text: On a planet far, far away with people not unlike our own, a city rocked sullenly under the dim glow of a brilliant star. An intricately-tangled mess of docks and rafts, destined to drift for all eternity on a world where dry land was but a mystical fantasy, a story told to children of far-away lands and strange beings. When the stars disappeared, there existed nothing but night; but the heavens had not finished writing their story, and so a star was sent down to illuminate the darkness these people lived in. A boy bathed in celestial light, whose fate was to purge the eternal black this land relished in. But radiant light blinds those who gaze upon it; and thus he was cast away, to sail in an endless orbit around this hopeless place the people called home. A boy who was one with the universe, yet, paradoxically, forever alone. Somewhere in the city, a church bell rang out, and a congregation of sinners gathered once again. &nbsp; ## Waves lapped upon the small dinghy their star-boy was made to call home, and the small craft swayed gently on the eternal sea, lulling the boy back home. Visions of a place he once knew floated through his mind, scenes of planets and comets dancing among the stars. *Here to raise these people to the light, yet cast out for that very same reason. How absurd!* Although he was stuck with such a hopeless purpose, the star-boy found solace in the tranquility of the waves; and although he was so far from home, he took consolation in the ever-unchanging nature of the sea. *I should despair, yet every wave brings me a feeling of comfort. I suppose if I am to be hopeless anywhere, this is not a bad place to be.* The boy watched the fish perform their daily dance off the side of his boat, and as he had every time before, he imagined a life where he lived for such a simple reason. And just as he had every time before, he concluded that he enjoyed his life more. Yet he still felt incomplete, and it was at this moment the star-boy had an epiphany of his own true meaning. And as abruptly as he was cast upon this wretched ocean,\ he dove off the craft, chose to set himself in motion. Deeper, deeper, deeper into the murky depths he swam, propelled further and further down by the realization of his own meaning. And at last in a flash of brilliant, holy light, darkness returned to this planet once again. But the darkness was only a brief respite; for after the star-boy left that vast blue expanse, a star far, far away twinkled with the light of pure radiance. And in that way, darkness left the land once again. The future is but a muddied painting; some blurry shapes are already laid for us, but we can choose the colors and forms that shape our ultimate ending. On this fateful day, the star-boy picked up a brush and dipped it into a paint of his own choosing. Somewhere in the city, a church bell rang out, and a congregation of saints gathered once again.