The Star Child
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Greetings, Earthling, whoever you may be, I should begin, I think, by informing you that what you hold in your hands is my life’s work; the story of a boy who followed his dreams out here among the stars. Now, that information may prompt in you a number of questions. Questions that, I promise, I will answer in good time. First, I must say, my name is Paul, and I am what you on Earth would refer to as an Astronaut, and so that is how I shall be known to you, if you will, as Paul the Astronaut. Though, as you might have expected, I have bucked certain trends, and I have foregone certain expectations that you all on Earth might have of astronauts. For example, I do not fly in a spacecraft. Instead, I sail the cosmos upon an asteroid; an asteroid that hosts a porcelain minaret, you see, within which I live, and from which I study the stars. It must seem a strange life to you now, yes, but among the stars there is as much oddity as there is beauty. In my time, I have come across many a fantastical place, and many a strange, exotic locale. I have seen creatures with eyes on their elbows, and men standing as tall as your skyscrapers and as small as your smallest insects. I have seen skies of ivory and seas of green, and I have walked upon blue sands and looked out at purple stars setting, just as suns do. I have seen many great and powerful things, and many things of simple beauty; but none of those things are what I search these stars of ours for. I am a writer of sorts, you see; and there are many of us out here among the stars. We are all Astronauts in our own right, traveling here and there, from this place to that, from one galaxy to the other, in search of our subject matter. Some of us study the great deeds of great men, some of us are interested in the rise and fall of empires, and some of us study the history of things. But I am concerned with goodness. I am concerned with the soul. And, as it happens, I am the only Astronaut out here among the stars who remembers, or who cares to remember, that goodness is the one underlying factor in all things. That goodness, my dear reader, is what connects us all. Now, the soul, as I see it, is a time and a place, and a story, too; the soul is intermingled lives and intertwined destinies. It is the essence of a being and all of that being’s connections, all of their memories, all of their ups and downs and joys and grievances. It is the energy that exists inside of us all. It is what makes us up. And through my golden telescope, from the balcony of my minaret, I see it all unfold, and play out, like one of your earthly staged dramas. And so, when my day of observation ends, I head down to my study - from where I write this letter to you now - and I flip open my great tome and I write within it the findings of the day. Some days, I find very little at all. Some days, I find a great many things. What is important to remember, you see, is that space, as you refer to it on Earth, is entirely infinite. There are no beginnings or endings here; no firsts and no lasts. Let me put it to you like this: everything you’ve ever imagined, or could ever imagine, everything you’ve ever thought of, every combination of letters, or numbers, or images, or colours; all of those things, by mathematical certainty, exist somewhere among these stars of ours. There is a simple beauty in that, is there not? So, one day, as I observed the stars through my golden telescope – the golden telescope with which all of us Astronauts are equipped – I saw a desolate old moon, and thought nothing at all of it. There are a million million million moons just like that one, you know? You have one of your own there on Earth. Do you ever stop and think about it? I should very much doubt it. And so I passed this moon without a second thought. But, years later, I passed through that solar system again, and that moon, which had been so lifeless and dull, shined a blue like I had never seen before; it had transformed into a place full of life. And immediately, my golden telescope buzzed and jolted and whistled, and I knew I had finally found what I was looking for. And I knew I must write it all down. And once I had done that, I knew that I had to share this story, somewhere, somehow, with a people who might appreciate it. And, Earthling, I hope that person is you. This is the story I found there, upon that moon – and it is the first of many of my stories that I would like to share with you. May it touch you, and find a place in your heart. May it remind you, dear reader, that there are a great many things in life; but none greater than the kindness of the heart, and the innocent dedication in chasing one’s dream. Read on! Paul, The Astronaut
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
In a distant galaxy, Paul the Astronaut peers into his Golden Telescope, focuses the lens, and finally sees the perfect audience for his story. Moments later, his purple book soars through Earth’s night sky toward the home of a little girl who cannot sleep. After she hears a thud outside her window, Susie finds the book with a glowing golden star on the cover, turns the pages, and becomes immersed in the story about a boy from the moon.
At the bottom of the crater where a shooting star crashes, a Star Child is born on an old, desolate moon. Star grows up learning lessons from the Moon and dreaming of living on the blue planet, Esperanza, which his moon orbits. Despite the Moon’s objections, Star soon discovers he has little interest in anything beyond Esperanza. When his desires to walk in the green grass, feel the sun’s warm rays, and run in the yellow sand become so strong he cannot ignore them, Star risks everything to follow his heart and chase his dreams.
In this story for children, a boy from the moon learns that nothing is more important than living fully and as powerful as true love.
About the Author
Paul the Astronaut writes stories of goodness and transcendence from somewhere in outer space. He hopes that he finds an audience on planet Earth for this, his first book.