text: The summer’s sun disappeared and the world turned a dark shade of blue until it eventually settled into a profound black. It was night. The stars lit up the sky and gave the moon a pleasant company. They twinkled, and it almost seemed as if they were telling each other stories across the cosmos. The air smelled of fresh pine trees and the hair on Marla’s arms stood up as the wind brought the smell into her nostrils. On a hill not too far away from her shone a golden light: the Starlight Carousel. Its light shone brightly and confidently into the night, illuminating the dark sky for those lucky enough to see the carousel. The carousels light was not for everyone to be seen. You had to believe in it; have hope. But Marla’s days had long been deserted by hope. Her heart was a massive stone that she carried around with her every day. Shadows accompanied her daily, watching her every move until she felt like one herself. Only at night, when it was dark, did the gentle light of the Starlight Carousel seem to take some of the weight off her shoulders. Marla often wondered how she was able to see the bright lights of the carousel. It was said to be a celestial portal to one’s destiny that unveiled snippets of what lay ahead of each rider. A small glimpse of the future. The ride was exactly three minutes long. A short, yet profound journey through the veiled corridors of the future. The carousel appeared on cloudless nights only. It absorbed its energy from starlight, directly from the universe. The carousels appearance was a breathtaking one; a true feast for the eyes. The horses, sculpted from shimmering silver and adorned with jewels that sparkled like captured stardust, seemed to come alive under the moonlit night. Each horse bore a unique expression, as if mirroring the varied facets of the human soul. Marla took a step towards it and could hear a soft melody start to come through. She couldn’t even decipher the instruments that played in this symphony. It was as if it was crafted from God himself. She hesitated for a moment, slowing down her steps towards the carousel and shifting her gaze between the carousel and the sky above them. She was not sure if she could take the step. Can I take the step? The legends might be nothing more than tales spun from the threads of fantasy, but the inexplicable pull of hope tugged at the edges of her heart. So she decided to take a look into her future. Just a small peak... As she approached the carousel even more its melody became clearer and louder. Marla mounted on one of the horses and held onto one of the golden poles to her right. The carousel began moving instantly, rotating gently as if it acknowledged her presence. It acknowledges my presence? The air crackled with a subtle energy and she could feel the crackles in her soul, as if she had become a part of the cosmos itself. With every rotation, the carousel turned faster, carrying her in to the heart of the universe. The world around her blurred, all that could be seen around her were the strings of lights drawn by the stars due to the speed of the carousel. Marla felt as if time and space got swapped. The melody intensified even more with the speed of the carousel and the only thing Marla could think about was to lift her head and look at the sky; just look at the sky, Marla. The stars formed constellations that pulsed in the rhythm of her heartbeat. Marla recognized the true colors of the dark sky. It enlightened her that darkness was also made of components and that it could not exist in isolation; instead, her shadows were made of the same fabric as this darkness. Suddenly the carousel slowed down and came to a halt under a particularly bright constellation above her. Marla felt as if she could look at every decision in her life from every possible perspective there was. As the celestial melodies curled around her, a vision unfolded--a vision of a life not dominated by shadows but painted with hues of hope and renewal. The cement in Marla’s veins dissolved, turning a deep red colour. The burden that weighed heavily on her heart began to lift, the stone within her shattering under the gentle stroke of starlight. The individual pieces of the shattered stone of her heart floated and formed shining stars in the sky. They joined the constellation, completing it into a single true cosmic panorama that took the air from her to breathe. Just breathe, Marla. The stars formed a word. Clear and bright, it shone down on Marla so that she could not help but feel it deep in her soul, in every pore and every cell, as if it were engraved in her DNA; hope. What does hope feel like, Universe? Hope is the melody you can hear humming in your ears, the orchestra inside of you that never falls silent, even if you can’t hear it at that moment. Hope is an emotion that forms in your body as if it was a gentle wave; Hope is love that blossoms from the depths of your heart, just like flowers do every spring. Hope is sadness, a thunderstorm that passes over a city and submerges everything, because the only logical thing to do when you are sad is to just let it wash over, allowing grief to drown everything, right? Am I right, Marla? Hope is anger, like a fire that impulsively burns everything down and leaves nothing but steaming ashes. It’s not even the anger that will hurt but the raw reality afterwards.. Hope is the beat of your heart that keeps beating rhythmically, pumping life into you every day ensuring that you’re here; present able to feel Can you feel it, Marla? And Marla could feel it. She heard the orchestra inside her and realized that the carousel was quietly spinning on its own axis. She felt the waves inside of her chest. They watered the flowers, made them bloom and the world shine the brightest colors Marla has ever seen. Only to drown them after a thunderstorm; because that is the only thing that seemed logical to her at that moment. And then she felt everything burn inside her. She felt hot and wanted to tear off her clothes. Fire. There was fire everywhere. The carousel was burning, and Marla was burning with it; she was the ignition Ashes; ashes everywhere. What have you done, Marla? I am living, universe.