Leyla and the Little Star
Children's Story
Once upon a time, there was a Little Star that shone bright and bold and brilliant, high above the trees, high above the rooftops and chimneys, high above the mountains, high above the clouds. The Little Star had been there in the night sky nearly since time began, performing with untiring devotion a unique task, whispered into its heart by the Ruler of the Universe when the universe was formed. The Little Star’s job was to make the wishes of children come true.
All over the world when the lights were turned down low and their parents were fast asleep, children would creep out of their beds and sit on their window sills or tiptoe out onto their verandas looking for the Little Star. The Little Star was not the biggest star in the night sky; not the brightest; not the shiniest; not even the prettiest. He did not sit in any of the major constellations, and was of no particular scientific interest. But somehow, to the children, this was the star which shone silently for them, whispering of how their heart’s desire could become a reality.
The Little Star was allowed to grant little wishes to any child who asked for something with all their heart. A smile from a stern teacher; an evening without a fight between mummy and daddy; a little brother returning a toy without breaking it; a trip on an open-top bus; a much-loved cat getting over the ‘flu. However, the Little Star had strict instructions not to interfere with anything Big. The Little Star could not stop anyone from dying if their time had come. He could not find a new job for an unemployed parent, or grant a baby brother or sister if one was not due to be born. Even in these cases, though,, the Little Star still had something important to give: on the night the child made a wish for something really Big, the Little Star had the power to load a happy dream into the little boy or little girl’s dream projector. In the dream, the Big wish could be granted, and the child could have anything he, or she, desired. By the morning, the dream would be gone, quickly forgotten with the passing of the night. But the happiness and peace the dream evoked would stay with the little boy or girl, sometimes for days.
That was how Leyla first found out that the Little Star was her friend. Leyla lived with her six brothers and sisters and her parents in a large red-brick house in London, England. One night, when she was very sad and could not sleep, she opened her curtains and sat looking up at the stars. Leyla was awake wondering what she could do to help her grandfather, who was dying. Her heart felt like it was being torn, the way she had seen her mother rip up old bed sheets to make cloths for dusting the house. Through this rip in her heart, there flowed a great love, which wanted to speak. She did not know what to say, but as her eyes scanned the dark sky, they fell upon the Little Star, which seemed to be winking at her. Without thinking, she blinked back at the Little Star, and as she did, the love began to speak. It was calling through her voice to the Little Star, saying “Please don’t let my granddad die; I don’t want my daddy and my brothers and sisters to be sad; I don’t want to never see granddad again!” After this, Leyla went back to her bed and fell into a deep sleep. In her sleep, she dreamed that she, her dad and all her brothers and sisters were on holiday in the mountains with her granddad. He turned to Leyla and he said “Don’t worry, Leyla, death is just a doorway”. Leyla did not understand his words, but she was happy: everyone was laughing, the sun was shining, and somehow it went on forever.
When Leyla awoke, she felt peaceful and secure. Even when her dad came into her bedroom to tell her that granddad had died in the night, she did not feel bad. She could not remember the dream, but she hugged her dad and said “Don’t worry, daddy, granddad is fine. Everything is okay”.
For the Little Star, every happy child was a reason to smile. It was hard work being there for every one of the thousands of children who made wishes every night. There was no rest for the Little Star. But each time the Little Star granted a wish, or a happy dream, the tiredness born of centuries of service seemed to drift away, leaving the Little Star renewed. Perhaps that was what made the Little Star’s light different to that of every other star in the firmament: it was fuelled by joy.
Children grow up. They become teenagers, young men and women with busy minds, friends, gadgets, studies and hobbies. Their attention turns to things in the big world, and they often forget the dreams of childhood. The Little Star noticed that, at a certain age, quite naturally, each child stopped gazing up into the sky with a heart brimful of wishes. However, the Little Star was never short of work, because a whole new generation of little ones would start crawling out of their beds to look up at the night sky, and soon start making wishes, their eyes shining their prayers up to the Little Star. The Little Star knew that not one of these wishes could be granted without the power vested in the Little Star by the Ruler of the Universe. This made the Little Star very confident that his work was good.
