The Glitter On His Cheeks

By Emily Rice

There was once a star who shone brighter than any other in the galaxy. But his light has dimmed because those around him, the shadows, didn’t like his shining light. He was beautiful, so beautiful that he made them jealous. Jealous because they couldn’t stand that he dazzled in the eye of the beholder, better than they ever could.

The galaxy was a beautiful place, peaceful, but those shadows couldn’t help the way they felt. They didn’t like feeling this way, so they tried to change that. They thought that they needed to dim his light, so they tore him down. They pulled him down to earth, using their words as lassos. They made fun of the glitter on his cheeks, he was treated like a social pariah. He was made to think that he was strange because of his brightness, because he was different. 

He started to believe these words, these lies born from anger and fear. When he started to feel as if he truly was inferior his light began to dim. The shadows were scared of everything the star could do, everything they couldn’t do. 

The star had felt as if hope was lost, he believed that he might never reassume his position high in the sky. But one day his hope was saved, he spotted a shooting star. This shooting star shone brighter than any he had ever seen, he could see the shadows chasing after this star. In the same way they came for him. But this star just kept shooting across the sky. This star kept moving without a care for the mocking calls that followed behind and that was beautiful. That was when the fallen star knew he was meant to be beautiful.

He looked around at the grumbling shadows that held him down and he gave them a gleaming smile. With courage and strength now by his side he painted the glitter onto his cheeks two times thicker, and he rose. He rose above all the shadows, he rose until he couldn’t rise any higher. He regained his glow and took back his rightful place. As the star shone far above he looked down below and watched the shooting star fly by. He wondered why he ever let the shadows bring him down.