Look, a guest writer (those always makes me happy), and a long, lovely story!  The Seventh Short Story is back!  Be sure to catch Micaiah at her own blog, Notebooks and Novels, where she posts writing tips and lots of other fun stuff.

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The Star-Catcher by Micaiah Saldaña

All of the best stories start with “once upon a time.” This, dear reader, is not one of those stories. Instead, this story will begin with a star-dance, a wandering knight, and a star-catcher with a cloak as black as night. For you see, a long, long time ago, in the age of kings and castles, one could lay on one’s back, look up at the sky, and watch the stars dance.

The lords and their ladies would watch from their castle windows. Knights would beg for guard duty, if only to see the silver-haired star-maidens skipping about on feet that had never touched a thing called ground. Peasants would peek out of their homes. Wide-eyed children would clap at the sight. All people watched. All people stood in awe at the star-dance.

There once was a star who danced more beautifully than any of the other stars. There once was a blue-eyed boy with a restless soul. There once was a man who wanted nothing more than to catch a falling star. This, dear reader, is their story.

~~~

“Do you want to see the stars tonight, dear one?”

Little eyes blinked open, and cracked lips spread into a smile as bright as the sun. “Yes, please, Daddy.”

Luca Medici picked up his little Gabriela from her bed. He, unlike his daughter, was not smiling. Luca had never been one for smiles, but now that his sweet girl was ill, he was sure that a smile would never grace his lips again. But, smile or no, he picked his ailing child up and took her to see the star-dance.

While wonder flitted through her eyes at the silvery swishing of star-folk, his own were blind to the spectacle above. For how could stars dance when his daughter was dying?

Her coughs broke his thoughts, and he pulled her closer. “Are you all right, my little one?”

Another smile. “Yes. But, Daddy, I wonder…. What would it be like to dance with a star?” A sigh escaped her lips, and sleep won the battle against child-like wonder. It was now that Luca opened his eyes to the star-dance and let himself wonder as well. Let himself become mesmerized by the descent of one of the dancers to the earth below. He wondered…

Could I catch a fallen star?

~~~

Dark blue night swirled around the dancers like silk as Alessandro stared up at the star-dance. His horse, oblivious, nipped at the grass that grew near Alessandro’s fire, filling the air with the sound of a steady tearing and chomping. Yet that didn’t steal away the magic of the stars. Alessandro shivered from the chill in the air and the beauty in the sky.

Looking down, he could see the stars dance in the reflection of his sword. The sword his father had given him before he was taken away… Alessandro shook his head. He need not think of that anymore. His blue-eyed gaze turned back towards the heavens just as one of the star-folk tripped in the silky folds of night…

And fell. Down, down, down. Its light burned brighter as it fell closer. Alessandro gasped as it sped towards him. He leapt to his feet, and the horse bolted from its master. The star fell a few yards away from Alessandro, and a cry came from it. Alessandro let out a yell as star-dust flooded his vision.

He blinked the glitter-like dust away and gaped at the star-maiden that lay before him, a moan escaping her silvery lips.

Alessandro swallowed. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and he had been in the courts of kings and the churches of popes, roamed every inch of Italy and traipsed towering mountains. He knew beauty. But this… This was more. Alessandro took a shaky step forward. They were even more lovely up close.

And then her eyes flew open and his world disappeared in silver light.

~~~

“What is your name, human?”

Alessandro groaned. It was too bright. Much too bright…

Something prodded at his side. “Human? Hallo?” Mutters came from above. Alessandro rubbed at his eyes, if only to block out the blinding light that pierced through his eyelids.

“What is your name?”

“My name?” Alessandro rasped as his eyes blinked open unwillingly and widened at the sight of the star-girl before him. Her snow white hair fell past her waist in a series of curls and braids that was dizzying to look at. Her pale blue dress glowed with silver light against her shining skin. Her brow was quirked in confusion.

He forced his jaw to work. “Alessandro.”

“Alessandro. What a nice name.” The star-girl dipped into a curtsy too graceful to be of the human world. “I’m Stella, daughter of the North Star.” Her smile shone as bright as the heavens.

Alessandro blinked. Once. Twice. Her smile turned into a frown. “Is something wrong?”

He propped himself up on his elbow. “Pardon my asking, but how did you, why did you—”

Stella’s silver eyes looked above at her fellow stars. “I was so, so tired. I have danced for a thousand years without ever stopping.” Stella’s eyes slid closed. “I tripped over something in the night… And then I fell.” Her hands flew up to her face. “Oh, I need to get back!” And then the tears started falling.

Alessandro bit his lip as he rose to his feet. He didn’t know what to do when human girls cried. How was he to know what to do with a star-girl’s tears? He reached out and patted her shoulder. “It’ll be all right. You’ll get home, don’t worry.”

The tears stopped, and she smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

One could imagine that when stars smile, the whole galaxy takes a deep breath as Alessandro did. Took a deep breath and opened his mouth to say more, but a sound from the woods beyond silenced him. Stella’s light dimmed as he whirled around and found himself staring into cerulean blue eyes beneath a dark cloak.

It seemed that he wasn’t the only one to come across a fallen star.

