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She was brought into the world as a corpse. She was born without the senses all children are born with. She could see naught, feel naught, hear naught, taste naught, and smell naught. Her brain could not, would not, function. Her lungs never brought in air. Her heart beat nevermore.
And yet, he kept her. He sealed her away, and brought her back. She would never know who he was, but she knew that he had given her life. Whether it was a gift or a curse, she had yet to decide.
When she was but an infant, she was brought back from death. And yet, she never had truly lived in the first place. She was no flesh-eating monster, that was apparent. But she harbored inhuman thoughts. Thoughts regarding the afterlife. Thoughts regarding all religion as we know it in the mind of an infant.
She had been brought back, and for a short while raised. All too soon this ended, and she was found on a winter’s eve, on the doorstep of an orphanage, as many infants had lain before her.
The child was brought up amongst others whose parents had abandoned them or died. She was brought up in a small ward for children who could not function properly, who would probably become raving beggars once the shelter could not support them any longer.
The reason behind this was her demeanor. She acted as if she could not see, and her eyes seemed filmed over. She never spoke. She never jumped at loud noises, or responded to human speech. To all, it appeared as though she were blind, mute, and deaf.
And yet…she could dress herself in the morning; she could find her way around a box thrown in her path; she would listen to others when they assumed she was not there; and on some days, far into the night, when all were asleep, when the witching hour began, she would slip out of bed, as quietly as can be, and walk calmly to the window. She would then proceed to stare at the stars and moon, eyes a-glow for what was the first time that day, and recite the names of the constellations softly.
On certain nights, she was roused from this activity by the shifting sound of bed sheets, as one of the orphans turned in their sleep. Then she scooted back to bed, and fell asleep soundly. But on other nights, she would complete her recitations within the space of two hours, and would then say this phrase as farewell to the glorious evening sky:
“Addio, le mie stelle belle. Fino ad un'altra notte. Per favore, vigilanza sopra me fino ad allora.”
“Farewell, my beautiful stars. Until another night. Please, watch over me until then.”
She would then reach out a hand, as if touching the stars. She would grasp at air, and then bring the hand back to her, to lie against her heart.
The girl approached the age of fifteen, when she would have to leave the orphanage. They tossed her out into the cold world, on the anniversary of her discovery on their doorstep. Although the attendants and maids pitied her, the orphanage was already full to bursting, and some new arrivals desperatly needed her cot.
She wandered off down the dirty streets, her feet in orphanage issue shoes, which were too small, and already sported a large hole in the heel, though she had received them only two months ago. She wore a black frock, too tight in several places, too large in a few more, and too short in any case. Her hat was nothing more than a ragged straw mat, with an indentation for the head. Yet, she held herself with dignity, and her stride was one of the confident wife, on her way to market.
Not knowing where she was headed, she followed her fancy, taking herself down side streets and back alleys, trusting that her instinct might lead her to someplace warm and inviting.
On the second day of her wandering, as it neared evening, when she was very hungry and tired, and could not speak if she had wanted to, her mouth was so dry, she came across a bedraggled kitten. Sitting down carefully beside it, she tried to rest her bone-weary frame. Slowly, the kitten approached her, wondering if this two-legged creature had any scraps upon her. Ever so gently, it placed a paw on her thigh, for she was sitting with her legs crossed, however improper that was. When she made no move to dislodge the paw, it warily stepped up into her lap, and nestled itself there. She absentmindedly stroked the poor thing, and found it surprisingly soft for something so muddy and miserable. She picked the animal up, and held it to her heart, and watched as it curled it’s face into her chest. It was asleep within a moment.
They spent the night like that, curled up with each other, and she managed to keep it warm, while it managed to keep her safe, although neither of them had much to offer in either departments.
When the sun rose over the rooftops, striking her right in the face with a sunbeam, it woke her. She rose carefully, still clutching the kitten to her chest, so she might let her little charge sleep a bit longer. She carried the soft mammal all but two feet, before it awoke itself, and demanded to be let down. Setting it down on the pavement, she watched as it began to clean itself. She giggled at the scrunched face it made when washing its whiskers, and waited for it to finish.
The kitten then darted off, looking for some sort of food. She followed it as best she could, but almost lost it a couple of times.
The pair eventually came upon a small bakery. The kitten, smelling the delicious foods from within, started for the back entrance, but was stopped by it’s new owner.
“Rimaniamo.”
“We wait.”
She had a premonition that something good would happen if they waited.
In a few moments, a young girl exited the bakery, carrying a tray of hot bread. But instead of being a soft brown color, the bread was coal black, and it emitted a smokey scent. From inside the warm bakery, one could hear the yells of the baker’s wife.
“That bloody child burnt the bread again! Always off in dreamland...never seems willing enough to lift a finger for her own family! Why I should just...”
The child dumped the bread unto the garbage heap outside, then turned to go inside, wiping her eyes as she did so.
After a few moments, the kitten was let loose on the garbage, and the two of them salvaged most of the bread, and ate all of it, although it had a bitter flavor, and had soaked up the garbage smell.
The two began their walk again, but this time the kitten followed the girl. Suddenly, it began to drizzle, and soon the drizzled turned to rain. The girl welcomed the downpour, and drank the rainwater, while the kitten lapped up its fill from a puddle that was quickly forming.
On the third day of travel, they came upon a graveyard. The gates were open to all, and the two wandered in. She felt some sort of connection to this place...
That night the two slept under an open canvas tent temporarily put up over a patch of land. A new grave would soon go there.
But, sometime during the middle of the night, she woke up to a pale light shining on her. Waking, she wandered out of the tent, leaving the kitten on the ground.
The moon shone on her features, and she lifted her hands out to the heavens. She began to giggle, looking at the starry sky, then, laughing out loud, like she had never done before, she ran through the graveyard, feeling entirely at home.
She felt like a real child again, not a half grown mongrel of a girl. Not a child forced to take on too big of burdens.
Running faster through the graves, she saw one that stood out. It was the same sort of stone as the rest of them, but it looked neglected and pitifully small.
She knelt at the grave. It didn’t even have flowers.
A chill ran through her the longer she stared at the grave.
Stella
This child of the star
Taken from us so soon
Whisked away, afar
Child of the moon
Lest we forget
1865 –
This child of the star
Taken from us so soon
Whisked away, afar
Child of the moon
Lest we forget
1865 –
The kitten padded up behind her. It stared at her, confused. It let out a small cry upon seeing her shed a tear.
“Non posso neppure leggerlo. Ma considerare esso mi rende il tatto come se appartenga là. Come se non abbia destra respirare.”
“I can’t even read it. But looking upon it makes me feel as if I belong there. As if I have no right to breathe.”
Stella lay on the ground over the grave. To her surprise, she heard a heatbeat resonating as she lay her ear to the ground.
“Perchè?”
“Why?”
The kitten sat next to the gravestone, near her head. It watched in surprise as she melted into the ground. A sigh of relief seemed to echo to the stars, and a chill breeze blew through the air.
The kitten hung its head. Its form seemed to change in the moonlight to that of a small child. It too lay its body on the grave, but in a show of mourning, as it cried itself out for her. It slowly withered away to dust.
The world never knew that two compassionate souls had died on that moonlit eve, and if they had been given the knowledge few would have cared.
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Warning: I do not know how to speak/write Italian. The main character's speech was translated from English to Italian with Google language tools. If y'all find any errors, please do not hesitate to tell me.
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