Before our planet formed, before our sun was born, there in the infinite darkness of space, lived Azaria.
Azaria couldn’t remember how long she’d been there, but she knew it was a very, very long time.
In the darkness of space it was very, very lonely and very, very cold and Azaria was tired of being so lonely and cold.
Only, Azaria couldn’t see in the darkness and no matter how far and wide she searched, she couldn’t find anyone else in the infinite darkness of space.
Saddened, tired, and cold, Azaria began to cry.
As Azaria’s first tear fell, beautiful light began piercing the darkness. As her tears continued to fall, Azaria could suddenly feel their warmth. There, suspended in space, were the first of the stars we see in our sky and the last tears of Azaria’s sadness.
After a moment, Azaria noticed light from tears falling very, very far away and Azaria knew she wasn’t alone.
Racing toward the light, Azaria began to cry again, only this time, she was crying tears of joy.
When she got close, Azaria saw a little boy and knew he must have been very, very lonely and very, very cold, just like she was. Only, he didn’t look lonely and cold anymore and his tears didn’t look like tears of sadness.
Azaria knew he must have seen the light and felt the warmth of her first tears, her tears of sadness. And just like when she’d seen his tears and felt their warmth and knew she wasn’t alone, he cried tears of joy.
Unsure of what to do, Azaria waved at the little boy and started slowly moving closer. Smiling, the little boy wiped the tears of joy from his eyes and began to run, waving his hand, inviting her to play.
Azaria and the boy chased one another to every corner of the cosmos, crying tears of joy at the happiness they’d found, and filling our night’s sky with every star we see.
Playing for what seemed an eternity, the two stopped to look around at what was once cold, endless darkness. Everywhere, in every direction across the infinite expanse of space, was their tears of joy and the light and the warmth of the stars.