~~~

Luca Medici was the last star-catcher in all of Italia, but no one knew that. No one knew that when the night was at its darkest and the stars at their brightest men in cloaks as dark as night would come and steal some stars away. No one knew that all of the star-catchers had vowed to never again take a star from the sky again many years ago.

They never said anything about stars on earth…

Luca gripped his knife. There was a boy with the star. A boy whose eyes shone with her light and whose hand was on the hilt of a sword. A boy who could do nothing but get in the way of his catching the star.

He growled and stepped forward. The boy turned around, eyes ablaze, sword unsheathed. “Step back.”

Luca’s jaw twitched. So this was how it was to be. “I shall do no such thing.” His own sword sprang out of its hiding place and scraped against the boy’s. Silver on silver. Metal on metal. Both men eyed each other.

The boy gritted his teeth. “State your business, sir.”

May as well get the truth out. “My name is Luca Medici, the last star-catcher of Florence. I am here to fetch her.” His gaze fell upon the star-girl. Her light shook at the sight of him.

“You,” she breathed. Her light steadied. The boy dared to look at her. “Who?” he asked, grip on his sword tightening.

And then, as he looked at her a little more closely, Luca remembered. This was no ordinary star. He had tried to catch this one before. Tried and failed.

He had been too weak then. He had the power of a cloak that allowed him to walk amongst the stars, and he had her in his net, was ready to take her home to Florence. But something in her eyes, in her voice, had stopped him. Something that reminded him of his Gabriela. So he had left her up in the sky, and he had tripped back down to the earth with a thundering heart and an apology on his lips, with that something jarring him to this day.

That same something had him dropping his sword, dropping to his knees, and saying, “I beg your pardon. I didn’t—I mean I wasn’t—”

“I think you meant something, sir,” the boy barked. The star-girl laid a hand on his should and shook her head.

“Alessandro,” she said. “It’s all right.”

The boy fixed him with a steely gaze. “Is it?” She dipped her head and reassured him again. Luca quaked in his leather boots. He was just as weak as he had been all those years ago.

Even weaker when she opened her mouth and asked him to take her home with his cloak of night.

He couldn’t help but ask for a favor in return.

~~~

“Do you want to see the stars dance, my darling?”

Gabriela smiled at her father. “Yes, please, Daddy.”

Her father scooped her up, took her outside to where a blue-eyed boy stood squinting at the sky.

“Who is that, Daddy?” Gabriela whispered.

“That’s Alessandro,” Luca whispered back. Strange. He had met the young man only last night, and he felt as if he had known him for much longer.

“Oh,” was the reply, as if a name made sense of everything.

Alessandro bowed as Luca carried Gabriela to a blanket on the grass. “My lady. I hear that the stars are awfully beautiful tonight. Would you like to see them?”

Gabriela’s head wobbled up and down as Luca set her down. “Yes, Mister Alessandro.”

Alessandro’s eyes smiled. “I’m glad, because there’s a star here who would like to see you too.”

Gabriela gasped. “Really?” She looked up to her father, wonder in her eyes. “Is he telling the truth?”

“He is.” A voice that tinkled like bells floated into the night air as Stella stepped out from her hiding place. Gabriela’s hands flew up to her mouth. Her face shone nearly as brightly as the star before her.

Two hands that glowed with a silver light reached out for Gabriela. “Would you like to dance?” Gabriela nodded, speechless. Alessandro gestured towards Luca, as if inviting him to join the threesome. Luca shook his head. Not for this dance. This time, he would watch. Soak it in. Breathe in the music of the night, take in every detail and commit it to memory.

The three joined hands, spun slowly in a circle. A song escaped Stella’s lips, and Alessandro’s gaze never left her face. Luca had a feeling that the cloak he had given the boy would be put to good use in the future. Gabriela could have been a star herself, and as they danced, he could see the sickness falling off of her, as if she was a butterfly shedding a cocoon. Stella’s eyes sparkled.

And Luca smiled.

All of the best stories end with happily ever after. This is not one of those stories. Instead, this story will end with one last star-dance. Close your eyes and see the blue-eyed boy with dancing the star-maiden and a girl named Gabriela. Close your eyes and watch them twist, watch them twirl. Open your ears and hear them laugh, hear the music of midnight. Let yourself dream and feel their joy.

Let yourself dance with them across a dark blue night…

The End