I look out to the stars and the gleam disappears. I call out and the whispers of power and wonder do not come back. These stars I used to reach beyond are now the final gate. The sounds are no longer filled with the joyous and holy hymns of the righteous, but an empty ringing. My eardrums popped as a strong vaccine pours its bittersweet into my mind. The contacts I wore for years that madte the world sparkle with white feathers and gold glitter have now expired. The world is not what I thought. How could I? I had been blind for years. I take the book in my hands, the book whose text made my path, and ripped out its heart. I have killed deceit, but I have also partly died. My life’s foundation has been amputated and now I must walk with my own legs. 

Yet, through my insecure quivers, I get the courage to look at the sky once more and see how wonderful it is. I realize for the first time just how much beauty is there. The whispers of deities are not needed to see what the universe is.  For once, those voices don’t refuse me my dreams as I hope for life beyond Earth. And I look at Earth, and I get to see just what a true miracle is.