Habia una vez, when the world was dark and empty, an idea stirred.

From the imagination of the unknown, a bewitching goddess stepped out from the void of nothingness.  Following behind her, dozens of other celestial beings wandered into the universe. They studied the place that was devoid of any life and decided they could help it.

One coaxed the ground to grow and sprouted grass, another swelled the sea into filling the earth. The gods worked for many days and many nights until the world was complete. They gazed upon their work in pride, but something nagged them. Something seemed to be missing from the perfect paradise they had created.

Everyone has a little bit of selfishness in them, not even immortal beings with immense power are safe from it. As they laid their weary heads to finally rest, Greed whispered into their ears and wormed its way into their minds, tightening its grip on the world. When the sun announced its arrival with rays of beaming light, the gods arose as an idea planted by evil sprouted in their minds. The magical people started to build their vision of beings that would worship them as the eldest goddess, the first one to emerge from the darkness, watched them with judging eyes. Avidity had not influenced her mind for she was too wise to be tricked by its empty promises.

    The omnipotent beings fashioned their servants, whom they decided to call humans, to revolve their whole lives around their creators. What they hadn't realized was that by making the humans for their own self interest, they would be as evil and as vile as their masters. The first goddess bided her time until her younger companions had left to go bring life elsewhere. As the years passed by and the evil grew in the humans' hearts, the goddess decided it was the right time to do something about it.

    As the sun started to sink lower, she strolled along a footpath that had been built from the humans. How sad it is that such innovative beings are so corrupt, the goddess thought, wandering through the small town they had constructed.

    Children played, their laughter ringing through the air, men worked while women gossiped among themselves. The goddess couldn't help but smile at all the happiness all around her. A child ran up to her and gave her a flower before retreating back to his mother. The goddess smiled as she clutched the dandelion close to her.  There is still light giving its blessing through the darkness that clouds this land, she thought as she smelled the flower.

This, she decided, would be the place she would leave her gift for the world. In the town square, there was a nice grassy spot in the middle for people to admire the flowers. The center of it was clear, so she stepped over the flowers guarding the edges and laid her dandelion down in the middle.

No one saw the magic that unfolded that fateful day as the goddess wove her magic into the flower, and it grew into a beautiful tree. Little globes of light hung off the branches like apples ready to be picked. Leaves seemed to shimmer with hope; the bark was filled with love. When humanity was at their darkest, hopefully they would turn to the tree and see the glimpse of light in life. With her work done, she left the town and went to search for other places she could help.

Years passed by since the First One had planted the Promise Tree. Word had spread about its magic, and how anyone that took a light globe would never be sad again. This was, of course, not true, but the stories reached the ears of a selfish king. This king was always angry, never satisfied with what he had. The tyrant had been having a feast, when the legend finally reached his corner of the world. He jumped out of his seat, enraged that no one had told him sooner, and announced that he and a few of his most trusted knights would set out tomorrow for the small town that held magic.

Unbenounced to the king, a little girl stared out her window longingly. Ever since she could remember, she had been told stories. Legends of heroes and warriors played out in her head as renowned thinkers defeated great evils with just their minds. Sometimes she would dream of being someone the world would remember like the knight who defeated a hundred onis, people so wicked they turned to demons, or the princess that saved a whole kingdom with just her wit. Out of all those stories, one rose above the others. One day, the little girl swore she would see the Promise Tree.

    When the king arrived at the town where the Promise Tree lived, the villagers were overjoyed. Who would have ever thought that their little tree, planted so long ago by a stranger, would be famous enough to catch the eye of a powerful king? The monarch gazed at the tree with a power hungry greed as he ordered his soldiers to take all the light globs and bring them back to the castle.

    "To provide light without risk of a fire in the rest of my kingdom," he explained when the townsfolk asked him. They were dismayed at the temporary loss of the luminescent spheres the Promise Tree had, but some argued that it was better than if the king had taken the entire tree instead. Every year the soldiers returned to take the light from the Promise Tree, and every year the tree grew dimmer and dimmer and dimmer until the  light disappeared.

    Without its main feature, the tree grew barren and became just another dying tree. The town became unwelcoming and dreary. Clouds covered the village as the world was plunged into what's now referred to as the Dark Years. With its closed doors and curtains shut tight, the beautiful village that once held life's greatest gift was soon forgotten by everyone.

