Once there was a girl named Cecelia. One night something odd struck in her mind. She took a hat and went to the terrace. She was a short and a fair-complexioned girl.
She was an ordinary girl and hardly had extraordinary experiences of knowing nothing what life actually means. She was very innocent and was not guilty. What was the little girl’s fault? She is not even expected to know nature or even attempt to understand it. Well, in other words it would take time. She is only eight years old. However, who expected that she would know something that particular night?




She went to the rugged, torn and worn terrace and gazed at the pretty night sky. There were many stars were to be seen. It looked dazzling and the stars twinkled extremely brightly. It was a very beautiful scene. There was luckily a constellation spotted. The Taurus zodiac could be easily figured out as well. Cecelia was overwhelmed and an innocent smile developed in her little face. It seemed that the moon also involved itself at the happiness of Cecelia and the stars started dancing with joy and were carefree. Now Cecelia went with her father’s old hat and went to the edge of the terrace. It was dusk and this action was taking place. Now she kept the hat on the edge of the terrace. She looked at the sky, smiled, and then looked into her hat. She expected a star to fall in there. Nevertheless, expectations turn into hopes and ultimately into false hopes. Cecelia was a young girl who never lost hope. She is a girl, after all. A woman is believed to be the divine creation of God who has both, the Mind to think and Heart to feel and fight. However, she could not be regarded as a “woman” because she is a Girl, who has a partial Heart to Feel but not fight and a Mind not at all. Cecelia again stared inside the black, old hat but there was nothing. Cecelia thought, “Maybe the stars are too sleepy now, maybe I should have come earlier, let me leave it here, I’ll come tomorrow and I think I should get them” and she smiled and went away. The hat was a remembrance of their father. Cecelia’s father died a year ago because of the Second World War. The hat was the symbol of recollection to the fatherless child and her mother.





The next evening she went to the terrace again and was overjoyed with excitement to see the stars in her hat. Nevertheless, after seeing the empty hat she got very disappointed. Alas! The poor girl cried out of grief. She did not expect this to happen. But she had no Mind as stated before to think and the Heart to fight the truth! Now evening faded and night drew. Mosquitoes, moths and fireflies were seen to glow in the night sky, seeming to be the only companion to share Cecelia’s feelings. Now Cecelia lost all hope and began to weep. She sat in one uneven corner of the roof.



Cecelia’s mother Cynthia came up to the terrace to search for her little darling. She found her weeping and questioned her, “My darling! Why are your eyes so wet? What happened to you?” Now this woman was forty years old and had a cheerful disposition instead of having so many problems in her life. Her hair was short-cropped and had dark wrinkles under her eyes showing how tired the lady was.
It’s quite natural and not uncommon. After all succeeding her husband’s death, she had to take care of the whole family, working in the nearby factory and helping out in the candy shop. Poor her as well but still she never let Cecelia be deprived of anything.


Cecelia replied, “Mommy! I kept Dad’s old hat here too see the stars falling, but there are none! Bring me the stars!” and she wept and cried a lot. To this, her mother laughed and said, “Silly girl! You want the star? You are already one, my star.” and implanted a kiss on her cheek. Cecelia remained silent and did not say anything but smiled. Now Cynthia cried and started to tell her daughter the story of her brilliant father. “Your father was in the army. He loved you a lot. It was the war of Poland and Germany when he left us promising us that he would return, you were very small then, but I never expected the fatal shock that came upon me when I heard Dad died, it was painful. Well he died for a very good because, I must say, he was a martyr for our country, fought for his own country people and now he is the star.” pointing out the brightest star in the sky. Silence prevailed. Cynthia wept terribly and the moon felt like showing sympathy to the poor creature. It was turning yellow. Silence prevailed. After sometime she said, “Cecelia, I promise you if you do something good in your life and make yourself proud as well as me proud you will become a star like your dad and you will surely receive your hat full of stars and you will become a star. I promise this to you.” and wept with a smile. Cecelia replied, “O Mommy! I love you so much and I promise to be a star, I promise.” and she wiped the tears of her mother’s eyes. Cynthia hugged her daughter tightly and both rose to make a move. They walked hand in hand back to their small little apartment.

Not only did Cecelia became a complete woman but also the star. She received the hat full of stars. That hat still laid thereon the edge of the uneven terrace.’








~Aranyak Bhattacharya