# Summary

Daphne, seeking meaning and a sign in her life, finds encouragement in mysterious sky messages that affirm her presence and worth.

# Abstract

Daphne, feeling disconnected and on autopilot, whispers to the stars seeking a sign to guide her through her monotonous and burdensome life. She engages in nightly rituals, including smoking and stargazing, to find solace and a sense of connection with the universe. One night, she notices a flicker in the sky that eventually spells out messages reassuring her that she is enough and that everything she wants is within her reach. These messages, which Daphne initially dismisses as imagination or fatigue, lead her to confront her existential crises and the hope she has been struggling to maintain. Ultimately, she realizes that the strength to persevere lies within her, and she resolves to continue her journey, understanding that self-reliance is key to her growth and satisfaction.

# Opinions

- Daphne's life feels repetitive and lacks a sense of purpose, leading to a reliance on rituals to create meaning.
- She has a deep-seated need to believe in something greater than herself to cope with life's challenges.
- The protagonist is skeptical about the existence of a higher power or the universe responding to her pleas.
- Daphne's encounter with the mysterious sky messages shifts her perspective, suggesting that the answers she seeks are already present within her life.
- There is a sense of resignation mixed with hope as Daphne acknowledges the uncertainty of life's journey and the proximity of the 'finish line.'
- Daphne's future self is depicted as an observer who understands the importance of self-discovery and resists the urge to intervene directly.
- The narrative implies that personal growth and fulfillment come from within and that external signs are merely catalysts for internal change.

FICTION

A Journey Beyond, a Journey Within

When you speak to the stars, do they ever talk back?

There were hardly any moments these days where she felt like herself. Instead, Daphne’s life felt like it was on auto-pilot. Every day was the same as the last, yet much harder to get through.

Send me a sign, she whispered into the cold night air while lighting a cigarette. She’d been intending to let go of this habit — one smoke per day but hadn’t gotten around to it. At this point, it was something more, a ritual of sorts used to converse with the stars.

She wasn’t spiritual before, but now it was crucial to believe in something in order to get on with life. The burdens had increased, baggage moved to excess, and the high seas of sorrow refused to calm down.

So she made herself believe that someone was listening, maybe the Universe, another entity, or just another version of herself.

To stop her mind from racing, Daphne would count the five stars dimming in the pollution-ridden sky over and over again. She would take her first deep inhales. It helped her be in the now — whatever that meant.

One night while leaving some of her darkness behind, she noticed a tiny flicker in the sky. Another airplane, she thought, or some other flying object, but it’s definitely not a shooting star.

Even if it was, what would I wish for, to be another person entirely? I don’t think they grant wishes that big.

The next night she came out to her balcony, later than usual.

It was just one of those days where you’re sad for no inexplicable reason and can’t even bring yourself to do the most minuscule of tasks, even the ones that make you happy — something resembling that at least.

Today, the flicker was unmistakable, and it was growing with time. Soon, it split into many sparks and then came together like a well-done puzzle to display this message.

“You are here.”

Wow, thank you for pointing out the obvious.

Daphne chalked it out to be a figment of her imagination, or maybe a dream. Her eyes were tired, and it could have also been the result of an improper vision. She didn’t make much of it and carried on, conserving energy for the ongoing arguments with the voices in her head.

She wished it to have been a flying saucer with aliens tasked to rescue her, taking her back to her home planet, one where things made sense.

An answer to her problems and an end to the multitude of existential crises would have been nice. Or a message from her future self, assuring her that everything is going to be okay. Anything else, really.

It had been a decade since she had started actively working on herself. The ones before that were spent in anger, rebellion, and finding herself. Therapy, self-help, and self-care had run their course, leaving her empty, in a new way than before. And she didn’t know which door to knock on next.

She was in control of her life, her happiness, and making shit happen. But there wasn’t a moment where she felt satisfied with herself.

On the contrary, she desperately yearned to feel fulfilled, content, calm, or alive for a bit. All the while worrying in the back of her head that she may not be destined for these things.

Some people are just broken, you know. And no glue can put them back together.

Every morning she woke in a pool of sweat, with Anxiety kicking her ass right from Sunrise, appearing in the dream world itself. She tried the same things, different things, and new things to fix herself.

Daphne used to ask herself repeatedly if there was a point to all this, and she did find some answers, but none of them lasted.

She was perennially exhausted and hated herself for having hope. That amber glow from her cigarette was the reset point of her day. It was a very coveted moment of calm, sadly often the high point of her evening.

A week later, she saw another message written across the sky. And this one made her heart skip a beat. She rubbed her eyes to make sure it was actually there and stared at it in equal parts amazement, and horror.

“You are here.”

“Everything you want is here.”

“You are enough.”

Daphne wept. She didn’t know how else to process the vast array of emotions that hit her, and at this point, positive feelings felt rather strange. Could it be? The sign she’s been waiting for?

It definitely was a sign, and it was up to her to decide how to use it. Daphne went to sleep that night feeling a little better than usual. She would try again tomorrow and the day after that. But, no matter what, giving up was not an option, she’d been there before, and it wasn’t pretty.

Daphne made peace with the fact that she will never know whether the finish line is close or if it’s in another direction altogether.

Hoping that this resolution lasts, she drifted off to the positive part of dreamland. Peace, at last.

Back in the dark sky, Daphne’s future self watched over her.

She could have sent another message, maybe one of assurance or another alerting her presence but chose not to. She had run the simulations multiple times and come to the same conclusion; this was the only way.

Present Daphne needed to get through this herself.

But that doesn’t mean she couldn’t spare some encouragement every once in a while. She vividly remembers how hard it was and had to fight the urge to comfort her past self. It broke her heart to know she couldn’t do more.

Flicking off her cigarette butt into the appropriate bin, Daphne went back into her warm spaceship.

She wrote down a short to-do list, grounded herself into the present, and smiled at her reflection on the blank screen of her control panel. Then, reminiscing about her long life, she rode off into the dark, disappearing within seconds.

Today’s just another day. What’s important is that I’m fine…content? Maybe.