Then came the night when the Little Star was asked for something that was not permitted. And the Little Star could not refuse. This is how it happened.
Leyla grew up. She became a teenager, a young woman, then a grown-up woman. She was clever, successful, and mostly happy. She had a lovely home, an interesting job, enough money, lots of friends, and one special person, Kiran, with whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life. However, there one thing that Leyla and Kiran could not have on their own, which they both wanted: a child. One night they talked long into the early hours about how what to do next. Finding no answers, they fell asleep tired and uneasy.
After an hour, Leyla woke up, feeling that someone was nudging her. The bedroom curtain was open, and as she looked out, she saw the Little Star, burning bright and bold and brilliant, high above the trees, high above the rooftops and chimneys, high above the mountains, high above the clouds. The Little Star seemed to be winking at her. Without thinking, she pulled a cover around her, went to sit on the window sill and blinked back at the Little Star. As the Little Star rarely got attention from adults, it twinkled at her even more brightly, remembering her from thirty years before, when she was a little girl who did not want her granddad to die. When Leyla saw the Little Star twinkle back at her, she could not help it: her heart tore open, the way her mother used to rip up old bed sheets to make dusters. And out of her heart poured a love which had to speak its wish: “Please Little Star,” Leyla said aloud, to her own amazement “I know you can make wishes come true. Please give Kiran and me a child: it’s the one thing we really want”.
The Little Star trembled to see tears running down Leyla’s face, but trembled even more knowing that this was a forbidden wish, which it did not have the power to grant. But it was also a wish the Little Star did not feel able to refuse. The Little Star was not allowed to give children to people who wanted to be parents: only the Ruler of the Universe could do that. But neither could the Little Star console an adult, because it did not have the power to load happy dreams into the dream projectors of grown-ups. This had never happened before. The Little Star was distraught. There was only one thing for it: the most difficult and dangerous thing that it had ever done. The Little Star would have to go in person to the Ruler of the Universe to ask for Leyla’s wish to be granted.
And so it was that the Little Star undertook the journey that all the stars said was impossible: the crossing of the vast, hazardous regions of the known and unknown universe to the place beyond time and beyond space where the Court of the Ruler of the Universe sat in eternal session. The Little Star travelled through fields of comets, exploding nebulae and dazzling oceans of white dwarves. Evading injury death at every turn, it slalomed around black holes, and slipped past wormholes, ducked cosmic rays and gravitational waves, and burned up asteroids on its exhausting journey to a place mentioned only in legend.
Finally, and half-extinguished from his travails, the Little Star came to the Great Doors of the Court of the Ruler of the Universe. And there, to the deafening blare of a thousand trumpets, the Little Star was received into the presence of the Mighty One. Face down at Her feet the Little Star fell, blinded by Her light and deafened by the trumpets. When the Little Star had recovered enough to look up once more, the Ruler of the Universe addressed him with a voice as gentle as melted honey.
“Little Star”, She said “why have you come here? You have burned bright and bold and brilliant, high above the trees, high above the rooftops and chimneys, high above the mountains, high above the clouds of the planet earth almost since the beginning of time. You have performed with untiring devotion a unique task whispered into your heart by the Ruler of the Universe when the universe was formed: that task was to make the wishes of earthling children come true. I have watched you serve the human nations with such tender love, it has often brought tears of joy to My Eye”. Hearing this, the Little Star felt light, blissful and restored. It was as if his death-defying journey was as nothing compared with this moment at the feet of his Maker.
Then, however, She continued, in a slightly sterner tone of voice: “Little Star, what is on your mind, that you would undertake this most difficult and dangerous of all journeys, risking your own life, and leaving your place in the night sky vacant, while children all over the earth look for you in vain?”
At this, the Little Star’s heart became heavy once more, and he remembered his mission. His courage almost failed him, here in the Great Court, with all the angels and other beings gazing down upon him. However, he knew he must now do the most difficult thing he had ever done. And he knew it might cost him very dear.
