I
A young man who once lived in the countryside looks upon the night sky in the Old City. There wasn’t much difference between the day and the night in the city, the thick smoke smothering the stars just as much as it smothered its denizens. Only thin wisps of moonlight ever reached the endless streets.
While it was undoubtedly brighter outside during the daytime in the city, no one has seen the sun in years, no sunrise or sunset painting the sky in wondrous shades of colour. The man missed the awe-inspiring sight, he yearned for it deeply and despised the city which took the sight from him.
He sat on a windowsill and let waves of melancholy wash over him as he remembered the sunrise. As he remembered the bright oranges and baby blues, the cool air warming, and the fresh dew that has gathered on the grass.
Days went by and as he sat on his window sill, night by night, his yearning turned into obsession, by now, his mind was concentrated only on the images of the sky, and his endless daydreams of the cerulean paradise that was robbed from him.
II
“If only I could show everyone what they are missing, to make them understand.” He said, not taking his eyes off the thick grey smog, only pierced by the moon's presence. He did not notice but at that point, a weak glint appeared in his eyes.
A glint, a piece of the sky itself, glowing in his eye, slowly getting stronger as his obsession grew, he no longer went to work, he no longer ate or drank, he only sat on the windowsill, day and night, daydreaming of the impending sunrise,
As he sat, he was struck with awe as a piece of sky pierced the grey vastness of the sky, not enough for anyone else to notice, but for someone as familiar with the sight as him it could not be more obvious.
Yet more days passed and the glint in the sky grew just like the glint in his eyes, taking on more colours of the sunrise, his eyes now ranging in colour from the deep purples into vibrant oranges and calming blues, exposing the day he dreamed of.
It could have been months, or years, even. One day, he saw the sky as perfect as he had envisioned it in his daydreams. At that moment, it was not only him, who stared at the sky, but the other residents noticed it too. The beauty they had all missed, even the children who never knew it.
As the boy with the eyes brighter than the brightest sunrise looked on, he felt the happiness of every single person he had inspired, and so, became the new sun.
He would stay up in the sky for the rest of days, looking down on the Old City, just as he used to look up from its streets,
“I was to become a whisper in their ear, ever present, To make them true.”
-The First of the City Witches
