Star Dust

Before us, there were stars.

The universe gave birth to the immense galaxies, and in turn the galaxies gave life to the bright stars.

The stars filled the empty darkness and shone with their warmth for the enjoyment of each other.

Among the first stars born was Ellin, so small, but so much brighter than her brother and sister stars.

Ellin was also full of curiosity, that it bubbled out as a questions for Mother Galaxy.

‘Mother, what makes us stars shine?’

‘Stars shine with their inner beauty and with hope for the future.’

‘Mother, how many stars are there?’

‘There are many Mother Galaxies and each has many, many starry children.’

Much time went by like this. Ellin asked questions and Mother answered them.

As she got older, Ellin grew bigger and brighter and even more questions tumbled from her. Mother Galaxy had thought it impossible, and yet, she spent more and more of her day answering a never-ending river of questions as she went about her work.

Until one day, Mother's answer to a question stalled her daughter.

‘Mother, why do we shine? Who is it for?’

‘Hm, stars shine for one another, to give each other a reason to be.’

‘Mother, how big is Grandmother Universe?’

‘Grandmother has no end and grows ever more every day.’

Ellin fell silent for a time, thinking about Mother’s answer. She looked to each side. North and South. East and West. Up and down. There were the twinkles of shining stars, spread across the inky black as far as she could see and beyond.

If Grandmother Universe was endless there must be hundreds upon thousands of Mother Galaxies and an infinite number of stars.

Ellin’s every thought became about what lay beyond her home galaxy.

And the next and the next. She yearned to see it all, to satisfy her curiosity. And the yearning grew. It grew so much it threatened to consume her.

Her brothers and sisters noticed a difference in their sibling.

‘Mother, is Ellin going to be alright?’

‘Yes, my dear ones, she is. She is going through some changes.’

‘Changes? What kind of changes? Will we go through the changes, too?’

Mother Galaxy nodded. ‘Of one kind or another you, my children, will all change. Ellin will grow so big and bright that her light will flash brightly and go out.’

‘Go out?! She will die? No! Mother, we can’t let her die!’ Her siblings cried out in dismay.

‘Not die, no. She will stop shining. That is all. It is the one rule of Grandmother Universe: nothing can ever be destroyed. Only ever changed. Ellin will explode into so many tiny pieces they cannot be counted. Then she will get her dearest wish. She will be free to travel to other places in Grandmother Universe. She will see new things and meet new stars.’

‘But Mother, we will miss her.’

‘Ofcourse you will. So will I. But I will also be happy for her. This is what she was born to do. And in time, some of you will follow her example and leave on your own adventures. This is what love is. We support those we love to follow their dreams. So, even though we will miss her, we will show Ellin how happy we are for her.’

The stars were unsure, but did as their Mother told them to and showed their sister how excited they were for her to start her new adventure.

When the time got close for her to leave, Ellin felt sick.

‘Mother! I’m scared. Maybe I don't want to leave now.’

‘Are you my little one? Or are you only full of nerves? Fear and anticipation feel very much alike.’

‘What if I fail?’

‘My Darling Child, you may fail. It is not bad to fear or fail. You may fail. But you may soar! You cannot let fear of failure stop you from living.’

With great effort and her mother’s words in her mind, the star took a deep breath. And as she let it out, she relaxed feeling her light rise and explode out, breaking her apart into millions of tiny pieces.

No longer a bright star, but a glittering cloud of dust, the essence Ellin had become caught up in the wind and was carried away from her siblings and Mother Galaxy, their farewells following her on the breeze.

Her adventure took her to so many new things. She saw new Galaxies forming and stars being born. She saw stars with many planets in their care, some with only a few. She had never had a planet to care for, though some of her siblings had. She never knew the variety there could be! Some with water and ice, some with gases and dust. Some erupted with fiery volcanos and others raged with storms. Some had bright moons or rings and others had none. She saw rocks and ice streaking through the universe at amazing speed with their tails bright behind them. And the colours she saw! So many colours!