“Oh Ruler of the Universe”, the Little Star said, his voice shaking “You have given me a task which I have carried out joyfully, and faithfully ever since You created me, but which I now can no longer continue without Your help. A grown-up earthling has asked me from the depth of her heart for a wish that is forbidden me to grant, but which I cannot refuse...”
At this, the unseeable face of the Ruler of the Universe darkened. It was as if the lights of the Court had been extinguished. “Little Star, you are most beloved of me, but do not ask me things which you know I must refuse!” The Little Star was ready to extinguish himself right there and then, but somehow he found the bravery to continue. “Mighty One, You have the power of life and death over me, and I am at Your Mercy. But I cannot return without Your answer.” There was darkness and silence in the Court for what seemed an age.
“Very well, Little Star, let it not be said that I am not merciful. You have my ear.” At this, the light returned to the Court. “Oh Ruler of the Universe! The Little Star declared, the earthling, Leyla, and her partner, Kiran, long with all their hearts for a child, but cannot have one without Your help. The one named Leyla opened her heart to me, and from it flowed a prayer of such beauty and sadness I could not refuse it, though I had not the power to grant it. Nor do I have the power to load a happy dream into her dream projector, as she is a grown woman. I fear I have failed in my duty. But I have not failed in love, oh Mighty One, which is the very reason for my existence.”
The Ruler of the Universe fell silent. Her Heart was so moved by the petition of the Little Star, that it seemed torn. It was as if a Love so great it could drown entire galaxies were welling up inside that immense Heart, threatening to rip its fabric asunder. Then in Her Eye a single Tear, itself as brilliant as a cluster of stars, formed and teetered on the brink of Her Eyelid, waiting to fall. She addressed the Little Star in a voice of such gentleness and warmth that the angels fell upon their knees and silently wept.
“Little Star, the thing of which you speak is beyond the question of duty. Indeed you have not failed in love. However, what you ask may cost you dear, for I cannot change the Laws of the Universe even for you, or chaos will be unleashed upon all the worlds. I can indeed grant Leyla’s wish, but only at the price of your life. The choice is yours, for you are free to return to your place in the night sky if you refuse the earthling Leyla’s wish”. The entire Court stopped breathing. Not even the breeze stirred. But the Little Star spoke without hesitation: “If I must be extinguished, so be it! Mighty One, I would not have attempted this journey had I not been willing to lose myself for love’s sake”.
At this, the Ruler of the Universe smiled, surprising everyone except the Little Star. New galaxies were born in that smile, and even black holes ceased for a short while to devour everything within their dark reach.
“Little Star, you have learned that death is no obstacle to Love. That is why you are here. So weep not, Little Star, but rejoice, for you live forever in My Heart”.
And so it was that the single Tear which fell from the Eye of the Ruler of the Universe in one holy moment extinguished the Little Star’s light forever, so that the Little Star’s love could be free to outshine the limitations of the task that She had given him at the formation of the universe.
Back on earth, Leyla and Kiran soon met Tom, a kind, gentle, man who wanted to help them to have a baby. And so it was that Leyla, Kiran and Tom, a year later, had a baby boy. They called him Aakash, meaning “heavens”, as that is where he seemed to have come from.
Leyla was very happy, but she was uneasy too. Every night, she looked up into the sky, hoping to see the Little Star, just to say “Thank you”. But night after night she searched in vain. Soon, in the joy and turmoil of motherhood, she forgot all about the Little Star, and – in the way of grown-ups - was lost once more in the things of the world.
Then, one day, when Aakash was just nine months old, a terrible thing happened: Tom died suddenly of a heart attack. Leyla and Kiran were distraught. They thought about Aakash growing up without Tom. They took Aakash out of his cot that night and sat by the window, telling him about Tom and rocking him in their arms. As she looked out into the sky, Leyla suddenly saw a little star, burning bright and bold and brilliant, high above the trees, high above the rooftops and chimneys, high above the mountains, high above the clouds. Somehow she knew that Tom was not really gone, but would always be there for Aakash. The baby seemed to look up at the little star, blinking as the light of the little star twinkled in his eyes.