The Stars

I am climbing the high mountain. I look above and can't see the top, and I don't even think about looking down, fearing I wouldn't be able to see the bottom. How long have I been climbing? I can't remember. Every step is meticulously calculated. One misstep and I will fall into an infinite void.

I see an old woman walking toward me. She isn’t climbing the wall but stands on it, as if gravity works differently for her. She has a small crow on a leash. The crow doesn’t fly, but instead walks on the ground near the woman.

"Excuse me, sir. Do you by any chance know how I can get to the cemetery?"

"Yeah, of course. It's 500 kilometers straight ahead. Then turn right and walk another 250 kilometers." How do I know this?

"Thank you, kind sir. By the way, why are you crawling on your knees?"

I’m still gripping the rocks with all my might. She passes, and I close my eyes, trying the same trick she seems to use. I focus, and the pull of gravity eases. My knees ache from the rock now. I slowly and carefully stand up, fearing that the gravity could pull a cruel joke on me. I turn to thank the old woman, but she is gone. No trace remains.

I look around. Endless wasteland. The horizon blurs sky and land.

I continue in the direction I was climbing. I walk for a long time. Long enough for any sane person to stop. I don't.

Day after day, night after night. Eventually, I change course. Right, then left, then right again. I'm now completely lost, but I continue to wander.

The days are hot with a scorching sun shining cruelly directly on my skin. It is agonizing with no shade to hide in. The nights are cool and pleasant in comparison, with billions of stars shining above my head. I stop occasionally to look at the night sky. I extend my hand toward them and a smile appears on my face. I clench my hand into a fist and continue to walk.

It feels like my walk lasts forever, but I continue.

Day after day, night after night.

And at some point, I sit down. I look around and see the same thing I saw when I stood up for the first time. The whole infinity passed since then but nothing changed.

I am sitting now while the sun continues to burn. The first tear goes down my cheek, waits just for a second on the tip of my chin, and then falls toward the ground. It can't reach it, as it evaporates from the sun's heat. Then the second tear runs down my face. The third. A moment later I'm lying on the ground crying. I can't stop myself.

But you can't cry forever. At some point new tears stop forming and I'm just lying on the ground looking at the sky above. Above. I was completely lost. I thought that I tried every direction, but I was wrong. Above.

I stand up and close my eyes. I focus my mind on my desire the same way I did last time. I now don't feel the ground under my feet. When I open my eyes, I see the land that I spent infinity walking on disappear in the distance. I'm now falling. I don't know where I'm falling, but I feel the direction is wrong. I think just for a second about what I should do. I know the answer. I learned this trick already. I close my eyes again.

When I feel that the course is correct, I open my eyes. Now the sun is under me. Then night changes the day and I see small dots scattered below. I keep falling. A few days pass and I finally see something . There is a veil of clouds below and the distance is shrinking rapidly. I feel the touch of clouds. It is soft. It feels like lying in fresh snow or on a giant stuffed animal. For the first time in forever I just relax. I'm not thinking of anything, my arms and legs don't hurt, and the sun doesn't feel scorching anymore. I spend my nights watching the stars through the clouds below me and spend the days resting on the softness, occasionally rolling from one side to the other.

Time passes. Every night it grows harder to see the stars through the veil. I am now closer to the sun than I was before, but it doesn't burn anymore. Every day becomes cooler and cooler. It's comfortable on the clouds, but I start missing the burning sensation from the sun, the ache in my hands from climbing the mountain, the ache in my legs from wandering in the wasteland. Finally the night comes when I can't see a single star through the thickness of the clouds.

I try to get through the clouds to the other side, but it’s not easy. The clouds are still soft and tender, yet the veil cannot be pierced. I am exhausted and make no progress. Every time I try to tear them apart, they close back together like water. I roll over and look in the direction opposite the sun and stars. The vast nothingness stretches below. The land should be somewhere beneath, but I can’t see it from this height.

I keep looking and notice a small red dot. It’s so small that I can’t tell what it is at first, but after a few minutes I realize it is a sphere. Minutes pass, and I can see it clearly now. It is a sky lantern, slowly flying toward me. From my perspective it drifts downward; from its own, it rises toward the sky. It’s so close I could reach it if I extend my hand, but I don’t.

I let it pass me and it's right near the veil. It slowly closes in and then—

It passes through like the veil doesn't exist at all.

I can't see it anymore. Why can it pass but I can't? I know the answer already. Do I want to continue the infinite fall, or do I want to stay in clouds' gentle embrace? To that question I also know the answer.

I close my eyes once more. I relax my body and lie back on the clouds, but I'm not thinking about their softness like I did before. I don't feel them anymore. I pass through the veil and for the first time in a long time feel the free fall. The first emotion is fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of not getting back to those gentle clouds, but soon the fear fades. My mind clears.

I continue to fall for days, then months. The sun is much closer now, but I don't feel pain from its heat. Instead I feel satisfying warmth.

The night comes, but this time it is different. I don't see the stars above me, but instead I see them in every direction. To the right, to the left, even below. I am not falling anymore. I am floating.

I can change directions at will. I float toward the closest star, stopping myself right in front of it. The star is only a few centimeters from my face. It shines brightly. The brightest light I have ever seen in my life. It doesn't hurt my eyes. It feels like an embrace.

I only need to extend my hand to take it, but before I do, letters made of light appear.

This star contains one wish. Use it wisely.

But what do I wish for? Absolute knowledge? Power? To go back home? Or—?

I only think for a few seconds before stopping myself. Isn't it obvious?

I grab the star and make my wish.