“Move aside! Give him some air!” The Captain squeezed himself towards the sick bed. There wasn’t an inch of space in between the huddle of children that stood peering at Polaris. The White-Man was breathing deeply, almost in a slumber-like state. His pale face was flushed in red and his lips chaffed as if he’d gone days without water. Amias stood pondering what sort of events may have led to his friend’s state. Maybe he had severe anxiety and fainted at moments of distress? He placed his hand gently on Polaris’s forehead: it burned, almost throbbing in the heat.
“Is he dead?” August whined. Amias was surprised the boy actually cared. This was the same boy who had been scheming to slit Polaris’s throat while he was asleep the very first night of their introduction- not that Amias would have minded on that very first day either. The Captain shook his head. He realized he was unconsciously chewing on his thumbnail. What if he was dying?
“One of you get me a basin of water, please?” he mumbled, letting his intrusive thoughts swallow him whole. He cautiously tapped Polaris on the shoulder- gently at first then a little harder. Polaris’s eyes didn’t open. He watched on for Jimmy to come back with the water, his eyes already straining with the pain of possible death. Oh, how clingy he was! It scared him that the sudden opportunity to get to know someone he could openly talk with made him so desperately attached. He was a pirate! Things like this should have been meaningless! Finally, the clumsy little toddler came back, a bucket larger than his own head sloshing around in his hands. The bathroom was undoubtedly flooding- Amias made a mental note that he had a new chore for the day.
He grabbed the bucket then turned it 180 degrees right onto Polaris’s face.
The children gasped, some giggled- August especially. They all watched eagerly as the White-man stirred, coughing and spluttering. His stunning silver eyes fluttered open and he shot everyone a dirty look. “What’s the meaning of all this?” he yelled. He combed out his drenched hair, then proceeded to wring the water out of his cape. It seemed Polaris disliked water more than any cat ever did. He kept clicking his tongue in annoyance and flapping his hands to help them dry, sending angry signals at Amias constantly.
“Well… A thank you would have been nice” Amias confessed, “we were worried.”
For a moment, Polaris stopped. His pupils dilated and he tilted his head, “Worried?” he repeated. He drowned in contemplation and guilt like he was finding it hard to decide what to say.
“… Yes. Thank you” And then he broke down, ugly-crying on the floor. The little girls hugged him, the boys tapped him on the back, no amount of comforting seemed to slow him down.
“I have forgotten what it feels like” he sniffled, “to have…”
“Family?” June completed.
“Yes”Amias’s head ticked with confusion, curiosity and compassion. He hunched down next to Polaris and stared for a few moments. He too, never knew what having caring people around him was like, although he seemed far better off than Polaris had been. He slowly turned Polaris’s head with his fingers so that his friend looked at him, then cleaned away the tears and snot from his pale face. "Where did you come from, Polaris?” he asked softly.
The White-Man got lost in another trance-state, his lip quivering and his nose whistling with mucus. He gestured quietly for everyone to sit in a circle around him. “I will tell you a fairytale. From my origins”
“Long ago, there lived an astronomer”
“Whats an ast-ro-no-mer?”
“SSHH!”
“Every day, he watched the sky, drawing the stars and wondering who or what they might be. Every day, he wrote his theories on the local paper- Angels? Gods? Spirits of those who passed? But none acknowledged them. Everyone thought he practiced dark magic and witchcraft. So he was alone.
One night, he climbed his favorite hill to watch the stars again. When he got to the top, he found something!”
“True love?”
“Bleh! No, June! A treasure chest!”
“Quiet down, both of you!”
“A small ghostly figure. She pulsed with the light often stars combined but she was weak. The astronomer looked closely to find a large impalement jutting out of her chest. ‘What happened?’ he asked.
‘The moon was jealous of me’ she cried
The astronomer was very confused, “The moon? “He asked once more.
‘The moon, my queen, is angry that I outshine her. She sent a moon rock to extinguish me’ the ghostly lady said, ‘but people need me. I can’t go’
‘Why?’ the astronomer asked
‘Don’t you see? I grant wishes, I tell people their path. Things the moon only wishes she could do.
‘Can other stars do what you do?’ the astronomer was in awe. There was so much he could write about. But at that moment, he was in awe of the star-lady’s compassion and beauty, she thought about others as she hurt. He was in love”
“Hah! Told you it was love!”
“June! SHH!!!!”
“ The star-lady wiped her tears and smiled in pain, ‘No. Other stars are ignorant. They are vain. They never understand that giving love and wishes brings love and wishes back to you. So they remain small. Up there, I’m alone’
‘me too’ the astronomer said shyly
Suddenly, the astronomer was filled with inspiration, he wanted to continue the star’s legacy. So that it wasn’t only him that remembered her. ‘Take my body’ he offered, ‘Use it to become stronger and shine in the sky forever’
The star-lady was surprised ‘But a human body can’t hold magic for so long. You’ll shatter into a million pieces after a thousand years’ .
‘A thousand years is already more than any human can ever imagine.’
‘No one will remember you’ she warned.
‘As long as you remember me, I’m happy’
She had never encountered such an act. She saw into his eyes, he was a kind, lonely man, he tried to teach so many who turned him down. She too fell for him
‘We will combine our spirits in a vessel so none of us will ever be alone’ She stood up and touched his forehead. The astronomer suddenly saw all of the Star-lady’s memories and felt all her emotions
‘you are the North Star?!’ he gasped
‘Yes. From here on, you are too, Polaris Jenkins’ they kissed as a bright light encapsulated them in a world of their own. And then…”
“They lived happily ever after?”
“she was gone”
“oh”
“But Polaris didn’t feel alone anymore. He could hear her dancing and giggling in his head. They were together. So he ascended into the sky and shone brighter than ever”
Polaris paused to catch his breath. He had been talking a long time. Everyone was hanging on his every word. He sighed
“But not all fairytales end happily. As time went by, the Star-lady left him, He searched the depths of his thoughts, called out to his heart- she wasn’t there. The people below, all but sailors, forgot about the North Star, finding better beauty and refuge in the moon, just as she had planned. The other stars did not like a human amidst them so he was shunned. So for a thousand years, he stood in the sky alone waiting to shatter and die, forgetting himself, his personality every passing moment’
June cried, August’s mouth hung open- even Amias was holding a loose tear. He had never heard of such a mourning tale. He stood up, “Your parents named you after the man in the story?” he asked.
“You could say that” Polaris muttered, “My father was a…navigator”. Amias looked out the window, the sun was setting and the story was bringing him a sense for warm tea to bring everyone’s moods back up. It had been quite an awful day since the start. He beckoned everyone out the room so that they could go prepare the cups at the table and headed out, reflecting on what tradition Polaris was based off.
August waited till the last of the bunch left. He looked at the White-man.
“Y’er dying?”
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