Fredrick walked across the sandy ground
through the darkness of the midsummer night. He loved to spend time
in the desert. He liked the peace and quiet and he loved the stars.
He lived in the city with his mom and dad. It was always noisy in the
city and for some reason, the stars just didn't seem to come out
very much in the city. When he visited his grandpa in the desert,
the stars came out in full force.
Fredrick always waited until everyone
went to sleep and then he sneaked out of the house to look at the
beautiful night sky. He stood there in awe every time. It was always
just as amazing to him as the last time. The stars were everywhere.
At first glance, the stars looked like they were spread across the
night sky evenly but after staring for a while, Fredrick noticed
that they were actually clustered. He turned in a circle as he stared
at the canvass of beauty over his head. Suddenly he tripped over
something and fell.
He turned around on his hands and
knees looking for what had tripped him. The moon illuminated the
ground just enough for him to see a piece of wood about a foot and a
half long. He reached out and touched it and was surprised to find
that is was smooth and round. He grabbed a hold of it and tried to
pick it up but was surprised to see it attached to two other pieces
of wood, one on each end running perpendicular to the first piece.
As he continued to pull, another horizontal piece of wood appeared
from beneath the sandy desert floor.
“Why, it's a ladder,” the young
man remarked to himself. “How long is this thing?”
It turned out to be quite long indeed.
The young man pulled the ladder out of the sandy desert floor for
several minutes until it stopped. Fredrick gave it one final tug and
came to the conclusion that he had the entire ladder before
him...and above him. He looked up into the night sky, his eyes
following the ladder to his favorite star.
“That's strange,” He mused in
confusion. “It almost looks like this ladder ends at that star.”
That particular star was his favorite
because when he stared at it, it almost seemed to move towards him to
the point where he was certain he could reach out and hold it in his
hands. He never really tried because that would be silly.
“Just as silly as a ladder in the
middle of the desert sanding up by itself?” Fredrick questioned.
He stood for a moment, considering his
options. Finally, placing one hand on the rung at eye level and the
other and on the next rung up, he began the long climb to the top. He
didn't look down as he climbed, not because he was afraid to, but
because there was so much more to look at. Even though, he knew it
was impossible, it seemed to the young man that he was passing stars
and constellations as he climbed.
He expected to get tired far before he
reached the end of the ladder but the climbing seemed to get easier
as he went. He continued to climb until he was standing with both
hands on the very top rung. He saw his favorite star right in front
of his face. The star had never felt closer than it did at that
moment. Despite his better judgment, he reached forward to touch his
star knowing that he surely wouldn't be able to. But he did! His
hand grasped the star with surprising ease. His finger tips tingled
as they closed around the star and his heart rate increased slightly
with anticipation. The star was warm and smooth against the palm of
his hand. He tried to pull it towards him but it wouldn't move. He
twisted the star in the the night sky until he heard a click. He let
go of the star, nervous of what the sound meant.
The star began to slowly move away
from him. Startled by this fact, Fredrick scrambled up the last
couple rungs and stood precariously on the last rung as he stretched
his arm out towards the star. Suddenly he lost his balance and
pitched forward from his perch. He screamed as he fell to what he was
certain would be death. His scream was cut short, extremely short, by
his landing on a cool flat surface at the same level as the top rung
of the ladder.
He fanned his arms out in front of him
as he felt the smooth surface beneath his palms. Fredrick rolled over
onto his back and sat up. His feet hung over the threshold of the sky
high doorway as his toes brushed the top rung of the ladder. He took
a few deep breaths as the pounding in his chest receded. He laid
there confused for a few moments. What was he laying on? Why had
the star moved? Shouldn't he have fallen to the ground and died?
Maybe he had. Maybe he was just dreaming.
His thoughts were interrupted by a
kind and slender face moving into his peripherals. The face wore old
fashioned round-lens spectacles and was clean shaven.
“Why hello there,” the face
greeted the prone pre-teen. “How do you do?”
“Um...” Fredrick began. “I'm not
sure.”
Fredrick shifted his gaze from side to
side and discovered that there was a body attached to the inquisitive
head. He sat up and pivoted on his seat towards the kind stranger.
