About Starflies

 Have you ever asked yourself what those bright dots in the sky actually are? Yes, I know they’re called stars, but have you ever wondered what they really are? I mean, to you, they just look like white dots on a black, and sometimes dark blue, background. We never get to see them up close. I think our eyes would be blinded if we did. Quite a mystery, if you ask me.

Well, not to me, because that’s one of the privileges I enjoy as an intergalactic space wizard. I know what they look like up close. Want me to tell you? That glowing thing you see up in the sky is basically just a part of something—more specifically, it’s a rear part.

The glowing rear end of a giant firefly. Yes, you read that right. The stars you see at night are beetles — star beetles. “But that’s impossible!” you’ll protest, “Fireflies move very quickly, and most stars don’t move at all.” Yes, you’re right! Those are the lazy starflies, resting from their fast flight, and they do so at their favorite spot, which they return to like clockwork every night. Some of them, however, are still full of energy at night and race across the sky. You know them as shooting stars.

“And what do these star beetles eat?” you must be wondering. Good question! Do you know what fireflies eat? I don’t either. I’m a space wizard, not a biologist… Maybe Felix knows more?! In any case, they aren’t immortal. We could sing you a song about that. That’s exactly the problem, the reason why Felix and I are stuck in this mess!

“Why does our star beetle have to die here, of all places, in the most remote part of the cosmic cave?” lamented Felix, who stood at the edge of his floating island, staring in disbelief at the star beetle, floating upside down. Massive steel chains connected the glowing beetle to our island. We had let ourselves be towed through space. It wasn’t the most elegant way to travel, but it was the safest, and since my apprentice hadn’t yet mastered teleportation spells, it was the only option we had left.

“Blub!” escaped my lips. My fishbowl sat on a tree stump, whose roots dug into the cliffs of the island. Before me was nothing but the emptiness of space and the carcass of the star beetle. Far away, its lively comrades twinkled.

“You mean I should climb up there?” Felix asked incredulously. “Blub,” I replied. “Ah, so that’s where stardust comes from! Then this isn’t the first dead starfly you’ve seen?” “Blub!”