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The Shadows of Stars
There is a place inside us where the past goes to die. It exists outside the realm of both heart and mind as an ever changing plane that cradles the consciousness with solemn hands.
The sky is moonless in this place and as cold as the dawn that peeks from beneath the mountain we lie on, as still as the foggy air.
“Majestic, is it not?” I ask.
You shake your head, and I know that for you, the dawn will never come. Instead, you reach for the receding night, a point fixed on an ephemeral target.
For you, the light of day is harsh and cruel. He is the prince of the forest, and he waits in the shade of evergreens, pervading the life you are so lost in. You know the beauty of forests, the lush grasses of the savannah in summer. For you, he subdues the hazy overgrowth, breaking the comforting canopy you love.
You tense, but your hand is still limp in mine. The cold supersedes the warmth of your world.
I remember all that you have told me. The throbbing heat of the rain and the lightning that dances with it, sparking merrily through the land to the beat of thunder. They sound of your laugh and the color of your eyes. The details of your land, I know them all.
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I can only wonder: do you still remember me? The things I whispered to you from the crevices of my home? I shared its flowing air and misty mornings, the snow that lines its slopes. Stony crags rise where I walk, flowing from my fingers like water from yours.
The shadows of stars blacken your gaze, and now it is I who cannot see.
For you, gently, I let go.
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Meaning
At its heart, this piece is about a man coming to terms with how incompatible he and his girlfriend were. The setting is within his consciousness, which he describes as a cold mountain. This is representative of his character—reserved and stoic. His partner is lively and full of youth, symbolized by the depictions of nature and warmth.
The second major point is that they don’t really understand each other. She feels the chill of his soul, but sees the green of the canopy when she looks at the sky. She told him about the forests, but he cannot picture it, though he thought he could (hence the second to last line). He realizes he had never been able to, and so he releases her memory (and physically her hand in the story). It is a point of irony that he knows this well and allows the relationship to end because of it. He loves her because of these differences, and to love means to let go when one must.
The third is that he wanted to continue on with her before they separated. The dawn symbolizes his optimism and willingness to start anew, yet she is always looking to the night. The relationship was already over for her (the shadows of stars blacken your gaze). He only hopes that she remembers him. The day/night dichotomy details more differences that separate them—they are polar opposites, relating back to how incompatible they are to begin with, highlighting the main conflict in the story.
This story takes place during a moment of reflection—a person’s thought processes are not always clear and chronological. The events he describes on the mountain are things that happened in the past, but he uses present tense to get it all out and come to terms with what happened.
Additional details:
- Personification of light: representation of reality. The woman does not enjoy facing reality—likely has a harder time coping with the breakup than the man. The mountain climate of the man’s consciousness is well-adjusted to harsh light—he has a better grasp on reality and healthier coping mechanisms. She enjoys hiding (life you are so lost in).
- As a result of their time together, they gained aspects of each other’s personalities. For example, the man is quite gentle with her, speaking kindly and treating her memory with care. The woman is silent and cold throughout.
- He remembers how she used to be, and what she is no longer due to their relationship.
If any of this does not make sense to you, please feel free to ask! I have more cohesive ways of interpreting this to you in my head, but it’s quite difficult to write it down.
The moral (past all the imagery and language) is that love between two people does not always work out and that moving on is a sad but necessary part of living life.
Thank you @swissclive for this challenge! This is the first short story I’ve posted on Steemit and I look forward to writing many more. Please leave feedback! What did you think about my word choice? Did you like the style? I’d love to know what YOUR interpretation was and if it is at all what I tried to convey! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed!