Those that fell through:
When Starshine decided that her time was done, she spoke with her Constellation Mother and decided to bloat and disappear for good. The Constellation Mother was rather surprised, for it was not typical of young stars, barely in their prime, to give up on shining so easily. After all, not every cosmic gas cloud had the co-ordinated set of coincidences falling in its favour to convert it into a Star. It was also a matter of pride amongst the Interstellar Gas Clouds to metamorphose into a full blown star. They all vied for it, and very few actually managed to secure the required gravity pulls that allowed for sustainable nuclear reactions so typical of stars.
Starshine too, had started out as a low-profile interstellar gas cloud. She however, never bore ambitions of turning into a full blown star. "It isn't my cup of tea really. I'd rather float around free of any commitments. Sticking out as a star and shining all day long doesn't really appeal to me much." But then things turned that way for her. There was this very random cosmic dust storm which swirled her into a magnanimous typhoon of dust, radiation and gravity. (Some say it was an ex-lover of her's who had lived out as a Star and was now a blackhole, who decided to rub her off. But no one could prove anything since he was a Black-Hole afterall). Things never looked back thereafter. She rapidly transformed through the stages in due agreement with Hawking's research to come out as a beautiful silvery shining star. And what a beautiful silvery blue she was. She was the envy of every star-femme in the constellation, and all the big and burly hunks wanted to get into inter-stellar gravity games with her.
--2--
But she chose to remain aloof. She never spoke with anyone. She shone extravagantly. She never compromised on what her core purpose and what her singular motive of existence now was. Then one fine afternoon it happened. A white-dwarf who had once been the biggest star in the neighboring constellation and was now the loner carbon-burning-wanderer crossed her by. He hardly shone. But he had a nice white glow, something which struck Starshine. She knew that the White-Dwarf's glow was different, something she hadn't witnessed before. It was more like the warmth of her heart. The White-Dwarf swerved off course, pulled by that gravitational field variation so typical of young Star-femmes who want to associate with stars but yet wish not to be noticed.
They exchanged some cosmic radiation, but Starshine was extremely reserved in her mannerisms. The White-Dwarf fell for her stardust. He collected some of it and stashed it away in his core-nucleus. It was the most warm and comforting stardust he had ever encountered. After trying invain to negotiate a gravitational space-time warp to attract Starshine's attention, White-Dwarf gave up. He realized that his was not the time nor prerogative to woo a full-blown Star-femme. And a Star-femme as lovely as Starshine. He was, afterall, a petty white-dwarf. What good could he possibly be, when pitted against supernovas, blackholes and burly big super-stars. Other members of the constellation had witnessed this rather unusual cosmic anomaly, and were amused by what looked like a rather quick closeout of nebular interactions.
The White-dwarf moved on. No one ever saw him or heard of him again. Starshine continued to shine. She grew more beautiful each day, adding newer chromatic frequencies to her already rich offering. Even the ever-lovely NorthStar noticed Starshine's nonchalant diligence. Then a few years later, a very young and very energetic comet streaked by with some news. (Constellations welcomed comets, since these young gypsies always brought news from across galaxies, adding to the usually drab folklore which the Constellation Mother would always relate to everyone). A few light years down the Milky Way, just off the Sagittarius constellation, he had seen the remains of an unusual white-dwarf. The White-dwarf had burnt its last around that area, and amongst its remains were found stardust which were still intact in form. The Stardust had belonged to someone from this corner of the galaxy, and was the most beautiful stardust anyone had ever seen.
When Starshine heard of it from her friends, she knew what they were speaking of. And she was crestfallen. Never did she know that there was such fire within the white-dwarf's nucleus that it could contain her stardust in perfect form even after several years. She knew not how to react. So she went and spoke with the Constellation Mother and related her intent to metamorphose out of stardom. The Constellation members didn't let her do so, ofcourse. She was the most beautiful amongst them all. Their pride. But she never shone with the foregone splendour. She added no more frequencies to her rich spectrum. She's still up there in the sky, but the White-Dwarf is gone.
But she chose to remain aloof. She never spoke with anyone. She shone extravagantly. She never compromised on what her core purpose and what her singular motive of existence now was. Then one fine afternoon it happened. A white-dwarf who had once been the biggest star in the neighboring constellation and was now the loner carbon-burning-wanderer crossed her by. He hardly shone. But he had a nice white glow, something which struck Starshine. She knew that the White-Dwarf's glow was different, something she hadn't witnessed before. It was more like the warmth of her heart. The White-Dwarf swerved off course, pulled by that gravitational field variation so typical of young Star-femmes who want to associate with stars but yet wish not to be noticed.
They exchanged some cosmic radiation, but Starshine was extremely reserved in her mannerisms. The White-Dwarf fell for her stardust. He collected some of it and stashed it away in his core-nucleus. It was the most warm and comforting stardust he had ever encountered. After trying invain to negotiate a gravitational space-time warp to attract Starshine's attention, White-Dwarf gave up. He realized that his was not the time nor prerogative to woo a full-blown Star-femme. And a Star-femme as lovely as Starshine. He was, afterall, a petty white-dwarf. What good could he possibly be, when pitted against supernovas, blackholes and burly big super-stars. Other members of the constellation had witnessed this rather unusual cosmic anomaly, and were amused by what looked like a rather quick closeout of nebular interactions.
The White-dwarf moved on. No one ever saw him or heard of him again. Starshine continued to shine. She grew more beautiful each day, adding newer chromatic frequencies to her already rich offering. Even the ever-lovely NorthStar noticed Starshine's nonchalant diligence. Then a few years later, a very young and very energetic comet streaked by with some news. (Constellations welcomed comets, since these young gypsies always brought news from across galaxies, adding to the usually drab folklore which the Constellation Mother would always relate to everyone). A few light years down the Milky Way, just off the Sagittarius constellation, he had seen the remains of an unusual white-dwarf. The White-dwarf had burnt its last around that area, and amongst its remains were found stardust which were still intact in form. The Stardust had belonged to someone from this corner of the galaxy, and was the most beautiful stardust anyone had ever seen.
When Starshine heard of it from her friends, she knew what they were speaking of. And she was crestfallen. Never did she know that there was such fire within the white-dwarf's nucleus that it could contain her stardust in perfect form even after several years. She knew not how to react. So she went and spoke with the Constellation Mother and related her intent to metamorphose out of stardom. The Constellation members didn't let her do so, ofcourse. She was the most beautiful amongst them all. Their pride. But she never shone with the foregone splendour. She added no more frequencies to her rich spectrum. She's still up there in the sky, but the White-Dwarf is gone.
