A Picture from the Sky

A short self-love story about a little boy ‘Shani’ who is named after the planet Saturn — a planet that is malefic and brings bad luck according to many cultures around the world.

After the sunset, the grandmother lit a candle in the living room. As the golden candlelight pierced the darkness, she noticed her little grandson ‘Shani’ sitting next to the window and gazing at the stars. She sat next to him and combed his hair with her wrinkled fingers. “What happened to you, my little boy? You look a bit sad today”, granny asked.

Shani looked at the granny. A thousand words were hidden behind his lips, but none of them can reach her ears. The granny pulled and hugged him closer to her chest. The comfort of a thick woollen sweater and granny’s love is all he needed at that moment. She continued to play with his hair, kissed him on the cheek and said: “You can tell me, my sweetheart”.

In the light, the candle wax started to melt slowly in drops. So does the little boy’s pain with granny’s kiss. Tears rolled out of his eyes like melting wax. He hugged the granny and told about the pain that was burning him inside: “Nobody likes me at school. They say I’m a piece of bad luck to everyone. No one wants to play or have ice cream with me. I’m not loved by anyone Granny! They tease me all the time for my name. I don’t want this name Shani anymore”.

“Oh, my love, we talked about this several times. You are a beautiful child and I love you so much,” said granny. But she knew it will not make him feel good. Having this conversation several times she decided to do something else. She kept quiet and wiped his tears. “Shani, I want to show you something could you bring that box for me?” granny asked while pointing at a wooden box.

He walked on the floor with his tiny feet and brought the wooden box. “Sit next to me,” said granny as she opens the box with a pleasant smile. She pulled out a cylindrical object and cleaned the dust that was settled on it. Carefully she expanded the cylinder pipe and looked at the stars through the mirror inside the pipe. Shani calmed down and closely noticed his granny.

With an antique telescope in her hand, the great-grandmother said “Do you want to know who you are?”. The little boy shook his head in curiosity to take a look inside the telescope for the first time. The granny configured the telescope pointing at one of the brightest stars in the sky and locked the position. She looked at the boy with a smile and said “come here, look at this”.

Shani held his granny hand and looked inside. He thought he was going to see a star in the dark sky. He closed his left eye and adjusted the vision of his right eye to take a closer look. He saw a giant round planet shining in white light like a diamond. His pupil widened instantly looking at the gigantic celestial body orbiting in space. His breath stopped for a second as if he saw a supreme god hiding far away in the darkness. He looked at granny in shock and said “WOAH! Is this real?”. The wise grandmother said, “Yes, that’s you Shani. You are the Saturn”. Hearing that, the little boy’s cheeks turned red with a twinkle in his eyes. Shani replied, “Wow, that’s me? hehe”.

The little boy took a deep breath filled with happiness and looked inside the telescope again. He saw thin beautiful rings dancing around Saturn. The bright light from the giant Saturn was reflected in his eye. It turned his dark shallow heart into a bright full moon. With every single breath, he took, his heart was filled with happiness and love. It took him over like a tsunami in the ocean full of love.

Granny whispered in his ears: “Did you see how spectacular you are? You shine like a diamond in the darkness. You may look alone but if you can feel the love inside your heart, trust me you will be the brightest star of all. Everyone will be awestruck by the love you spread around you just like the rings of Saturn.”

The wise words of the granny swept away all the sorrow of Shani. He looked at granny with the brightest smile ever and hugged her tight. Granny took the little boy in her arms and caressed his head. She took a deep breath and said “My little boy, you are the love! All you have to do is to realise it”.