A Heart of Stardust

The young mother hummed as she rocked her child to sleep. From the window of her small hospital room, she could see the mass of star in the black expanse. She watched as one whizzed and danced across the sky, life so bright and fickle. “Nova Aurora,” She sounded softly, gazing at the heavens, “Bright and beautiful, just like my baby, my bright star light. Hush my darling, momma will always love you.” Tears began to slip down her cheeks, the thought of losing her beloved baby heart-wrenching, the thought of keeping her just as much so. A harsh beam of light spilled into the hospital room from the crack of the opening door. “Are you ready, Miss?” asked the nurse gently. 

Trying to stay strong, the woman kissed her child gently on the head, handed her to the nurse and took a silver locket from the table beside the bed. “Give this to her mother, please” she begged. “My child deserves a better life, but I dont mean to desert her.”

“I will make sure she gets it,” The nurse smiled, heart aching for the broken woman in front of her. “Ms Young will take great care of your daughter, don’t you worry.”

The small girl speed down the porch steps, tin foil helmet crooked on her messy hair. “Hurry up mummy,” She called, “were gonna miss it!”

“Slow down, No,” Her mother called, “We won’t miss it,” She smiled as she watched her daughter scramble into the car, tripping up the path in the evening darkness. Hayley’s comet was passing tonight, and the space mad child just had to see it. “Hurry up, honey,” She called to her wife, as she locked up the door to the house, “We’re going to miss it,” Her love just scoffed and rolled her eyes at the echo.

As they drove along the quiet roads towards the outskirts of the city, the smoggy, urban sky faded to reveal the beauty of the natural inky black galaxies, sprinkled with a smattering of stars. The biggest hill was packed with people, all waiting frantically for a chance to witness the historic event. Their favourite spot was a secret, a little further out, just perfect for when mama took her stargazing. Tonight, was a special occasion, one Nova had been talking about for weeks. Finally, Haley’s comet was passing over head. The 10-year-old was bouncing off the walls, barely stopping all-day. When her mama had got back from her shift at the hospital, she herded into the shower and corralled into changing as fast as was humanly possible. 

When they pulled up in the carpark, Nova nearly fell over herself trying to get out of the car. Her parents shared a fond look, before mum moved to help her and mama grabbed the supplies. Together they walk up the short path to the top of the hill, their daughter zooming ahead with rocket noises. Laying down the blanket on the top, they settled themselves for a long wait. 

It was only a few hours until the first streaks began to stain the sky, leaving a fiery trail. Nova gasped as the beautiful patterns exploded into colour in her childlike mind. Youthful wonder and curiosity danced in her eyes, but the most breath-taking sight was yet to occur. The greatest itself, Hayley’s comet, soared across the sky, the great climax, the pinnacle of beauty, framed in the endless inky blackness of infinity. The flaming trail, like a brilliant legacy. Burning bright and brief, imposing and magnificent yet gone in a snap. Immortal yet fleeting, a short-lived moment of ethereal perfection.

Her parents watched, the joy in Nova’s face sending warm to their hearts. This was Nova’s namesake, her brethren. They were beautiful and wild, their lives were fickle but they burned so brightly thought their short bright lives. Their Nova was something so special. Every parent would say that, but she was curious and intelligent, fierce and bold, unafraid to stand up for herself. And they were so proud. 

Physics. An ‘interesting choice for a woman like her’. That was what all the teachers said. But if they thought they were stopping Nova Young; they were sorely mistaken. The stars were her passion, and physics was her ticket to meet them. The master’s degree was what she needed to go into space. When school got tougher, even that wasn’t enough to make her give up on her dream. Even when she felt like her brain was exploding, all it took was a night on the roof or in their special spot, a fantastic view of the stars was enough to inspire her. Space watch out!

Cadet Young wasn’t the top of her class, but she wasn’t the bottom by any means. This was her chance to reach the stars, and she was crazy to pass it up. Crazy for trying too, according to all those men. But she was going to show them. It was hard work and long hours, the assignment, the simulators and the physical training required in this profession was going to be tough. The two years would be worth it, of that she was sure. If flying felt this amazing, just imagining how zero-g would feel was enough to spur her on.

Astronaut Nova Aurora Young was on cloud nine. Scratch that, she was higher! Her craft had just breached the earth’s upper atmosphere and, for the first time in her life, she was in space. The journey felt like a blip, adrenaline leaving her in an elated daze. As the docking sequence finished, she impatiently made her way to the airlock. This was it.

By the time she crashed in her small cabin, the reality had begun to hit her. She, the little girl from California, was aboard the international space station. Sleep came easier than she expected, her body unused to the transition. But when she woke in the morning what was waiting for her was spectacular.

Spread out at her mercy was the globe, still dark with the morning haze. But peaking over the edge was a golden slither of sunlight, illuminating the barest hints of life. Entranced, Nova watched as the sun rose majestically, as if waking from a deep slumber. The rays of light sliced through the star flecked scenery, enveloping the sun and crowning it in ethereal glory. This. This was perfection. This was the moment all of the training, the struggle and the hard work had led up to. This one moment made it all worth it. Because for the first time, Nova was home.

Her favourite part of being a teacher, Nova mused, had to be the joy and passion of some of the students. Yes, there were the troublemakers, no-one was safe from them. But when you look, every child wants to learn something exciting. Physics wasn’t exciting, not in its barest forms. But when you take a careful at the world around you, you see the wonder and magic in every little thing. The perfection and complexity in the way you could stand on the earth’s surface, without floating away, the way you can breathe a cocktail of gases and survive and the way that humanity depends on a layer of soil. If she couldn’t live among the stars (even after 6 years on the ISS she still wasn’t bored) at 35 years old the next best she could so was inspire others.

For nearly 40 years, Nova Young inspired children to reach for the stars. A former astronaut, pioneer of woman’s rights and activist, she retired happily at the age of 75 to her childhood home in California. There she lived with her cats, Pluto, Jupiter and Mercury. For the rest of her life, she longed to be back among the star, watching the sunrise from space again.

And so, she sat on the porch and waited. She watched as the sun went down, stubbornly clinging to the dregs of day with golden tendrils. As the sky darkened and the night air cooled, the stars crept onto the blank canvas, filling the strange emptiness with their familiar light. Daintily, they twinkled, painting the sky in ardent patterns and dear constellations. A content smile graced her aging features. Peacefully, she sat long into the night and watched the stars. “soon,” she whispered in reverent awe, “Soon, I will join you. My whole life I have longed to be near you, but now, now I can become one of you, forever,” 

The stars waited for the old lady, the child who had marvelled at them, the student who had studied them, the cadet who had raced for them, the astronaut who had lived with them and the master who had taught them. But mostly, they waited for the heart who had loved them so dearly, like her own, the beautiful mind who had seen elegance in their fickle, wild cores and wonder in their fierce, eternal blaze. So, as she longed for them, they longed for her. She was their wild, beautiful human, with a heart as bright as their blaze and a mind glowing with wisdom. And they were her refuge, her home. From the earth she watched and waited until she could return to her beloved.