100 Theme Challenge #34 - Stars

"Hey mum," the little girl said as she was tucked in. "Where do stars come from?"

Mum raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Stars?"

The little girl nodded. "Yeah, like those ones." She pointed at the ceiling. It was painted like the Milky Way, with numerous constellations and planets dotting its surface. There was even a skylight in the middle for the moon to shine through every night; illuminating the room and making the painted stars sparkle like the real thing.

Mum smiled. "Well that's a very long story , and you need to go to sleep."
"But I'm not even tired!" Rhea protested. She cuddled up with her large teddy bear and looked at her mother with large, shining eyes.

Mum sighed. "All right." She settled down on her daughter's bed and switched off the lamp so that the stars on the ceiling glittered mysteriously. Rhea grinned and settled back on her pillow, looking at her mother expectantly.

Mum was quiet for a moment before starting the story.

"Once upon a time, a very long time ago, there were no stars in the sky, none at all. When night fell there was pitch blackness, and not a soul dared to venture outside during that time. People lived in fear of the night, believing that because there was no light, evil things lurked in the darkness."

Rhea's eyes grew wide and she held her teddy bear closer. She listened eagerly for more.

"Up in heaven, the angels were saddened that the humans shunned the night. They tried many different things to make the night beautiful the humans on Earth, but nothing they did worked. They lit brightly colored fires, sent colorful lights flying across the sky and lots of other things. But nothing worked. They even tried to shine in the sky themselves, though none of them were strong enough to shine their light for the entire night."

Here Mum paused, trying to think up the next part of the story. Rhea leaned forward; almost desperate to hear what happened next. "Oh please don't stop mum! Carry on!"

Mum smiled as she looked down into Rhea's eager face. "Eventually the angels stopped trying to brighten up the night sky and gave up, believing that nothing could be done. And so the years passed, with the humans still living in fear of night time. Then one night, a beautiful baby angel was born."

"Who was this angel? Was she pretty? And nice? Was she-"

Mum laughed and put her hand over Rhea's mouth to quiet her. "Do you want to hear the story or not?"
Rhea nodded, her large eyes shining.

"The little angel was named Rhea-"

"Hey, that's my name!" Rhea exclaimed excitedly, almost bouncing in her bed.

Mum laughed and continued with the story.  "Rhea was so beautiful and kind that all the angels loved her. She sang and danced, she told stories, and whenever she smiled she would light up the room."

Rhea looked smug at this flattering description.

"Because Rhea was very kind hearted, she cared very deeply for the humans on Earth. She watched over them in the day time, and smiled as they talked and had fun in the sun's light. She felt extremely sad, however, when night came and the humans got scared, rushing into their homes and staying there until morning. Rhea couldn't bear to see them so afraid. She went to her mother to ask why the humans didn't like the night.

"Well dear, they're afraid of the darkness. They think evil things lurk there, and that is why they are afraid to go out."

Rhea thought about this carefully for a moment before speaking again. "But then why can't we make it light for them?"

"Well we have tried darling!" Her mother exclaimed. "We have tried everything we can think of to make it light for them, but nothing has worked. We have sent lights across the sky, but they fade away in mere minutes. We have lit fires, but they can't last for very long. We have gone so far as to stand in the sky ourselves and shine our light, but no one has the strength to shine the entire night."

Rhea jumped up, her body full of energy. "But I can! I can stay up there the whole night!"

"Now Rhea, don't be ridiculous!" Her mother said anxiously. "If full grown angels can't even manage a few hours, how will you manage to last the whole night?"

Rhea stood up, determined to help the humans in any way she could. "I can do it! I'll stay up there the entire night!" And with that Rhea walked away, making up her mind that she would do whatever it would take to make the night time better for the humans."

Rhea's eyes were almost as large as dinner plates by now, and Mum laughed. "Do you want to go to bed now, Rhea? It's getting late."

Rhea shook her head frantically. "No way mum! I want to find out what happens next!"
Mum sighed and continued to tell the story, stroking Rhea's hair as she did. Rhea settled down against her pillows again and listened, feeling as though she could see the whole thing playing out before her eyes.

