On the balcony of a studio apartment, a 30-year-old man named Leo sat quietly, enjoying the cool embrace of the evening breeze. The city below buzzed with life, but up here, in his little corner of the world was peacefull.
These fleeting moments, were often the best parts of his day. Or perhaps they were the least stressful parts of an otherwise turbulent life.
Leo leaned back in his chair, a cup of tea resting in his hands. He lifted his eyes to the sky, watching the stars with quiet reverence. They always captivated him. Since childhood, he had found comfort in their distant light. On nights like this, when the air was crisp and the stars shimmered without interruption, something in him felt alive again, like the echoes of a younger, more hopeful version of himself.
A wave of nostalgia swept over him. Uninvited but familiar. Childhood memories drifted to the surface. A five-year-old child running across the fields, lying in the grass, gazing in the stars, dreaming about the future with unshakable confidence. He remembered believing that anything was possible, that the world was waiting for him to rise and shine. Tears welled up in his eyes and slowly slid down his cheeks.
He smiled through the tears. Back then, he was ambitious and endlessly optimistic. Whenever problems arose, he faced them head-on, always seeking the ideal solution without burdening his parents or anyone else. That self-reliance became a core part of who he was. He held on to it for years, even as the world gradually wore away at his sense of hope.
As he grew older, something shifted. The optimism that once lit his path began to dim, slowly and subtly, like a flame burning low. Yet, his ambition, the hunger to achieve something meaningful, only grew stronger. It was a cruel contrast. He had ideas, dreams, goals. He chased them. But no matter what he tried, nothing seemed to work out the way he hoped.
Every venture started with a spark of excitement.
Things would go well in the beginning, progress, potential, promise. But then, everything would begin to unravel.
Circumstances changed. People left. Money ran out. Motivation crumbled. No matter how much effort he poured into something, the outcome was always the same: failure.
It was as if the universe itself was mocking him.
Eventually, he stopped fighting so hard. He started going with the flow, letting life carry him instead of steering the ship. It dulled the pain of disappointment, but it also dulled everything else. He felt like a leaf on the surface of a river, drifting without direction.
At times, he considered leaving it all behind, moving to the countryside, living with his grandparents, frankly he enjoyed life there as a child.
A simple life, far from expectations, comparisons, and the noise of the city. But there was always something holding him back.
A small, stubborn voice inside him that still believed he could do something great. That he owed it to the child he used to be.
His life, by all accounts, was chaotic. He had bounced from one place to another, one job to the next, trying different paths, different passions, hoping one of them would finally lead somewhere.
But none of them ever did. And so he sat there, once again staring at the stars, looking for a sign.
"Is it impossible to achieve my ambitions," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the wind, "or am I just not trying hard enough?"
The question lingered in the air, heavy with doubt.
And then, something strange happened.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a particularly bright star in the sky, brighter than the others. At first, he assumed it was just a normal star. But then it began to grow.
Slowly, steadily, its glow intensified, expanding outward like a fire in the sky.
Leo sat up straight, blinking in disbelief. "What the f*ck is this?"
The star or whatever it was, was definitely getting bigger, brighter. Its light pulsed, almost rhythmically, like it was alive. It wasn't falling, at least not in the way meteors did. It hovered, then began to move directly toward him.
He stood up, heart pounding in his chest. The rest of the city seemed oblivious. Cars moved. Distant voices still echoed from the street below. But none of it felt real anymore. All he could focus on was that glowing object in the sky.
For a moment, he thought of running inside, hiding, pretending he never saw it. But something deep within him told him not to. Something told him this—whatever it was—was meant for him.
The light became blinding, filling his vision, wrapping around him like a cocoon. He shielded his face with his arms as the glow swallowed the world around him.
A wave of dizziness washed over Leo as he closed his eyes and fell to his knees. His body felt weightless. The world spun, or maybe it vanished altogether. After what felt like both a second and a lifetime, the spinning stopped.