I want to stay awake tonight to watch the stars fall like snowflakes. I want to hear the gentle clinking of star against star, breaking the stillness and silence of years as they descend. By morning, silver streams will flood the streets and no man will venture out into this new wilderness. Trees will sparkle and glisten, still bending and bowing in the wind. Birds will fly with silver wing, yet the newly hatched will wear the colours of the time before.

My great grandfather sits in an old armchair in the corner, just away from the fireplace, and with a view of the window.

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Many times he has told me the story of the first night the stars fell; from an angry sky.

The Sky Spirits were at play, casting a brilliant phosphorescence, a rainbow shadow which moved as they

danced. The season was winter and frost nipped at noses and other parts exposed to the chilled air. Not many men dared to brave the elements; neither for pleasure nor business.

One man dared brave the

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night- a man spoken of by villagers in fear and sotto voce whispers.

“His eyes shoot darts and flares when he is angered or crossed.”

“He is tall and thin one moment, short and fat the next. Like a shadow.”

“He is not entirely of the human world but half spirit himself.”

this man went walking in search of something.

This man was a great

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consumer of energy; it could be this was the cause of his glowing eyes. Many rumours were spoken of his great consumption. The rumour which was closest to the truth was, he consumed out of sheer greed. He amassed vast quantities of energy in the same way some people hoarded gold or jewels.

And so it was, this man went in search of the energy of the Sky Spirits. He dressed as if in mockery of the elements, wearing only a long, black overcoat besides the dark trousers and black shirt he wore.

In the pockets of his coat he carried several small, black canning jars. He walked

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briskly and discreetly through town, taking the most wayward and least followed route.

He ascended a hill one mile to the south of his town. As he ascended, he

passed through a dense wood with neither a torch nor candlelight to guide his way. His dark hair, dark coat, dark shoes, made him almost invisible. Only his glowing eyes gave away his presence.

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Still, he reached the hilltop unseen. With careful movements of nimble fingers, He unbuttoned his coat and folded it neatly and placed it on the ground with the contents of his pockets (the jars) lined up beside it.

In the night above him, The

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Sky Spirits played on. Not a sigh nor sign of suspicion in their antics; they were almost close enough to touch

The Sky Spirits, sometimes, would roll up into balls of energy which the other Spirits would spin through the sky, Spirit to Spirit, leaving a trail like glowing embers.

The man with Glowing Eyes sat and watched awhile, then took a jar from the ground beside him. He unscrewed the lid, and then stood, poised, lid in one hand, jar in the other.

In a flash no longer than a blink of an eye, he ascended, caught the tumbling

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Spirit in the jar, descended, and was once again seated on the hill.

In fact, his feet never left the earth, but the Spirit half of him extended, at his will, then contracted, also at his will. So, once he sat down again, he appeared human.The Sky Spirits had not seen him and merely began bickering with each

other about carelessness and black holes.

When their games recommenced, he picked up another jar and got ready. Again, in a flash, he ascended, caught, and descended.

This time the Sky Spirits

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noticed something but weren’t sure what it was.

Fearing their safety, they climbed further up in the sky, knocking several stars out of place as they fled.

Unencumbered by the silver raining down on him, he prepared

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another jar. He was not content with only two energies. He wanted more. He waited a moment, and then… but this time he missed. The Sky Spirits climbed so high into the sky and so fast that millions of stars began to fall, like snowflakes, with the sound of clinking glass.

This is how it began, but not how it ends. Under the silver deluge, the Man With Glowing Eyes rushed back to his

house. The first thing he did

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when he arrived, after carefully removing and hanging up his coat, was to descend to his cellar. There, surrounding him, were hundreds of small, black jars, just like the two he held in his hands. He made space for them on a shelf, then stood back, admiring his collection.

The next morning in another part of town, oblivious of the night’s events and late for work, the milkman stepped out of his house and slipped into a silver puddle. Struggling, he flapped about like an insect until finally he righted himself, crawling on

all fours, he retreated inside his house.

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With the door open, the stars had rained in his hallway. He almost slipped again as he stood to close the door.

Most other people noticed through their windows that their world was not quite as they knew it. Except out of dire necessity, people stayed indoors.

Farmers rushed about, getting their sheep and cattle in from the fields. They went through a month’s supply of hay, cleaning out the barns.

When they tried washing the silver off the animals, they found it was permanent. No animal seemed dismayed or injured; simply, where the stars had fallen, tainted with silver.

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It was almost a week before the silver streams ceased and streets

became clear enough to walk or drive on again. All over town, there were questions, rumours, speculations as to what caused the starfall. Everyone had ideas but no one had a conclusive answer.

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Where many folk had gathered together, a gentle murmur ran through the crows. Descending softly and quietly as a snowflake in slow motion was a glowing apparition.

Glowing silver as the starfall, then, alternately, white as a moonbeam.

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All tongues were silenced as this being uttered her message.

“I am Messenger, sent forth from the Great Sky. There is one among you who has committed a crime against the Sky Spirits. I have been sent to deliver the guilty one to the Tribunal of the Great Sky.”

Tongues whispered surprise, amazement and conjecture as to whom amongst them was the perpetrator. And what was the nature of his (or her) crime.

