Las Estrellas

Las Estrellas

On clear evenings, in summer, we used to sit in the garden located just outside the house, on weekends, and spend long hours watching the heavenly bodies up there… far away… and tell endless stories about anything. These stories were from real experiences, to those shared by other people, or those that we have read in books. Definitely, they ranged from the most sublime to the most ridiculous that we, children in the extended family, love to tell, re-tell and hear again. They seem magical as they transport us, the listeners, to another time, place and dimension.

Before I had children of my own, there was this one last chance that our extended family had a reunion. That was two years before my paternal grandfather passed away but just about eight months before his wife, my grandma, died.

One evening a 5 year-old niece came to me with an old book. She must have unearthed it from the old books packed in a box to give space for the newly acquired ones. Holding the book in her little hands she implored that I read one story she’d marked. She called all her other cousins as I happily obliged. It was one of my favorite stories that I never got tired of telling my siblings and cousins.

The story was about a little girl who wanted to give a birthday gift to her mother. She had no money so that every night she prayed that she’d find something precious and unique that she can give to her mother to make her really happy. One night she was looking out of their window admiring the full moon when she noticed the brilliant stars on the northern portion of the sky. She stared hard on that direction and an idea entered her mind. She’d search the sky within her vision and choose the brightest star. Then she’d pray for it to fall inside her room so she can wrap it and give it to her mother.
The longer she stayed by the window, the farther the stars seem to go… until, as if on cue, they silently left their places in the sky. By then, it was dawn. She did the same on the following night and the nights after for a week. Her mother’s birthday came. She kissed her mother that morning as she excitedly waited for the evening stars. At dusk, it started to rain which progressed till dark. The girl was so downhearted but she prayed harder. Just before dinner, the rain stopped so she opened her windows in case God decided to let a star fall into her room – for her mother. Before she went out to dinner, she placed a little box in the middle of her bed in order to catch a star that God shall send.
After dinner, her father gave his gift to her mother – a prettily adorned comb for her long hair. She excitedly went to her room to see her box with all the belief that her prayers will not fail. What did she find? She was awed to see a twinkling something entering her window that she forgot to switch on the light. It went into the room and hovered about her head. With the speed of an athlete and the deftness of a fairy she caught the thing and held it firmly in the hollow of her hands. Holding it against her breast, she went to her mother with a special glow in her face. For fear that it might escape; she didn’t bother to wrap it up. She said, “Mama, I cannot buy you something dear to give on your birthday but I have prayed so hard for this gift in my hands. I love you Mama so I am giving you this star. It fell from the sky right into my hands… May we turn off the lights for a moment Papa, please? Here, Mama.”
The mother and father were puzzled but they put off the light and the mother accepted the gift with open hands. They saw the twinkling thing lay almost contentedly in her hand. The parents laughed as the mother hugged her daughter tight and kissed her. They turned on the lights and with misty eyes; the mother spoke so, “Thank you so much dear. This is the best gift I ever had in my whole life. Now I know how much you love me.”
“Mama we can put her in a new home. Maybe a bottle… then it will shine here for us day and night… then, everyone will know that my love for you is as bright as that star,” the girl whispered with a giggle.
“Dear, do you know how sad I’ll be if I lose you? I will die of sorrow… Maybe I failed to tell you that stars have mothers too. You have just given me the baby star which I am beginning to love right now. If this baby star takes you with it as a gift for her mother, will you leave me?” the mother asked. The girl stared at her with eyes wide; then she hugged her mother and whispered, “No Mama… I’ll just go with it to tell the mother how much this baby loves her but I’ll be back for you after that. Is that alright with you if I do that?”
Soon the little girl, with her parents, was looking out of the window watching the little star fly into the darkness … towards the sky … and back to her mother who loves it most.

In many ways children want to express their affection. Sometimes it seems silly for adults but there is nothing that faith cannot make possible for the innocent hearts that love. The story has always touched me and even my children today. It’s a pity that there are parents out there who claim to love their kids but they failed to be good examples of what loving in a true sense is. Sometimes the children are not given the opportunity to communicate about how they feel at all which is very important to their growth. As mothers there is much we can do to influence the children into doing that which are essential into becoming humane people than teaching them to go after materialism that will make them covet the world with all its greediness and malice. Essentials are values they can hold on to in life. Moreover, most of the essential things in human beings cannot be seen… but they can be felt.

The first time I read the story to my two girls; the eldest sat on my lap and said, “If we can only be stars… I’d shine brightly for those without somebody to love them… and tell them that they have me to watch over them.” The second girl hugged me and announced, “I’ll do that too and warm the homes of families with my light. They’ll gather around me and they will never think of going far away.” We laughed at these as I tried to keep it in the recesses of my heart.

Like the stars in the sky… we all are. We can choose to shine brilliantly as we give warmth to a broken hearted staring up at the heavens at night or we can opt to shine dazzlingly to just show off our light... yet remain aloof or cold as a corpse to the sufferings and pain that we may inflict to others in our bid for public attention and praise...

You wonder what the little girl caught for her mother’s birthday gift? Hahaha! It was just a tiny firefly, dear. If you were the mother, what would you have done?