The man was tall and slender. His is arms appeared to be slightly
long for his body, but not so much as to be unsightly. His hair was
combed straight back on his head and brushed the tops of his ears and
the back collar of his shirt. It moved and bounced slightly as he
walked and occasionally seemed to rise slightly without any movement
at all on the part of the head to which it was attached. The man wore
a long sleeved shirt that flowed freely across the slender form of
the wearer and ended about halfway down the man's thighs (about where
his finger tips would be with his arms relaxed at his sides, were his
arms not so unusually long.) The cuffs of his pants brushed across
his sandal clad feet as he stood before the wide eyed child. His
clothing was an array of deep blues and purples that seemed to
constantly shift in concentration and orientation before Fredrick's
eyes.
Neither person said anything for a few
minutes while Fredrick assessed the person before him. Finally, the
man before him reached out and offered his hand. Fredrick turned his
head slightly to the left in apprehension but took it anyway. After
all, he had already climbed a ladder in the middle of the desert and
grabbed a hold of a star against his better judgment. Taking the
helpful hand of a kind looking stranger seemed so trivial by this
point. The tall stranger pulled Fredrick to his feet and held the
young man's hand in a prolonged handshake as he looked deeply into
Fredrick's eyes. Normally, this sort of interaction would have made
the young man uncomfortable but there was something about the
stranger that felt familiar.
“So,” the stranger began. “What
brings you here?"
“Um,” Fredrick replied with some
uncertainty. “A ladder, I guess.”
“Yes, I know that,” the stranger
responded with a broad smile. “I put that ladder there for you. I
was hoping you'd find it.”
“Well, I did,” Fredrick responded
with a smile. “Where am I? And who are you? If you don't mind me
asking.”
“Not at all, Fredrick,” the
stranger replied cordially. “I am the Star Keeper and you my
friend, are behind the curtain.”
With that statement, the Star Keeper
swept his arm dramatically around him. Fredrick stood in awe as he
took in the sight. He was in a huge room, so huge in fact that he wasn't
sure he could see the other side. He looked up and he couldn't see
the ceiling either. The lighting in the room was like twilight in
summertime and the walls were strangely shaped. The walls were
covered in white and yellow spots that shimmered and shined against
the dark background of the “Curtain.” At first, Fredrick wasn't
sure what he was seeing. After gazing at the walls for a few moments,
he began to recognize the shapes of constellations. He realized that
the spots were all stars. Something seemed strange about the
constellations though. He stared until it hit him. They were all
backwards: mirror images in fact, as if he were standing behind
them.
After a few moments, Fredrick
realized that they weren't alone. All around the perimeter of the
room were a host of helpers. These helpers wore one piece coveralls
that were colored in the same manner as the clothing of the Star
Keeper. Some of these helpers wore harnesses and dangled from an
unseen ceiling while others worked off of step ladders. Many of them
held cloths and appeared to be polishing the stars. Others held
tools. Some of them held what appeared to be thermometers while
others held tongs. Some of the bigger ones held sledge hammers. They
were all a little shorter than Fredrick but not much. They smiled at
him in turn as he caught their eyes but kept working with diligence
and efficiency.
“So,” Fredrick ventured. “This
is the inside of the sky?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes,”
the Star Keeper confirmed. “This is The Star Placement and
Maintenance Center. This is where we organize and maintain this night
time sky.” He motioned towards the walls. “This is what we refer
to as the curtain, or the canvas. I arrange the stars here and you
see them from the other side.”
As he spoke, he reached out towards a
small workbench and picked up a sphere the size of a softball. He
inhaled deeply and then blew on the ball and it began to glow. The
Star Keeper walked over to the curtain and stretched out high above
Fredrick's head and pressed it into the canvass. The dark material
absorbed the ball until only half of it was still showing. He pulled
a clean, white cloth out of his pocket and polished the ball until it
shined.
“Is that a new star?” Fredrick
inquired with a smile.
“Yes it is, Fredrick,” the Star
Keeper replied. “But you'd better take a good look now, because you
won't be able to see it from the other side of the curtain.”
“Why not?” Fredrick asked as his
brow furrowed with puzzlement.
