REWRITE THE STARS

REWRITE THE STARS: ZEE

Have you ever wanted to rewrite the stars?

To beg on your knees as you yell into the open air, hoping that if you’re loud enough, that if you voice carries just enough agony that the powers that be will shred the fabric of the universe to thread a new one just for you? Or worn thin by pain and desperation, reach up, hand outstretched toward the stars, whole body shaking as you cling onto the last string of hope that your patience will be rewarded by the cosmos granting your wildest dream?

I shift my eyes to those very stars in the darkness, pleading that somehow my silent wishes will still be conceded to. I can see Polaris directly in front of me, twinkling as it guides me north to my final destination.

A sort of celestial metaphor if you will.

Taking a moment to breathe, I can see it crystalize in the chilly autumn air as the leaves around me rustle with the breeze. Taking one step in front of another, I continue on my journey to the clearing within the Zennu forest, an entity full of wonder and myth.

“My cutie pie, let’s get ready for bed, hmm?”

Cutie pie was a nickname that Queen Orisa of Zon, my Ma, had given me since birth. I was told that I was a lovely and handsome boy, but definitely had a naughtiness that exasperated many, especially the royal court. But my mischievousness was never done out of malice, usually just innocent but funny pranks, or a certain sassiness that left many stunned. As such, my Ma had decided to call me her ‘cutie pie’ an endearing nickname meant to reflect her love for me but also indicates her minor annoyance with my shenanigans even if she also found it amusing.

“Ma, I’m not sleepy…”

“It’s almost midnight my love, you were supposed to be bed some time ago.”

Pouting, eyes downcast, I put down what I had been playing with, putting it back in its rightful place before crawling into bed. Settling in, my ma tucked me before sitting next to me on top of the covers. “How about a story?”

“Do you have one about magic?”

I could see her freeze a second before blinking rapidly, “Why did you ask about magic, cutie pie?”
“During my lessons today, we were in the restricted section of the library, learning about how to properly record and store historical records. But there was a section that only Pa is allowed in. P’Tutor said that only Pa is allowed in because there are some dangerous books in there concerning magic and its uses against humans.”

“He shouldn’t have revealed that to you…but he’s right. There are some dark and dangerous histories hidden there. It’s for your own protection, cutie pie.”

Despite the pet name at the end, I felt a chill run through me. Her tone was low and conveyed a knowledgeable depth about what was concealed in between those leather bound pages.

“Please, Ma? Won’t I be King someday? Can’t you tell me something now.”

Her crystal clear blue eyes flickered with indecision as she straightened the bedding around me.

“OK, but we keep this a secret between us. You can’t repeat this to anyone, alright, cutie pie?” Holding her finger up to her lips, I mimicked her. Moving her hand to stroke my hair, she began:

“It is said that there is a magical forest called Zennu, that only makes itself known to the creatures that live there–Elves, Fae, and other otherworldly spirits. But because only the enchanted can find it, only they also can escape it. They use this to their advantage and lure humans into their forest under the pretense and then feed off their souls to maintain their own life force. But because they love to inflict pain upon their prey, they’ll feast on them until right before death and then push them back into the human realm. Disoriented and sickly, they’ll hallucinate thinking that they are still being held captive and fight their imaginary captors when in fact they are biting and scratching their own flesh. They’ll kill themselves without so much as a thought.”