Astraea Short Story

Once upon a time, in an era where gods walked among men and men walked among gods, a girl was guardian of the stars. Her skin was coppery and her eyes were wide emeralds. Her long strands of spun obsidian hung down to her knees and the threads seemed to float on the curling breezes. Her dress, like her hair, brushed her knees. As dark as onyx, it shimmered like the night sky. She glowed like the moon, a silvery halo encompassing her whole being.

This girl—whose name was Astraea—rode on the back of a great bear when she graced the land. When she took to the skies, her companion was a magnificent phoenix. She spent her days in night and she spent her nights casting stars into the black sea. Standing on her phoenix’s back, she played her harp

until her fingers and strings glowed and produced a star. Glittering stars floated before her until she held them and breathed their names, securing them in the sky.
This was her life until one night she noticed crashing waves of dark clouds below her. Petting the head of the phoenix, she told him to fly low, below the sea of clouds. He did as instructed, the only trace left behind was a comet’s tail of fire. Diving into the clouds they were met with rain. Bolts of lightning flashed once in a while.
“What is going on?” She wondered, searching around her frantically. No one could see her work with this storm.
Astraea’s eyes grazed the earth below her and she spotted a lone form crouched on a beach, the waves kissing the being’s feet and ankles as the ocean desperately attempted to climb onto land. She pointed to the being and they flew to the beach. She leapt off the of phoenix’s back and carefully, barefooted, made her way over to the being.
The being, she realized, was actually a girl. This girl, with thick black curls and dark skin that was covered in beads of rain droplets. The other girl had her arms wrapped around her legs, her chin resting on her knees. Both girls were drenched, soaked with the cold water falling from the sky.
Astraea sat on her legs beside the girl. She heard her sobs, saw her shoulders shudder with her erratic breathing. She tilted her head at the girl full of sorrow.
“Excuse me,” she said. “Why are you crying? Are you crying because it is raining?”
The other girl met Astraea’s curious gaze with one brimming with woe. “No,” she sniffled. “It’s raining because I am sad.”
“If it’s raining because of how you feel, I believe sad is a bit of an understatement. Again, why are you crying?”
The other girl’s large brown eyes leaked more tears before she squeezed them closed. “My baby sister. She—she died.” The girl sobbed more and Astraea became more and more uncomfortable.
“Well, um…I’m very sorry to hear that. But you’re making the sky upset and I don’t like it when the sky is upset. Nobody can see what I’ve created.”
Sniffling, the other girl asked, “What do you mean?”
Astraea whistled and her faithful phoenix marched over to her, one wing hovering over his head in a vain attempt to shelter his head from the pouring rain. She grabbed her harp from his back and set it in the sand. She smiled down at the crying girl. Her phoenix voluntarily lifted his wings over Astraea and her harp, shielding her from the sky’s sorrow.
Astraea began to play, closing her eyes and plucking at strings with grace and precision. She had been born of the gods among the stars. She was destined to create stars and images in those stars. What made her creation so beautiful were the stories the humans crafted for her images. Constellations, the humans called them. She imagined her creations dancing with each other in the heavens. Warmth emitted from the strings, growing more and more welcoming, gaining light. When she felt the star was finished, she stopped playing and opened her eyes. She held the star in her cupped hands. Maneuvering around her harp, she knelt beside the crying girl. The star illuminated their faces. Tears still rolled from her eyes, yet the other girl was amazed.
“Would you like to see what I do with the star?” Astraea asked her.
She hesitated before nodding. Astraea rose and held one hand out to the girl. She grabbed Astraea’s hand and allowed her to lift her to her feet and lead her to the phoenix. Astraea held the girl’s hand up for the phoenix to smell so he could familiarize himself with her. So he would be unafraid of her. After a couple sniffs, he nuzzled her beak in the girl’s palm. Astraea led the girl around the phoenix, leaping onto his back and helping her up.
He kicked off the ground, spiraling into the sky, closer and closer to the clouds. The hard patter of rain was a prevalent sound until the three of the burst through the clouds and silence exploded around them. They were surrounded by darkness pierced with light in millions of tiny pinholes. Astraea stood on her phoenix’s back as he gained altitude. She lightly touched his head when she felt they were high enough for this particular star. Glancing down, she saw the other girl hugging the phoenix tightly, eyes squeezed shut.
“What is your name?” Astraea asked.
The girl peeked at their surroundings, confidence growing in her until she could finally sit up straight. “Thallo,” she responded, wiping away any leftover tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. “My name is Thallo.”
Astraea smiled. “Well, Thallo, my name is Astraea and this is what I was born to do and it is what I will die doing.” Astraea whispered the name of the star and tossed it straight up. It soared, slowed, and fell until it stopped abruptly.
With a blissful sigh, she sat cross-legged in front of Thallo. The girl, Astraea realized, was very pretty when her face wasn’t burdened by tears. She also noticed that there were bottle green speckles in her dark brown irises that made her gaze shimmer.
“What were you born to do?” Astraea asked.
“I don’t know if I was born to do anything as spectacular as you.”
Astraea tilted her head in confusion. “I don’t understand. Aren’t we all born to do something?”
Thallo nodded. “I agree. What you do is create stars. All I do is protect the youth, guard spring.” Thallo thought for a moment. “Oh, and my emotions are connected to the weather.”
“What does that mean?”
“When I’m sad, it rains. When I’m angry, it thunderstorms. Clear skies occur when I am happy. Of course, that is just the basics yet that is basically all I can do.”
“Basically?” Astraea asked, sensing that there was indeed more and intending to find out what else this girl could do.
Thallo bit her lip before responding. “I can show you if you take me back to the ground.”
Astraea whistled and her phoenix dropped to the Earth’s surface. They returned to the spot they took off from, marked by Astraea’s harp. She helped Thallo off the phoenix’s back. Thallo led her to a cave whose mouth had sharp teeth standing guard of a breathtaking interior. The cavern walls had cubbies carved into them and they presented lit candles, wax drops streaking down from previously lit ones. Stone seats were also carved in the walls. The floor was shallow water, barely covering Astraea’s toes at the shallowest parts and lapping over her mid-shin at the deepest. Small sea creatures dwelled in the water, content with their shared home. Vines hung down from the ceiling. Astraea was unable to determine whether they were there by nature’s doing or by Thallo’s.
Thallo knelt down in the water with no concern for her dress, pulling a healthy green lily pad to her. She met Astraea’s curious gaze before creating a dome with her hands atop the center of the lily pad. She inhaled and Astraea counted the seconds. At seven, Thallo opened her eyes and her hands. A brilliant pink and white water lily was revealed. Astraea sucked in her breath. Thallo’s eyes began to fill with water and Astraea, with concern that the sky would cry alongside her, rushed to the girl’s side, falling to her knees.
“What is wrong now?”
Thallo lifted the lily pad up so she could view it more easily. “My baby sister…her favorite flowers were water lilies.”
Astraea draped an arm around Thallo’s shoulders. “It will be okay. Nobody was meant to last forever. I will one day vanish and someone new will take my place. We cannot stop what fate has in store for us. We can only endure.” She paused before hugging Thallo. “And you don’t have to endure alone. I will be here for you until my existence ceases.”
The two girls became instant friends. They found something in each other they hadn’t realized they were missing. Astraea told Thallo that she didn’t have parents or siblings, which she was created the way she is and Astraea noticed that she was lonely. She may have her bear and her phoenix for company but she hadn’t had any real friends until Thallo. Thallo told Astraea that her little sister had been her only real company since their mother died. Thallo’s sister had been two at the time. They never knew their father. She found she enjoyed the new company Astraea brought to her life.
One night, when Astraea was going to the cave—their meeting spot—she saw the intimidating dark rain clouds releasing their wrath on the earth below.