“That is a time release star,” the
Star Keeper answered. “It won't be visible for a couple of thousand
years. All the stars that were placed when the world was new were
visible right away. Every star I placed after the initial batch
however, were time release stars.”
“Why is that?” Fredrick asked. “I
mean, why don't the stars show up right away?”
“For century's people have been
using the stars as a map so they can navigate around the world,”
The Star Keeper explained. “The stars were meant to be a constant
guide for people on earth. The last thing I want is for a new
addition to confuse them. I know there are a lot of other ways for
people to get around these days such as GPS and satellite but there
will come a day when humanity will need to rely on the stars again.
When that day comes, there will be no cause for confusion. Most of
the night sky will be the same as it was before technology made the
beauty of the night sky obsolete.”
The Star Keeper smiled at this last
statement. He and Fredrick both knew that beauty is never obsolete.
Suddenly, a loud crash sounded across the room followed by a noise
that sounded like an intense but short lived wind. Startled, Fredrick
looked around frantically for the source of the racket. His eyes
rested on a sledge wielding coveralled helper who was dangling from
a cable. Directly in front of him a large hole in the curtain was
slowly closing while another helper on the floor directly beneath the
sledge helper was sweeping what appeared to be crushed crystal into
a shiny dustpan. Fredrick was startled by this chain of events but
no one else was. The helpers carried on with their duties as if
everything was completely normal while the Star Keeper gave a crisp
nod of approval.
“What...did he just... was that a
star?” Fredrick stammered as his curiosity overpowered his
confusion.
“Yes,” the Star Keeper confirmed.
“Stars sometimes grow over time. Every star has a gravitational
force just like your sun or Earth. As the star gets bigger more and
more things begin to orbit and some things get sucked into the star.
When a star get so big that it threatens the stars around it we
remove it from the canvass.”
“What about what you said about
keeping the sky constant for navigation and stuff?” Fredrick
questioned his kind host.
“You will still be able to see that
star for many years,” the Keeper explained. “The ladder you
climbed up seems deceivingly short. The fact of the matter is, that
star was so far away from Earth that it will take many many years
for the last bit of light to reach your atmosphere. By the time it
stops shining, the new star I placed will have been shining long
enough for the residents of your planet to make adjustments. I would
never take away a navigational point without replacing it with a new
one.”
“What do you do with the pieces?”
Fredrick inquired as the helper with the dustpan dumped his payload
down a small chute.
“Have you ever seen a shooting
stat?” the Keeper asked with a smile.
Fredrick nodded as the Star Keeper
continued.
“Shooting stars are just retired
star fragments burning up in the earths atmosphere.”
“So,” Fredrick commented.
“Shooting stars are actual stars then.”
“Well,” the Keeper responded with
some hesitation. “In a manner of speaking, yes. It's more accurate
to say they are star fragments. It's not the crystal that makes the
star. It's the light. By the time a star is shooting through the
atmosphere, it's not a star anymore. You're seeing something else's
light.”
Fredrick nodded thoughtfully as he
follow the Keeper over to a small workbench. The workbench had two
tiers. The second tier was about a third of the width as the first
tier but ran the full length of the workbench. It was covered in
purple felt that seemed similar to the curtain but was definitely
different in a way that wasn't immediately obvious to the young man.
Nestled into the felt of the second tier were a number of crystal
spheres varying in size, color, and clarity.
“Are those stars?” Fredrick asked.
“Not yet,” the Keeper responded.
“They're only stars when they start to shine.”
Fredrick smiled broadly as he took in
the contents of the workbench. There was a small pot on the corner
with a clear liquid that was constantly bubbling. There was a rod
with a ribbed ball on the end, a pair of strange looking scissors,
and a pair of tongs. Other than that the workbench was empty.
“Do you want to see how it's done?”
the Keeper asked with a smile.
Fredrick nodded vigorously as Keeper
sat down on a stool and reached for the rod. He dipped the rod into
the pot and pulled it out. A drip started to form on the end as the
Keeper picked up the tongs. He gently grasped the drip and held it in
place as more of the liquid flowed into it causing it to grow
slowly. The Keeper turned to Fredrick and instructed him to pick up
the scissors.
“Now, cut the strand halfway in
between the rod and the ball,” He instructed gently.