"So Rhea waited until it was night, and flew into the sky. Her mother and father and all the other angels tried to get her to stop, but Rhea had made up her mind. She flew to the center of the sky, so that all the humans would be able to see her. Then she took a deep breath and began to shine her light as hard as she could.

Some humans noticed and they looked up at the sky, forgetting their fear for a moment.

"Look! Look at the sky!"

"What is that?"

"My, it's so beautiful!"

"What could it be? How is it shining like that?"

More and more humans came out of their houses to see this amazing miracle. This single light in all this darkness was giving them hope, chasing away their fear. Rhea smiled as she saw their happy faces, and warmth filled her heart.

But her mother was right. Most full grown angels could only stay up for a few hours, and Rhea was beginning to feel giddy. Her light was starting to flicker, and her wings were growing heavy. She was about to fall out of the sky!"

Rhea gasped and clutched her teddy bear tight. Her eyes were wide with fear, and her heart was beating fast in her chest. "What happened next?" she whispered fearfully.

"The humans on earth had noticed that the light was flickering, and they were getting scared again. Many of them thought that the darkness was eating the light, that the evil things in the world were trying to suck it away. The began to panic again, fear clouding their faces. They started to go inside, to get away from the darkness.

Up in the sky Rhea was having a hard time. She tried to shine her light harder, but it was no use. And then she started to fall.

The angels in heaven panicked. They couldn't let Rhea fall!

"I know!" One of them shouted. "If we all go and help her, and lend her our strength, then she'll be fine! She will be able to stay up the entire night!"

The angels all agreed and flew quickly up into the sky to help Rhea. Her mother and father grabbed both her hands, lifting her up higher into the night sky.

Rhea blinked, wondering why she was going higher instead of falling. She gasped when she saw her mother and father, standing by her side, lending her their strength.

"What are you doing here?"

Her father smiled. "We've come to help you. We're going to stay here the entire night."

Her mother smiled too. "All of us."

Rhea's eyes widened in surprise. "All of us?" She looked around and saw all the angels getting into groups, holding each other's hands, glowing bright for all the world to see. Rhea smiled in joy and shone even brighter, illuminating the night sky more than any of the angels there.

Back on Earth, a little boy looked back and noticed more and more lights popping up in the sky, shining and twinkling and glowing like jewels.

"Hey look!" he shouted, pointing up at the sky.

Everyone looked and gasped when they say the sky, lit up like nothing they'd ever seen before. For a moment all they could do was stare at this mesmerizing beauty, wondering how on Earth it had come to be. The next second they were cheering as loud as they could. The darkness had been beaten! That little flickering light had beaten the darkness, and the whole sky was full of them, shining and chasing the darkness away.

And ever since then humans have never had to be afraid of the night, because they can see the angels shining over them, chasing the darkness away. Ever since then, Rhea has been the brightest star in the sky, shining her light strong so that we don't have to be afraid."

Rhea was quiet for a long moment, her eyes wide with admiration. "Wow…" she whispered. "That was really cool of her to do that."

Mum nodded and smiled. "Yes, it was wasn't it? Now we have the stars to look at during the night." She kissed Rhea on the forehead and got up.

"Hey mum?"

Mum turned around. "Yes sweetheart?"

"Will she ever go away?" Rhea seemed genuinely afraid of this happening, and she clutched her teddy bear in her arms.

Mum smiled and shook her head. "No, she'll never leave the night sky. She'll always be there."

Rhea smiled in relief. "Okay, good. 'Night mum."

"Good night sweetheart."

After the door had closed Rhea hopped out of bed and clambered to the window. She pulled the curtains back and stared at the night sky for a long time, watching the stars twinkle.  She tried to find the brightest star she could, and when she did, she smiled at it.

"Thank you, Rhea."

She settled back into bed and fell asleep. She dreamed of stars and angels and colorful lights, and of the one brave little angel that had lit up the night sky.