Bioluminescence

         

Bioluminescence

         There once was an Astronomer who believed he would never find a love as strong as this. He began his studies as an isolated man. He didn't interact with the townsfolk, as his work required nocturnal hours. But the Astronomer, after years alone, gained an apprentice with the same love for stars and galaxies. After years of working and studying together, the Astronomer's heart flared with affection, and he fell in love with his apprentice. The man's face was marked by constellations, more precious than those he studied; his eyes deeper, than that of the infinite universe he stared at night after night. The Apprentice returned the Astronomer's affection, but his devotion was torn between two.
         The Apprentice had found another who made his heart burst as the flares do from the sun. He loved the Astronomer just as fiercely. Conflicted, the Apprentice turned to his god. He prayed for a solution to his love dilemma for weeks before his god made the decision for him. The Apprentice showed up to the study one day to find the Astronomer nowhere to be found. For days, he asked around the town if the man had been seen, but the man's reclusive behaviors separated him from the town for so long, they no longer knew of him. Once again, the Apprentice turned to his god.
         For weeks, the Apprentice prayed and searched, but his Astronomer was still missing with no clues to find him. Finally, he got a response from his god. The god told him to forget about the Astronomer and to spend his time with the man's other love, as he no longer had to choose between the two, his prayer had been answered. The Apprentice refused to give up on the Astronomer, so every day he spent time with his lover, but at night he sat waiting in the study for his Astronomer's return. He continued to pray to his god for the Astronomer's safe return but received no response. After months of praying and searching, the Apprentice prayed for the last time about his beloved.
          This time, the god appeared to him in a human form. The Apprentice asked where his beloved Astronomer had gone. The god told him that he answered his prayer, and made the decision for him. The Astronomer was now bound to live in the sea forever, unable to come to the surface for the rest of his life. Devastated, the Apprentice asked for his Astronomer to be returned to him. The god refused, but offered to grant the Apprentice one wish to rectify the man's heart. He wished for a way to allow the Astronomer to still see his precious stars.
          The god complied, creating an algae on the surface of the sea, that glowed a brilliant blue when touched. Every night, the Apprentice and his lover would go out to sea and swim. When the Astronomer looked up to the surface, longing for his love, he would see the brilliant blue stars created on the waters. He found peace every night, reminded of his love's constellations recreated on the waves for him. {/lines