The Star Gazers
Once upon a time in a sleepy town named Estoria, nestled on the edge of the Stardust Mountain, people lived with an unusual habit - they loved to gaze at stars. Regardless of age or profession, come dusk, the folks would abandon their chores and convene at the town square to peer at the heaven's spectacle reflected in the water body at its center. The world knew them as 'The Star Gazers.'
There was a girl in Estoria, Amelia, who was more fascinated with the stars than anyone else. Every night, she would lie on her rooftop, stargazing with childlike wonder and curiosity. She believed that every star in the sky held a secret. Amelia wished to unravel those secrets, to read the stories that the stars hummed in the silence of the night.
One starry night, an unusual glimmer grabbed Amelia's attention. One star was pulsating like a heartbeat, glowing brighter and dimmer rhythmically. Intrigued, she pulled out her little telescope to inspect the pulsating star and noticed a subtle pattern. It was Morse code! 'SOS,' the star was transmitting a distress signal!
Amelia was overwhelmed, she didn't know what to do. She remembered her grandfather’s tales of interstellar messages; distant civilizations using stars as communication. With a pounding heart, she rushed to the town square to share her discovery with the people of Estoria.
People listened attentively as a breathless Amelia conveyed the Morse code she discovered. The Star Gazers of Estoria were stumped. They had heard of stars creating spectacular displays as part of celestial phenomena but transmitting coded messages was an idea they found hard to grasp.
The townsfolk trusted Amelia, and thus began the great plan of formulating a return message. They decided to use their lighthouse, perched dominantly on a sea-facing cliff, to encode their collective response - a simple 'Hello.'
A carpenter named Rufus orchestrated the task. He was an ingenious man known for his knack for devices. Rufus rigged an array of shutters to the lighthouse’s light to blink it in Morse code. Every night hence, the powerful beam reached up, blinking its greeting towards the pulsating star.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, the people of Estoria faithfully sent their message every night, their hope burning bright. Then one crisp winter night, Amelia, lying on her roof, watching the stars with her telescope, saw the pulsating star again. This time, the Morse code was different. It said: 'Hello Estoria.'
Amelia jumped with joy. The town square was filled with cheer when she relayed the message. The Star Gazers were elated and overwhelmed that they were not alone in the universe. This simple interaction caused a ripple effect throughout Estoria, uniting the townsfolk as never before, inspiring countless younger generations with a renewed fascination for the night sky and the boundless mysteries it housed.
Though the people of Estoria never got a chance to meet their cosmic friends, they had established a timeless bond, proving that barriers of light-years could be crossed with a simple gesture of goodwill.
Meanwhile, Amelia remained faithful to her star gazing habit, watching, learning, and recording the silent messages of the cosmos, carrying forward the legacy of Estoria—a tiny speck of land that talked to the stars