    Well, almost everyone. A girl who had long ago turned into a young maiden still held on to the hope that she would be able to see the Promise Tree. Never could she have imagined the tree's unfortunate demise. When her decades long dream carried her to the very spot the goddess who planted the tree took her first steps into the village. Of course, the used-to-be little girl didn't know that. All she knew was that deep down in her bones this was the place she'd been waiting all her life for.

    Dark gray clouds gathered close to watch as wind whipped every which way to spread the news of what was about to happen. Meanwhile the not-so-little girl walked down to the town square, her body buzzing from excitement, her feet knowing every step they needed to take. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight she saw.

    At first, the young woman couldn't seem to find the tree that had inspired so many and had countless myths and legends. Horror overtook her features as it dawned on her that the Promise Tree was right in front of her. A small drooping tree stood in front of her, a few sickly looking leaves stayed on the branch, the rest on the floor. Even the dark had lost its special glimmer. This couldn't be the same tree as the one in the stories; she refused to believe it.

    She knows, the wind whispered, she has figured it out. The clouds rumbled in sadness and started to cry as the not-so-hopeful-anymore woman's tears hit the ground. Trees bowed in respect to their fallen comrade. The wind started to howl their despair. It seemed as if all of nature was mourning the death of a dream.

    When the tears of sorrow were swallowed up by the ground, they found their way to the roots of the dying Promise Tree. The tree sensed deep down that there was hope hidden in the tears. A feeling of faith that the tree would come back so slight the tree could barely sense it, but it was there. Now knowing that people still dreamed of a better future, the tree felt some of its strength returning. Leaves started to grow on its branches, it seemed to stand straighter, and the whole world held their breath as they watched with wide eyes. Love blossomed in the woman's heart. Suddenly, she was transported back to the little girl who dreamed of seeing the Promise Tree.

    As the tree grew, the light globes that had disappeared so long ago came back, but they didn't seem to just stop at that. The thing the world had treasured and caused the tree to almost die seemed to float off the branches and into the heavens. Some of the smaller lights couldn't float high enough to reach the others, so they stayed on earth in the form of fireflies. The little girl watched the lights rise into the sky with a certain sadness while the woman she had grown into enjoyed the sight with the type of joy usually reserved for those who had just witnessed a miracle. But then again, who was to say she hadn't?

    Once the Promise Tree had finished performing its magic, not a single globe of light had stayed. They were all now in the sky or a beautiful bug that would shine in even the darkest of times. It was truly a magnificent sight to behold.

    For years after that fateful day, the never-without-hope woman spent her days under the Promise Tree. All too fast, she had her own family and grew into a very old never-without-hope woman. She still sat under the tree every day even when she knew her time was almost over. When it finally was, she was sitting under the tree at night when a goddess came to take her away.

    She turned her gaze to the night sky as the deity approached. "Aren't they mesmerizing?"

    The goddess fought a smile. "Isn't it amazing to think of how the light globes on my tree that you saved are now the lights in the night sky? Stars, you call them?"

    "Yes," the old woman responded before snapping her gaze to the celestial before her. " YOUR tree?"

    "How else would it have gotten here?'' the goddess asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.

    The woman let out a little laugh and shake of disbelief at herself for not figuring it out sooner before returning her attention to the stars.

    "Are you ready to go?" the goddess asked.

    "Can I get a few more moments to admire what you created?"

    "What if I told you that you'll be able to stay upon them for all eternity?"

    The woman whipped her head around to face her with wide eyes. "Are you sure?"

    "Very sure," the goddess of the night sky and all that dwelled there replied. She held her hand out to the woman who would help so many even eons after she was gone. Almost automatically, Hope reached to touch the goddess. Moments before they made contact, Hope wondered if this would be a mistake. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, it was too late to turn back. When their hands entwined, magic coursed through her body as the goddess to first emerge from nothing whisked her away to live among the stars.

    The next time you see a shooting star, remember the little girl, the woman, and the old lady who are Hope. She's smiling down on you as she passes by giving people a reason to keep living.

... se acabó el cuento,

se lo llevó el viento

y se fue... por las estrellas adentro.

... this is the end of the story for me,

the wind carried it off far away into the stars.

~

So I finally started writing again.

This is a story I wrote for school. When it's over, my teacher's going to enter 25 of the best stories and essays into this competition. 2 have even gotten to go to New York with a first place prize! Hopefully I'll be the third of her students to do it.

Anyways, this is the unedited version. I'll probably also be uploading the finished version.

Feedback is appreciated.

Have a great rest of your day!

-Orchid