When I was a child, whenever I felt down, I would run to my room and gaze at the stars from my window. Sometimes, if I was lucky enough, a comet would draw an arc across the sky, which I took as the sky’s smile. The sky’s smile was a sign of good news, a beautiful future being foretold to me. That star was a goddess whose sole duty was to bring me good news.
Those were tough years, even the fire of war couldn’t escape the cold. Although the bombings continued extensively, their intensity had decreased. People had found a new enemy, the Ice Queen! Or at least, I had identified the cause of our misfortune.
For a long time, the queen had draped her ash-colored cloth over the sky. Whenever I searched for a gap in the sky, the crows would inform her, and snow would begin to fall. I told everyone, but no one took my words seriously. A few times, I saw the queen’s soldiers riding giant birds near the ash-colored cloth, and we would hide in the basement as they approached. On one of those days, when we saw the black smoke and heard the explosions, we immediately took refuge in the basement. There, we found a stash of old books, from thick novels to short stories.
As we entered the basement, my father lit a candle, and my grandfather put on his reading glasses. He searched among the books for a familiar name, “Fairy Tales.” Suddenly, he raised his eyebrows and said, “Ah! Here you are.”
Unlike my grandfather, who tried to remain calm, my parents were staring at the sky, hoping to see the sky’s smile, but when they heard the explosions, they hugged each other tightly. A few moments later, my grandfather called us and said, “Have you ever heard about legends?” and watched our lips move.
I didn’t know anything about legends, but when I told my parents about the goddess and the sky’s smile, they used that word. My grandfather continued, “A legend is a forgotten reality! When a truth is forgotten, it becomes a legend! Everyone tries to remember it, but no one knows exactly what happened.”
I asked him, “Do you think the goddess exists?” He laughed and adjusted his glasses, then said, “The goddess has always existed! But only those who believe in her can see her.”
My older sister asked, “Like a miracle?” My grandfather said, “Exactly! Because goddesses themselves are miracles. Being a goddess is strange; sometimes a human can be a goddess too.”
My younger brother asked, “How can someone be a goddess?” I thought to myself that if I were a goddess, I would fill the sky with smiles so no one would fear their future.
My grandfather said, “Sometimes a person becomes so excellent in goodness that they can no longer be called human; that’s when they become a goddess.”
I asked, “Do they realize it themselves?” He said, “Someone who is good doesn’t care whether they are a goddess or a human! They do good for the sake of goodness, not to become a goddess.”
Suddenly, a question formed in my mind: Could my goddess also be a boy? Or maybe she was a beautiful girl with braided hair! I didn’t know the answer, but I didn’t care. Whatever she was, she was my goddess, and I missed her dearly. Even in the basement, I was thinking about what I would say if I saw her again.
That night, while my grandfather was engrossed in reading stories, I saw a beam of moonlight through a small window near the basement ceiling. It had been a long time since I had seen any light other than the red of fire, so I climbed up the furniture and looked more closely. I saw that under the old walnut tree my grandfather had planted years ago on a hill near our house, a gap had opened in the sky. At that moment, a smile spread across my face, mesmerized by the beauty of the scene. When I looked more closely, I saw a child waiting on the hill, right under the tree. I thought to myself, “She finally came!” but I unconsciously shouted it out loud. Without any thought, I ran up the stairs and towards the hill. My whole family tried to call me back to the basement with shouts and cries. At that moment, I heard a series of explosions nearby and a strange roar from the sky, but I saw nothing but a few vague shadows.
My parents were ahead of everyone, chasing after me, but the desire to reach the goddess kept me from turning back, and I was so eager to see her that I couldn’t tell up from down.
I was just a few steps away from her when my father caught me, held me tightly, and quietly cried. When I looked back, I saw that our house had been hit. It was engulfed in a bloody fire. I escaped from my parents’ grasp and somehow made my way to the tree, but no one was there. Through the gap that was closing, I saw a comet drawing an arc across the dark night sky.
Yes! A bright future awaited me….
