There were many stars in the sky, but he looked at only one. Not that it was the closest or brightest of the lot, but to him it was the most charming one. It had an aura around it that only he could see and that made it very special to him. He spent hours after hours gazing at the same star oblivious to everything else. He even talked to it and felt its response. He could hear its voice ringing in his head. The star was calling him.

One day he could wait no longer and decided to catch the star. He decided to take that twinkling little jewel and wear it as a ring. He closed his eyes and took a leap towards the star. He felt an extraordinary surge of energy from within. Even with eyes closed, he could clearly see his little star in front of him. He ran at it as fast as he could – perhaps even faster.

Neither the gushing wind nor the long tiring way was able to dampen his spirits. The ever twinkling image of the little star was all he needed to cut the vast distance between them. He got tired but he didn’t care. He stumbled and fell but he recovered and went on. It started getting hotter and hotter but still he went on – with a single image in mind and a single aim in the heart.

But the heat began to get unbearable. He was confused. His star was in a cold, dark corner of the world. Then why was it so warm? He opened his eyes......... and in a split second his heart was shattered......... to more pieces than the distance that he had covered........ He was confused, afraid, sad, angry and miserable all at once. In place of his lovely little star was a huge ball of fire, spitting energy as he had never even imagined before.

He found that he had gone limp and was uselessly orbiting round the fireball. His tiny little star was nowhere to be found. He had no energy left to break away from the orbit. Neither to return back nor to plunge forward and end his dreams in the ball of fire. He hung there listlessly just because he had no other choice.

Even today when I see that star I can see him circling it with neither pain nor hope in his eyes.