In the ancient land of Japan, where cherry blossoms painted the hills in spring and fireflies danced under the summer moon, a young man named Haruto wandered to the top of a secluded hill. That night, the heavens were ablaze with falling stars, streaking across the sky like celestial brushstrokes on a darkened canvas.
Haruto, his heart weighed with longing, gazed up at the endless expanse and made a wish upon the brightest star he could find.
"Please… let me find true love."
Unbeknownst to him, a twinkling star had been watching him for many moons, listening to his whispered dreams and lonely sighs. Moved by his heartfelt plea, the star began to shimmer with an ethereal glow, its light folding and twisting, reshaping into a form unknown to the mortal world. In that moment, she was born—a celestial goddess of unparalleled beauty, with flowing silver hair, eyes like the deepest pools of the universe, and a voice like the wind that sings through the bamboo forests.
She reached out, desperate to descend to his side. But as soon as her feet neared the earth, an unseen force seized her, dragging her back to the heavens. Over and over, she tried—reaching, calling, crying his name into the night. Yet, no matter how much she wished, the stars would not let her go.
Time passed, and the goddess, unable to touch the world below, watched over Haruto from her celestial prison. He grew older, met a kind-hearted woman, and fell in love. The goddess watched as they laughed beneath the sakura trees, held hands under the moonlit sky, and raised children with warmth and devotion.
Though she wanted to be happy for him, an unbearable sorrow took root in her heart. She had loved him first. And yet, she would never be part of his world.
The years passed like petals on the wind. One fateful night, Haruto, now an old man with silver hair like the moonlight, lay beneath the same sky where he had once made his wish. His family gathered around him, their voices quiet with grief. As his final breath left his lips, the goddess wept.
Her tears, crystalline and pure, fell from the heavens. When they touched the earth, they bloomed into shimmering flowers, their petals glowing with the sorrow of an undying love.
Night after night, she descended just enough to tend to those flowers, whispering memories into their petals, longing for the life she was never meant to have.
Until one night, many years later, a small boy—Haruto’s grandson—stood upon the same hilltop where his grandfather had once made his wish. He looked up at the sky and saw her.
A lonely goddess, tending to the crystal flowers, with tears shining like the stars.
And for the first time in an eternity, someone saw her.
And she smiled.
ns 15.158.61.17da2
