The Loss of Lady Stardust

Daniel stood in his kitchen staring at the news reader in the crystal ball on the table.

Daniel stood in his kitchen staring at the news reader in the crystal ball on the table.

“To repeat our top story,” she said with a stunned look on her face, “The musician David Bowie passed away after an eighteen month battle with cancer.”

Daniel shook at his core. The song Spaceman echoed through his head. A hero had fallen, leaving him empty. The news didn’t make sense. Bowie had a new album out. How could something like this stay a secret, especially in this day and age.

The fire in his heart cooled like the life was going out of him.

He knew he was running. He could feel his feet pounding on the carpet, the concrete, the grass, and then he leapt into the air. The sound of his shirt ripping screamed for him as his wings grew from his back. He couldn’t make a sound otherwise.

His wings flapped out of pure instinct, carrying him higher into the sky.

Tears froze on his now scaly cheeks. He tried to scream, but only fire came out. Streaking across the sky, he poured his heart into the flames. Even the heat couldn’t warm his heart.

The music continued to play through his mind. Songs who built his strength and comforted him in sorrow. The words that soothed his loneliness reached through him.

Finally, he screamed. The deep, resonating roar echoed off everything.

Daniel felt the eyes of everyone on the ground looking up towards him.

Closing his eyes, he just felt the wind rush over his body.

Why hadn’t Bowie been given a pearl? Why couldn’t he live forever?

Daniel’s heart hollowed out.

“People stared at the makeup on his face…” the words of Lady Stardust entered him.

The words were sweet, bittersweet. Each note fell over him like a tear from heaven.

Flying down into the woods, Daniel collapsed onto the cold earth, and curled up in tears. He couldn’t figure out why he was so torn up. He had never met the man… They did have a relationship though. That music made him who he was as much as his DNA.

All his life, he just wanted to be Ziggy Stardust, this wise rocker who came to save the world through song. He used to stare into his mirror as a child wondering if Jareth would come and take him if he was a bad kid. The Outsider voiced his own sense of alienation from the world around him. Every note, every word spoke to a moment in his life. The loss of such songsmith made scared him. Who would write the new songs he needed? Who would be the voice to carry him through the long nights ahead? That was his real source of sorrow.

Daniel wondered where his life would find meaning without the right words behind him. Then he laughed.

“You stupid pink, monkey bird.” he said to himself. He shook his head, and looked up at the sky. He jumped up and soared over the world. The sun warm on his skin.