To Catch a Falling Star

by ~LyraAlluse

To Catch a Falling Star

Once long ago in a place called imagination there lived a young boy. The boy dreamed of going on grand adventures to find a star so he could hold it in his hands. He would often speak of this to the other children of his village but they would only laugh at his words.

One girl had said; “You can’t catch a star in your hands. They are too far away.” Another girl had piped in; “Yeah! You have your head in the clouds. You should pull it back down before you get it stuck up there forever!” But the boy ignored their words. Before his father’s death, he had told him to reach for the stars. He was not quite sure what his father had meant, but being a young boy of ten years old he assumed that it had something to do with catching a falling star.

So he decided to set out on a quest to find one. Before he left on his great journey, his mother packed him a satchel of food and buttoned up his wool coat. After a warm embrace she gave her son some words of wisdom. “Reach for the stars, never look back and keep following your destined path. Reach for the stars, and you will see, there is no goal you can’t achieve.” The boy smiled and promised his mother that he would never give up before leaving his modest home to set out on his journey.

After five days of travel the boy became very hungry. He noticed that his food supply was running thin as he stopped to camp in a small forest for the night. Just as he was beginning to wonder where he could find more food the boy came upon two tribes.

The first tribe wore black and adorned themselves with feathers. The boy noticed that they carried some barrels of food with them on their horses and he felt his mouth water with hunger. The tribe’s leader came fourth and said to the boy; “We are the tribe of the logic. Follow us and you can have anything you desire. However we do not believe in foolish things. We have a simple life and do not go off on adventures. We believe life is more fulfilling that way. Dreams can’t come true anyway.” Before the boy could say anything in response the leader of the second tribe came forward.

The second tribe was adorned in fine jewels and wore clothing of many different colors. The chief had a big smile on his face as he spoke these words to the boy; “We are the tribe of the heart. Follow us and you can have everything you’ve ever wanted. However it will require a lot of hard work. We believe in following our dreams. To reach our goals there are many challenges that we must face. But once we overcome those challenges we can reach anything we desire; even the stars.” The tribe of logic scowled at the heart tribe’s words and threw some insults in their direction.

The heart tribe retaliated with a few insults of their own that the boy was not familiar with. The two tribes fought for what seemed like an eternity around the boy until he became so confused he was not sure which tribe to follow.

But then he remembered the words his mother had said before he has set out on his journey and he said them out loud. Both tribes refrained from speaking and listened intently as the boy began to speak. “Reach for the stars, never look back and keep following your destined path. Reach for the stars, and you will see, there is no goal you can’t achieve.” The tribe of the logic scoffed at the boy’s words while the tribe of the heart cheered them on.

Since the tribe of the heart was respectful to the wise words his mother had spoken over him, he knew that that were the tribe that he needed to follow. So he ignored the tribe of the logic and followed the heart tribe to his destiny.

But even though he had the heart tribe to guide him, there were many challenged in the road to victory. Once he had to help a little girl of the heart tribe that had become stuck in a tree. Another time he was teased by the clan of the logic so bad that he almost gave up his quest all together.

But somehow he always made it through and with enough faith and courage he always made it over each new challenge. Many years later when he had become a young man of twenty years old he reached the end of his path.

The heart tribe departed and wished him the best of luck as he climbed a flight of golden stairs. At the top he saw a maiden dressed in silver standing at the base of a grand temple. The boy smiled and took off his hat in respect because he knew that it was the star he had been journeying so long and far to find.

He saw the star smile and it was love at first sight. He climbed to the top of the temple and took her hand in his own. She reached out and touched his face and he felt all his troubles melt away. His quest had finally come to an end.

And it is said that he married the star and together they built a grand palace of gold in a far off galaxy. And of course, from that day on, the star maiden and the boy lived happily ever after.

The legend of the boy spread throughout the galaxy and was told by many different tribes. It is said that the boy’s legacy lives on in the stars to this very day. If you look up to the night sky you will see two stars shinning bright over the horizon. Those stars are the boy and the star maiden living happily in their palace of gold at the edge of the galaxy.

Learn from example of the boy. Whenever you lose hope say this rhyme and remember that any dream can come true; “If you have a dream to find, do not let logic leave you blind. Like the boy in the story, follow your heart, and your dreams will never part.”