Fredrick cut the strand and watched
as the lower half of the strand fell slowly into the ball. Much to
Fredrick's surprise, the upper half of the strand rose back into the
clump on the rod.
“Why did that go back up?” he
inquired of his host.
“The clump of molten crystal on the
rod is the same as the ball of crystal in the tongs. That means that
it has it's own gravitational pull. The pull of this material isn't
as strong as the pull of a fully functional star, of course,” the
Keeper responded.
“Because the star is made more of
light than of crystal?” Fredrick finished with some apprehension.
“That's right,” the Keeper
responded with pride.
Th Keeper held the rod directly over
the pot of molten crystal and the clump on the rod was pulled gently
back into the pot until the Keeper was left with a perfectly clean
tool. He then dropped the ball into his hands and began to gently
roll it between his palms, blowing gently as he worked to cool the
hot material. After a few moments he turned to Fredrick.
“Hold out you hand, Fredrick,” he
spoke gently. “Don't worry. It's safe.”
Fredrick held out his right hand and
gasped slightly as the Keeper place the small star in Fredrick's
palm. The star was slightly bigger than a shooter marble and was
still warm. The surface of the star was completely smooth. Fredrick
held it close to his face and stared. It was blue and so clear that
the boy could see the wrinkles of his hand on the other side.
“Hold it between your thumb and
forefinger,” the Star Keeper commanded gently. “And hold it up to
the light.”
Fredrick did as he was told. He gasped
as the star filled with what appeared to be a galaxy’s worth of
bright dots.
“Whoa!” He exclaimed. “What is
that?”
“That is my gift to you,” the
Keeper responded, lovingly. “Whenever you are in a place where you
can't see my handiwork, you can look at that as a reminder that the
stars still shine whether you can see them or not. However, when you
are in a place where the night sky is visible, your star will be
clear, like it was when you held it in your hand. If you are in a
place where you can appreciate the real beauty of the night sky, I
don't want you to settle for such a small representation.”
“Thank you so much,” Fredrick
whispered ecstatically as he slipped the star into his pajama pocket.
“You're welcome, Fredrick,” the
Keeper smiled. “Now, I'm afraid it's time for you to return home.
Your grandparents will be waking up in a few hours an will wonder
where you have been.”
“Can I come back tomorrow?”
Fredrick asked hopefully.
“I'm afraid not,” the Keeper
responded. “The doorway into my workshop is only close enough to
the earth once a year. You see, I made the ladder here and used some
of the molten star crystal as glue. Once a year, the doorway is close
enough that the top rung of the ladder rises out of the ground.
That's why it was so easy to pull up. Don't worry, I will still be
here. You'll know by my handiwork.”
With that, Fredrick stepped on the top
rung of the ladder and climbed down until his chin was at the level
of the floor. He stood there for a moment as the Star Keeper got down
on his hands and knees and place his right hand on the top rung of
the ladder.
“Hold on tight,” he said with a
broad grin. “You're going for a ride.”
With that, he pushed down with
considerable force. The ladder began to retract back into the earth
with a speed that startled the young rider. After a few moments, the
speed of the ladder began to decrease. The closer Fredrick got to the
ground, the more slowly the ladder retracted. Finally, Fredrick's
feet touched the sandy ground and he stepped back as the last few
feet of ladder slowly disappeared into the earth. Fredrick stood
there for a moment, not entirely sure what had happened. He looked up
at the sky and saw the handiwork of the Keeper slowly fade into the
dawn as the sun peaked over the horizon.
He walked back to his grandparents'
home and sat on the sandstone slab that served as the porch step. He
drifted off to sleep until his grandfather came out with his morning
cup of coffee.
“Freddie,” the older man woke him
gently. “What are you doing on the porch? Shouldn't you be in bed?”
Fredrick stretched and answered
through a yawn. “I came out to look at the stars last night. I
guess I fell asleep. I had a really cool dream... I think.”
Fredrick stood up and walked towards
the kitchen. As he stepped across the threshold, he felt something in
his pocket. He reached into his pajama pocket and pulled out a what
appeared to be a clear, blue marble. He smiled broadly as he held it
up to the light.
“You know what?” He whispered to
himself. “I don't think I dreamed at all last night.”
