The Star Who Wanted a Shadow

How it begins

Aster Gleam had been shining for a very long time. Everyone said she was wonderful. Nobody stood beside her.

The clouds admired her from a distance. The owls thanked her for the light. Even the pond made a picture of her, although the picture stayed safely in the water.

Aster tried shining brighter. The owls put on little hats. She tried shining less. Someone asked whether she needed polishing.

'I would like a shadow,' she said at last.

The other stars twinkled in confusion. Shadows belonged behind things. Aster was light all the way through.

Milo Wing heard her from his garden. He was a moth who grew flowers that opened after sunset. He knew bright things could be difficult to approach. He also knew a few dark places that were not lonely at all.

He flew up carrying a folded leaf.

'You may borrow mine.'

His shadow was very small. It followed him across the leaf, two soft wings and six patient feet. Aster leaned closer. The shadow disappeared.

'I'm sorry,' she said.

'You haven't done anything wrong.'

Milo moved the leaf behind a cloud. The shadow returned. Aster followed. For a moment, she stood in a cool gray place where nobody asked her to be brighter.

'Is this what darkness feels like?'

'Some of it,' Milo said. 'There are many kinds.'

Below them, the night flowers opened. Their petals glowed without shining very much. Aster watched the moth's small shadow move across one pale bloom. It looked less like something missing than a place where someone had arrived.

'Could we make one big enough for two?' she asked.

Milo considered the cloud, the leaf and the distance to his garden.

'Perhaps,' he said, 'if we stop trying to make it belong to only one of us.'

Aster dimmed gently, and together they began arranging the night.