Iris Waits for Starlight — High on the round hill, Iris pressed her palms to the cool observatory window and waited for the first star. Read the full story →
High on the round hill, Iris pressed her palms to the cool observatory window and waited for the first star. The room smelled like dust, brass, and the peppermint tea her aunt had left by the telescope. Outside, the sun sat low and warm, pouring honey-colored light over the grass. Iris did not hurry it. She counted one slow breath, then another, while Earth turned below in blue and green silence.
A small white cloud drifted past the glass. Then another cloud slid under the horizon line, soft as a pillow. “Are you waiting too?” Iris whispered. Just then, a bright shape blinked beside the sun—not night’s first star, but a tiny daytime star painted by the telescope’s old prism. Iris smiled. The sky had been sharing before darkness even came. When the real stars appeared, she saw the same patient glow around the smiling Earth; can you find the three stars that kept her company?
