Capturing the Stars : A Short Story Collection

Capturing the Stars, #contest2

Written for W & W Contest # 2, prompt # 1.

The universe was in her eyes.  Galaxies, stars, quasars, supernovae - it was all interconnected into a beautiful web of strange uncertainty, all suspended within her.  Her irises were made of the sky, her pupils of dark matter, an infamous mystery.  She possessed an inhuman glow, and left a trail of incandescence wherever she turned.  The grace with which she moved was spellbinding.  In man's terms, she was extraordinary.

She was made of the stars, fashioned of the supernovae, yet no one quite knew her origin, or even her name.  She was part of something bigger than him, bigger than he could understand.

He was a desperate man, striving to feed a family.  He'd created something - a monster perhaps - a camera to capture the soul forever.  Immoral?  Perhaps.  Yet he was tired, careworn, wanting to hold more than a sunset in his hand.  He wandered the city streets, capturing upon film the secrets of the soul : dark pasts, brilliant dreams hidden within.  It supported his addiction, as well.

When he saw her glow, he was utterly entranced.  Her form required a picture, to him, begged to be read like a novel.  He lifted his camera.  He focused on her eyes, a swirling cosmos, an unread universe.  The zoom enhanced her perfection, enlarged her beauty.  He pressed the button, holding his breath, capturing her soul.  He eagerly previewed the image.

Yet, where he expected to see the beautiful contours of her face, he only saw a twinkling kaleidoscope of stars.