Once upon a time, there lived a lonely boy on a small island.
He had no family. He was alone with just a small house on the edge of a cliff.
The stars were his only friends through the dark, chilly nights.
Every night, he sat at the edge of the cliff and gazed upon the stars, studying every inch of the stunning blue velvet sky, laced with bright diamonds.
It was a lifelong dream of his to go visit his shiny friends one day.
The people in town laughed at his dream, saying that it was impossible to reach the stars. That he would burn to pieces as reached for the horizon.
But despite all the worries and doubts, he kept his dream alive in his heart.
One day, a lonely girl got swept up on the island's shore.
Soon, the lonely boy and the lonely girl found refuge in each other.
Sitting on the edge of the cliff, holding each other, the boy and the girl spent countless nights under the stars.
The girl couldn't be happier, her soft cheek buried in his rough shirt, under thousands and millions of stars scattered throughout the entire sky.
But the boy still couldn't let go of his lifelong dream to fly up to the stars.
The girl tried to stop him; she begged and cried, asking him not to leave her.
But even she couldn't turn his heart against the stars.
He built a rocket and promised her to return home before she sees 300 Venuses fade.
And just like that, he flew into the sky, soon disappearing into the clouds.
The girl was so lonely, but she waited for the boy, hoping that he would soon return to her with the rocket covered in stunning stardust.
On her 30th night, she learned how to play the guitar for the boy.
On her 50th night, she knitted a soft sweater for the boy.
On her 100th night, she made sweet strawberry jam for the boy.
On her 200th night, the guitar strings started to get loose, the sweater started to worn out, and the strawberry jams started to rot.
She waited, sitting on the edge of the cliff.
But there was no sight of him.
She waited and waited, lying on the edge of the cliff.
But still, there was not a slightest sign of him.
She waited and waited and waited, gazing outside the window from her bed.
And she was slowly losing hope.
On her 276th night, she went out to the cliff and looked down at the shore.
There she found another sky, but much more closer.
Suddenly, an astonishingly bright shooting star crossed the surface of the ocean.
Mistaking the shooting star as her lover's rocket, she jumped into the sky in desperate hope to meet her love again.
And this time, she wasn't lucky enough to get swept up on the shore again.
After 284 Venuses rose, the boy finally returned to his small house, his heart filled with wonderful adventures to light up their nights, his rough shirt covered in breathtaking stardust.
But when he entered home, all he ever found was a broken guitar, a rusty ball of yarn and a shattered jam jar.
And his stars never shined so bright ever again.
