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 Once upon a time, as nowadays, you couldn't decide how you would come to life: either tall or short, big or small, with blue eyes or black eyes, with a sociable or a thoughtful nature. You would come to life, you would grow up and you would learn to know yourself step by step.
It was something natural that everybody went through, and Comet too went through it.
Comet was born in a quiet winter night in that sky that she called "home".
Comet was small and felt like a second-rate star. She looked at the other stars, at the Moon, and envied them because she knew nobody would ever notice that weak shining small point up in the infinite sky. She would gladden no lovers' hearts, no shepherds and children's hearts, or the hearts of men and women coming back home after a day of hard work.
The big Sun observed with compassion little Comet, who strove to shine brighter and brighter, to become a little bit more like the other stars.
He had already felt the desire to talk and comfort her many times. And many times he had already been on the verge of revealing to her the dream that even a small and insecure star like her guarded in her heart. But the big Sun would never come near her, he could not, not before the right time.
Little Comet spent all her nights looking at the world, listening to the shepherds and their sheeps' dialogues, to the voices of he mothers calling their children for dinner, to the fresh laughters of the young ones and the happiness in their hearts. Nobody noticed her, while her sisters were admired by lovers and poets, followed by sailors and travellers as compass.
But one day God told the big Sun that the moment to talk to the small star had come. Therefore Comet was admitted to the Sun's presence.
The poor one thought she had done something wrong, which she didn't remember, but that she had surely committed if the big Sun worried about a small star like her.
Instead the Sun friendly smiled at her and reveal to her that the time to leave had come.
Did they exile her? The small and frightened star immediately worried… but which were the reason?
No, the Sun reassured her, it wasn't a punishment, but a gift: she had been chosen to guide the journey of three wise men towards the dwelling of a king. Comet wasn't able to hide her surprise and disbelief: she thought that the big Sun was wrong and had surely called the wrong star. She? Guiding three wise men towards the dwelling of a king?
But the big Sun didn't change his mind. He describe to her the three men and told her they were called the Magi.
Little Comet, still confused, left. She still wondered how those three wise men would be able to see her. Poor men, she was too small, not sufficient important to be seen and obviously to be followed!
But one night the star saw three richly dressed men on the back of their camels who were looking around, confused.
Comet heard their words and felt the disorientation in their voices. Comet understood they were talking about her.
"Hey, I'm here!", she started to shout to attract their attention. But it was useless, the men went on talking and looking at the sky because they didn't see anything.
"I'm too small, they will never see me!", whined Comet, desperate. She had been assigned an important task at last, and now she wasn't able to do it. The big Sun shouldn't have trusted her, she was only a useless little star.
She was crying and never felt as small and powerless, unable to be up to the task, when, suddenly, Comet felt warmed by a powerful golden fire. She looked at herself, bewildered, and saw that a light silver tail had formed behind her. She didn't believe it: she was dressed in gold and silver.
The three men started to happily point at her and went on on their journey.
Comet was unable to understand what could have happened: now the men could see her, they were following her! She felt their enthusiasm nourishing the gold and the silver, and tears warmed her heart with joy.
After a long journey Comet realized she had come near a humble hut. She looked around but saw no dwelling of a king, only that small hut. Some shepherds stood on the door. A shepherds' hut! Where had she led the Magi to? Did she took the wrong direction? The big Sun would never forgive her. That hut couldn't possibly be the dwelling of a king!
But Comet saw that the three men dismounting from their camels and felt that their hearts were full of joy. The Magi went to the hut and each of them held a case in their hands.
"What are they doing?", wondered Comet, puzzled. She tried to look inside the hut and was astonished: the three men had kneeled down before a manger that had become a cot for a small and defenceless baby. Was that baby the king? And that hut his dwelling?
The first man offered to the baby a case containing gold.
"Gold, the noblest of metals, symbol of the nobility that his acts will instil into men and women's souls and hearts", sang Comet, absorbed in the contemplation of the baby, words that her heart had slightly whispered.
The second man took the place of the first one and he too offered a case to the baby. His gift was incense.
"Incense, with a healing scent, white flame, light smoke, symbol of the essence of his words, of what he will teach to men and women".
And then it was the third men's turn, who offered myrrh.
"Myrrh, born from drops of resin, scent that gives well-being, symbol of the tears he will cry, of the pain he will feel, human tears and pain to which he will grant solidarity and hope".
Comet freed herself from the contemplation and realized that everything around her had become lighter: the warm gold, the delicate silver, the memory of the tears.
That night she had done something nobody could have done. It now seemed that she had left some shepherds, three wise men and two parents adoring a baby who was born king in a hut among the pastures of Bethlehem.
But there was only one feeling that quietly glided in her heart: love.
Love of those shepherds, of the Magi, of the two parents for a baby who didn't know anything of his destiny yet, but who had already changed the one of a little star.
Comet felt love for that baby who had chosen to come to life under her sky, for those three wise men who had believed in her and followed her, for all those people who showed the baby the right path that would lead him to his destiny: love.
Comet cherish for a moment more that sky, those pastures, the hut and the presence of those human beings, then shone brightly, one last time before happily saying: "Now it's your turn, little king. It's your heart that will shine of warm gold and that will guide you. It's your words that will create a trail of light silver and that will heal all those who will breath it. It's your presence, your journey that will guide other men, other women towards what you represent today: love, the greatness of what appears small and powerless".
And Comet came back home. She was no longer small, no longer insecure, but conscious of having realized a dream and of having seen another come to life.
Story Info
- Story written by Lara and translated from the Italian by Marta, 2004
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