The starfish fable

Starfish were not always living creatures that could move slowly along the bottom of the sea. In fact, the starfish were created by stars. A very long time ago, there was a rock at the bottom of the ocean. Now rocks are rarely alone and this rock was surrounded by other rocks. They spent their days, their months, their years just sitting at the bottom of the ocean, because that is what rocks do. They watch things change and like the old men they are, comment to one another on the good old days when things were better – when the earth was a ball of fire and molten lava. Now, there is a cold sea and strange, fast moving creatures who eat one another.

One rock amongst these rocks was a bit younger than the others. He was born 10,000 years after his companions and he had ideas of his own. From where he was positioned among the rock cluster, he had an excellent view of the sky. And every evening that was cloudless, he would look up and see the stars. Stars live longer than rocks and they also move around in the sky, seasonally. So, for many years, the rock would look up and see one star in particular, at least for part of the year. Now what happens with something you gaze at regularly but intermittently? Well, the rock fell in love with the star.

The rock told the other rocks about his love for the star and they laughed at him.

“What makes you think a star would ever see you at the bottom of the ocean?” they asked.

“Stars are always moving,” they said, “They have lovers all around the universe. Why would they pick a rock?”

The rock was not daunted by their gentle but sensible taunts. He continued to love the star and delighted on its yearly transit across his view. He strained to move to reach the star, but as a rock, he was fixed on the seabed. Not even the ocean tides moved him, for he was heavy. As the star left his view, each year the rock strained hard to follow the star, but he stayed put and had to wait many months before the star returned.

Stars hear thoughts and if they like what they hear, they will make wishes come true. Of course, stars are exposed to so many thoughts and it is difficult for a star to disentangle all of them. But since the rock had been thinking about his love for the star for so long, and since the star and the rock had seen each other from afar for so long, eventually, the star heard the thoughts of the rock.

“I love you and I would like to be with you,” was the thought.

In order to make wishes come true, stars send down stardust through their light. So the star sent its stardust down to the rock and it fused with the ocean and touched the rock and his companions.

The magic of the star worked.

The rock changed into the shape of a star. He grew five arms, each covered with tiny feet that could stick to the sea bottom. He was no longer a rock, but a starfish. Unlike other fish, his movement was slow and steady, as would fit the personality of a rock come to life.

As the star began to leave his view, the rock found that he was able to move too. His feet carried him and he slowly and steadily followed his star as it traveled across the sky. ©2007 Rachel Levine