Emptiness. It’s been part of my life as long as I can remember. Of course, it’s bound to be when you’re drifting alone through the endless void of outer space. Nothing happens. Nothing has happened since… well, since I was born.

How was I born?

I remember confusion… disturbance. Tangled in webs of darkness and color, I fought for balance. I remember a Voice: A great, enormous hug of a Voice, its strong arms wrapping around me, guiding me to shape.

I’m heat. I’m fire. I’m supposed to light up the world, all worlds, from this point in the darkness. I am a star: That means patience. Certainly not this pricking, needling questions surging up inside me. What’s the word for it? Frustration. Yeah, that’s right.

I shine daylight for others, but live in constant night. I bind this galaxy together, yet I live all alone. I blaze to warm others… so why am I so cold??

My flames flicker low.

For the seventy-billionth time, I squint out into the lonely blackness, to the blue speck miles and miles away: Earth. That bustling, life-filled anthill of a rock. This is the only time of the year I get to see it but somehow, no matter how far away it drifts, I always know where it is. The kaleidoscope of love, fear, joy and pain cast wavelengths even the vacuum of space cannot kill.

I almost wish I could kill it. That I could leave this world, this galaxy, and let the universe hurtle out of control without me.

Suddenly, something rocks the universe. Planets quake, the cosmos shift and that Voice shatters the deafening silence.

“Twenty minutes to witness two scenes,

One lesson, one opportunity.

Earth, you now have this chance to see:

One chance to find community.”

Like a fish ripped from its hook, I’m jerked out of place. Whirlpool galaxies flash before my eyes as I plunge, tumble, career through what must be a billion miles of nothingness…

And that’s when it hits me: The ground. Oh, the hard, immovable, solid ground! Is this actually happening?

Leaving no doubt, a confused odor of lavender perfume, shoe polish, sweaty socks and deodorant assail my nostrils: What a welcome to the world. But the smell is nothing compared to my actual surroundings. I feel like I’m standing in a headlong clash between the Olympics and Carnegie Hall. To the left gleams the posh black of a grand piano. On the right looms a high net over polished plank floor- A volleyball court. Volleyball?

If I had eyebrows to raise, they’d be back up in space by now. But before skepticism can sink its fang in, a girl settles herself on the piano stool, testing her feet on the brass pedals. A team troops out on court.

Polite applause from the audience; the referee’s opening whistle.

Breathless silence.

Then the first chord, the first serve, breaks through the stagnant air. Fingers and players explode into action, beating out the well-worn rhythm, so familiar yet so new.

Bang. A clash over the net, a dissonant chord. Hold it a bit longer!

Suddenly, a fumble: A finger slips off the keys. Ball and hearts plummet earthward.

But then there’s rescue. A teammate dives in. Up flies the ball. Spirit and music soars. Fingers dance on, weaving the threads of the piece together. I'm mesmerized. Everything’s so… separate, but linked at the same time. A warm, fuzzy sensation fills me up, like soup steaming in an empty belly.

With a tremendous bang, the rooms – piano, volleyball and all – vanish. I’m alone in a field, brimming with wordless whispers, velvety shadows and… wow.

Set among the infinity of a clear night sky are millions of living, twinkling stars. They pulse in time to a heavenly heartbeat, tracing out the pattern of the universal tapestry. “Swish, swish,” whispers the wind in the grass. The field breathes. The stars are smiling, glowing together like the music, like the players. “You’re not alone," they say. "We’re shining here too. We’ll help you balance.”

All around me, my flames crackle back to life. The warm fountain overflows, melting, flooding away the stinging needles.

Maybe… maybe space isn’t as empty as I thought.

Maybe I’m not really fighting alone.

Maybe we’re all just fingers and players, humans and stars, weaving together a higher symphony.

With the light of my family all around me, I gaze up into the glittering blackness… and return to my place in the sky: To shine with the other stars.