"the lesson"

"today, i learned that stars are really meant to be enjoyed from afar. they may entice you to come near, encourage you to try and reach out for them, and however unknowingly, allow you to believe you can. but the only thing they could truly accept is a sacrifice–the death of your dreams in exchange for an attempt that would never succeed. he who tries to reach, the foolish one, is to be cursed with such terrible helplessness. the death is far from painless. but the worst part is this: the stars twinkle as your dreams die. they return your mourning with iridescent lights of laughter. and then they tell you to try again, this time in exchange for your own death. and foolish one, what can you do? they are stars, so pretty, so perfect–so perfectly out of reach and yet maybe, just maybe, if you wish hard enough, if you TRY hard enough, you could hold one in your hand. and so you yield foolish one. you yield, and the lesson dies with you. you tell yourself a story before you close your eyes for the last time, and you begin, 'today i learned that stars are really meant to be enjoyed from afar.' twinkle, twinkle go the stars…"