves and branches rustling manifested—collecting branches for a fire, I presume. As I got closer, the voice became more distinct. It was the voice of a man—deep and crisp. His voice also sounded quite worried. He seemed to be unknowingly talking to himself. He kept talking about his home. Where was his home? The thought of going back seemed to worry him. Why would going home bother somebody? I'd love to go home, actually.
At that moment, I realized something. I was no longer worried about reaching my destination assigned by the star. Did it just stop mattering to me? No, that couldn't be the case. I was unable to control my legs earlier, there's no way I could just forget about it. Maybe I reached the goal? Wait, if I reached it, where was it? I looked around myself cautiously, but saw nothing of importance. I looked back to the figure. Something in the back of my mind spoke to me. What was it trying to tell me? I listened closely, but nothing could be understood. However, it occurred to me that it only spoke to me when I looked at the figure. Could it be that he is the ripple?
"God, I don't want to go back…" His voice cut through the still air like a thin blade and felt cold. He seemed sad. I can't stand seeing anyone sad. I don't know whether or not this the right thing to do, but he sounds like he needs some reassurance.
"I don't see it happening anytime soon."
Getting back to the little camp wasn't a major problem. The real problem was explaining the situation to Blair. I introduced Astra to Blair, and the two seemed to be… somewhat spiteful of each other—although I'm not sure why. Then again, their personalities are complete opposites, so it only makes sense. Maybe it's just my imagination at work—besides, I'm exhausted. I found it quite easy to get comfortable, despite not having anything to sleep on besides the ground. By the time we were all going to sleep, the fire was reduced to a small amount of red embers giving the area a slight orange glow. The light wasn't overwhelming, and it gave off the perfect amount of warmth for sleeping.
When I fell asleep, I had a strange dream. I couldn't tell what was going on. I sat up, and looked around my dreamscape. There was a dark mist extending over the most of it; the fog ended about five or six feet from me. There were three mirrors placed in front. They appeared to have been poorly jammed into the ground—they weren't perpendicular with the ground. I stood up and walked closer to them. The first mirror I looked into was the one directly in front of me.
The mirror was slightly slanted backward. The reflection in the mirror was of me. My hair was grown out, reaching slightly past my eyebrows. I still had no facial hair, despite not shaving for weeks. My skin is tanned and rough. My eyes seem different than they were before. When I look into them, there is not as large of a void like before. It appears as though my eyes portray more happiness. I turn my head to the mirror on the left.
As before, it is me. But, something is different. My hair isn't long and free. It is now short, and looks intimidating. The reflection's eyes hold anger, and rage. His mouth is curled into a smile, as though he knows that he holds power over people. His muscles appear tense. It seems as if I can remember this image of myself—from back in high school. Then, I look at the right mirror.
It is another version of me. The reflection doesn't look at me. Rather, it tries its best to avoid my gaze. The hair is far past its eyes, making it nearly impossible to see the eyes anyways. Through the dark, wet mane of hair, I catch a glimpse of an eye. The iris shakes furiously, and doesn't focus well. The hair makes seeing difficult for it, so the eye compensates by moving around swiftly—it tries to catch a glimpse of what is to come.
My eyes slowly opened to let in the bright sun light from the sky above me. There are very few clouds in the sky to be seen. I look around to see that Blair and Astra are still fast asleep. There fire is now a pile of dark ashes. Air moves steadily along the grass, causing it to waver in the wind. I remember having a dream last night. What was the dream about? I'm not really sure that I can remember. I got up, and stretched. Well, perhaps Astra will be able to help us find the wise one. I sure hope so.
EDT: The dream was weird to write, but I enjoyed doing so. As always, leave reviews if you can.