A small child tugged at his father’s hand. The man bent down to listen as he

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whispered, for the second time that morning, of the man with the glowing

eyes he’d seen through his telescope on the cold night of the dancing spirits.“See, Daddy, I told you I wasn’t dreaming!’

The man stood up, cleared his throat and stepped forward with his child

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“Uh, my son is a witness,” he said, pushing his son forward and stepping back into the crowd.

With a bewildered look on his face, the child turned to look at his father then regarded the Messenger. He felt no fear; only confusion over his father’s actions.

The Messenger beckoned the boy forward with an open hand.

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“Come walk with me, Child, and share your knowledge”The child came forth to the Messenger and the crowd parted as they walked.

The little boy excitedly told the Messenger all he’d seen through the telescope, not forgetting one detail.This evidence the Messenger compiled and sent to the Gods of the Great Sky.

When the boy had finished his tale the Messenger asked, “Will you accompany me to the house of the Man With Glowing eyes?”

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The boy felt nervous and looked around for his father; in vain, however, as he had been swallowed up by the crowd. So the boy made his own decision and acquiesced by holding the Messenger’s hand in a firm grasp.

The crowd of the town followed, at a safe distance. The boy pointed to a house in front of them. The house stood alone, with empty lots on either side.“There, that’s where I saw him go in”

The Messenger let go of the child’s hand and knelt down to speak

to him. “On behalf of the Great Sky, I thank you. Now

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return to your father, who will keep you safe.”The child did as he was told and the crowd opened up, to reunite father and son.

Alone, the Messenger moved toward the house and up the front steps, Instead of knocking, the Messenger passed right through the

front door, into the house. Out of the view of the town’s eyes.

What passed inside the abode of the Man With Glowing Eyes soon became clear as the Messenger reappeared in

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great haste. Anguish was apparent in her eyes.

For the first time, the spirit half of the Man With Glowing Eyes was publicly revealed. His

Spirit enveloped his house so that his head, nestled in his arms, was guarding the front door, his legs were bent so his knees were at each

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corner at the back of his house and his feet dangled in the backyard.

His body leaned weightlessly over the roof, and his arms bent, with his elbows on the ground, protected the sides and front of the house.

Before vanishing, the Messenger issued a warning.“Beware. The one known as Man With Glowing Eyes, a half spirit who walks among you, has brought upon himself the wrath of the

Gods of Great Sky. He will not come to them. It

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shall be, then that the Gods will bring their justice to him!”

The townspeople, in hearing the warning, fled to their houses, barricading themselves within.

The Man With Glowing Eyes waited, preparing to fight.

The Gods of Great Sky appeared in a blaze of fire, brandishing the forces of Great Wind and Great Lightning

Without formalities, the trial began. The Messenger acted as witness, recounting word for word the account of events as told

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by the little boy. Unanimously, the Gods pronounced him guilty.

The first bolt of lightning was hurled with no warning. The Man with Glowing Eyes caught it in his mouth and consumed it, spitting out the seeds. His eyes, save the pupils, turned to blood red and spurted fire. Great Lightning continued to pelt the energy fire of his spirit.

Greedily, he absorbed the lightning, sending back sparks of his own.

Suddenly the Gods were gone. The Man With Glowing Eyes grew a smirk; the smug content of victory.

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A false sense, however, as the Gods had planned their attack with this strategy in mind.

Great Wind appeared behind the Man With Glowing Eyes and blew with

all her might. Distracted by this surprise attack from behind, he turned his head and moved his left arm. Great Lightning took advantage of the moment and struck a blow which sent the house ablaze. Great Wind blew

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open the cellar door, as the blaze razed the house to the ground.

Great Wind whirled in the cellar, as a cyclone, rattling shelves and shaking the jars to the floor. As the jars fell and

shattered, the released energies zoomed around the room until it was a flood of energy.

All of those energies

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combined strength and in one moment, the Man With Glowing Eyes was surrounded and reduced to human stature.

One final blow from Great Lightning struck directly the soul, separating the spirit energy from the human aspect of the Man With Glowing Eyes. He fell limp, in a heap, on the spot where his doorstep had been.

From their windows, the folk of the town watched as the released energies burst

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into the sky. When all was calm, the people took cautious steps outside, curiously assessing damage and wanting to know the fate of the Man With Glowing Eyes.

They found him where he had fallen, in battle, he had lost half of himself; his eyes no longer had their remarkable glow. In appearance, he was now extraordinarily average. Groggy, he sat up, recovered what he could of his senses, and set about rebuilding his house. He rebuilt it without a cellar.

As the years went by, he became less and less noticeable. So much so that he was easily passed by on the street.

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In fact, he became almost invisible, though not a ghost or spirit. Because he lost his spirit, he was condemned to retain his human form

until the end of time. The one day he was truly visible was the day after starfall. Once, every hundred years, on the anniversary of the night, the stars fall as a reminder and warning.

It was also eternal

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punishment that the Man With Glowing Eyes, though his eyes glowed no more, clean up the streets after starfall.

This is the story relayed to me by my great grandfather who sits silent in his chair. I will stay awake tonight and watch the

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stars fall. And tomorrow, I will watch for the man my great grandfather watched, through his telescope, so many, many, many, years before.

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