The bizarre truth is, half of those bright things we see in the night sky aren’t real stars.
They’re living beings, with a sense of vision and hearing that’s 1 million times more acute than the average human’s, so much that while humans see them as little white dots, these living beings in space see humans in their full form. For the entirety of their lives, they stand in place, and watch the humans on Earth go about their very short lives in comparison. Time feels faster for these beings, because they age so slow. They can watch weeks of a human’s life, in the same way a human can watch a two hour film.
In the coordinates 6H45M8 stood Jaro, a space-being of 500 years, only a child. He loved how quickly the Earth rotated in his perception, how every time he looked away from Earth for moments and then looked back, he could see different islands, buildings, people. It was ever changing; he never got bored, and he never favoured any region that he saw over the other. That was until his 501st birthday, when he saw a human child celebrate his own birthday, as well.
The boy, whose name was Braedon, was just turning 5, and he celebrated his birthday in his backyard with ten of his friends. They danced wildly in a circle together, singing and laughing. Jaro wished he could move like that. Maybe it was possible, but everyone from his species stood perfectly still.
After Braedon’s party ended, he stayed in his yard alone, and started to sing to the sky: I wish I could dance forever, ever, but my legs, they get tired, and my parents want me to go to sleep!
It made Jaro laugh for a long time, he never saw someone sing alone like that outside. He wanted to clap for him. Braeden did have an audience, Jaro thought, he just didn’t know it.
From that incident on, Jaro took note of the region, the country, the house, so he could watch more of Braedon’s one-man shows. For a short time, Jaro enjoyed Braedon’s songs and random monologues about plains and his favourite movies, until Earth’s rotation took Braedon away from his sight. Jaro decided that Braedon was his favourite human by far, so he waited intently to see him again.
That time came when Braedon was celebrating his 6th birthday, with around the same number of people. Jaro noticed how much he’d grown in just one year. His brown hair was shorter now, and he’d gotten taller. Although he and his friends still danced, they danced differently. Not in a circle, but separately, this time, making awkward movements with their arms. It was beautiful.
Although Jaro enjoyed watching whenever Braedon was outside, he made sure never to miss his birthday celebrations. He loved seeing him play with his friends. On Braedon’s eighth birthday party, there were fewer children there, but Jaro didn’t think about it much. Braedon was still having so much fun. Then, on his tenth birthday, he had only three friends over. They played with water guns and sat at the table to talk. His twelfth birthday was when he grew a lot taller. That party, no children came, only his parents. By the way Braedon tiredly blew out the candles and let his head down, Jaro knew something wasn’t right. With a nervousness he never felt before, he asked himself, what happened?
That part of the year that Jaro could see, Braedon went outside to his backyard alone a lot more often. He’d sit in silence, usually, but Jaro heard his whimpers every once in a while, and it broke his heart. All he could do was watch, and hope for better days.
But a year passed, and Braedon’s thirteenth birthday was the same. He was so lonely. He doesn’t know he has me, Jaro thought passively, but that thought gave him an idea. What if he could move, and make Braedon notice him? He tried for the first time, and only his finger wiggled, but that was better than nothing. If he worked really hard, he thought, he could learn to move more.
But time moved so quickly, by the time Jaro learned to move his whole hand, Braedon was already fifteen, and his situation didn’t seem to be getting better. A moving hand wasn’t enough to get his attention. When Braedon disappeared from his view that year, Jaro almost lost hope. In Braedon’s seventeenth year, Jaro finally could move his full arm. He moved it frantically when he saw Braedon. His arm was getting so tired, and he thought maybe this was all for nothing, but just as he was about to give up, Braedon lifted his head and squinted at the sky.
Wait…
he murmured to himself, and stood up. I knew it! I knew it!
, he yelled with joy.
Jaro realized what Braedon meant. Braedon had felt his presence all these years, he just hadn’t known what it was.