There were just so many things to see! Grandmother Universe was never ending.

As time went on, Ellin grew tired. She had travelled for so long and so far, seen so much.

And she was lonely. She longed for her mother, her siblings and home.

The wind that carried her blew through a new galaxy. A young galaxy full of new stars being born.

Exhausted, she let herself fall from the wind, to settle down to a planet spinning around a star.

The planet itself was not at rest. It boiled with water and lava, volcanoes erupting and filling the dark sky with fountains of molten rock.

As the planet turned from the dark to face the star that tended it, she greeted her in surprise.

‘Oh! A visitor! Who are you?’

‘I am Ellin. From a far Galaxy. I have travelled for so long, I need to rest.’

‘I am Bila. You are welcome to stay as long as you need. It will be lovely to have company. My planets do not say much and my siblings are so far away it takes so long for our words to reach each other. Conversations are slow.’

‘Thank you, Bila, I am grateful.’

Bila’s planet was beautiful. Her light filtered though the atmosphere on the side that faced her. It changed the pure white light to a dramatic orange that dulled the intense warm glow of the lava bubbling up from under the rock and water. On the side facing away, the dark allowed her to see the brightness of the lava flows that were hidden when Bila's light shone on the surface of the planet.

Ellin fell in love. She had not known the love a star could have for a planet, never having one of her own. Now she felt a little of what her siblings felt for their planets. Such a small part of Grandmother Universe, but so captivating.

The longer she stayed, the more she wished she never had to leave.

Bila was a wonderful host, sparing time from her duties caring for her planets to talk with Ellin. And Ellin looked forward to their talks. She spent the hours in the dark admiring the volcanic landscape and its light shows. And when Bila’s light crept round, they would pick up where they left off the day before.

One morning, as light touched the place Ellin had come to rest she noticed something happening around her. She was afraid of what she would say, but she knew she must tell her friend.

‘Billa! Something has happened! The small things in the water have eaten some of my essence! They are changing!’

‘Oh! Would you look at that! How fascinating!’

‘I have ruined your beautiful planet!’

Bila smiled. ‘I think ruined is much too strong a word. It isn’t ruined. It is changing. Those little things are growing and becoming something new. We all change with time and the influence of others. We will just have to wait and see what they become. I am sorry they ate your essence though. Are you alright?’

‘I am fine.’

Comforted and reassured that her friend was not angry, Ellin turned her curiosity to the small things. She let them eat more of her tiny peices. And as time passed, she began to notice something curious. She realised she could feel feel what the little things felt.

As they grew, they ate more pieces of her and she began to feel more and hear and see too. There were so many things to discover. Slowly, the planet changed. The little things grew to bigger things. Green things grew and the water covering the planet retreated to lakes and oceans. The sky cleared of the dense orange clouds of ash and gasses and became blue. The volcanoes stopped erupting and went to sleep, only waking occasionally. Ellin, now part of the planet, saw savage storms and raging rivers, tall trees and beautiful flowers. She felt pain, joy, anger and love as part of the different creatures that rose and fell, to be replaced by new ones. The world was full of endless wonder and colour.

Enough to satisfy the eternal curiosity of a star.

The next time you feel low and you start to feel you are not worthy, remember: In you exists the essence of stars. You are already extraordinary.

The dust of exploded stars is a constant and invisible rain on our planet. Without this dust, we would not have had the essential building blocks needed for life on our planet. We are, quite literally, made of star dust.

Ellin and Billa are Aboriginal girls names. In traditional stories, creation is a female trait, especially the Sun.

My story is written to reflect the Aboriginal (Australian Indigenous) Dreamtime stories. My mother is English and my father is an Australian Indigenous Elder. I grew up with stories of the creation of our land, known as the Dreamtime and they are some of my favourite childhood memories. I wanted to honour my ancestors with a story in the style of our traditions.