No lightning, no thunder. Simply rain. Drenched with sky water, she rushed into the cave to find Thallo seated on one of the mineral benches crying her soul out.

Astraea held Thallo until she calmed a bit, the storm outside lightening up as well. “What’s bothering you, Thal?”

Thallo straightened to look directly at Astraea. “I miss you during the day. I’m all alone without my sister and you are only around at night.”

“I would be here during the days but I have heard stories of some of my predecessors attempting to walk in daylight. The sun burned them to ashes. I really don’t want that to happen to me.”

“I can’t help missing you, Astra. It is so lonely here without you.”

Astraea fell silent, pondering the words her best and only friend just uttered. An idea began to blossom in her mind. She was unsure of if it would work, yet deep down she knew it had to. She decided to work when Thallo was out getting food or new candles.

When her work was done she arranged to meet Thallo where they first happened upon each other so many months ago. Astraea, suppressing her eagerness, guided a blindfolded Thallo to their cave. Standing just beyond the threshold, Astraea removed the cloth, giving back Thallo’s ability to

see.
She gasped at the sight before her. All along the ceiling and higher part of the walls were glittering stars. Astraea had arranged them in special constellations, ones only the two girls would be able to witness. Thallo hugged Astraea in a bear hug, whispering thank you over and over.
Smiling, Astraea said, “I know that I am physically not here during the day, but now a part of who I am will be. A piece of me will always be here, to remind you that simply because you feel lonely doesn’t mean you are alone.”