Sunrise from Space, Credit: NASA Image of the Day Gallery
When she formed, in a vast interstellar womb, twirling and twisting around herself in a graceful dance of rebirth, they all formed around her. Like spectators, they assembled to watch her come to life, growing and shining, giving them warmth, pulling them together around her. And she adopted them as her own.
She was big to begin with, but the more she grew, the more it brought them all closer around her, unable to stay away, attracted by unseen forces that were stronger than anything they ever felt. There was no disobeying it, no outrunning it, she commanded their attention, forced them close to her, each in its place. They cleared a path for themselves around her, attracted to her bulk.
In the large scheme of things, she was nothing but a spec of glowing dust, floating around calmly inside spiral clouds that reached out to touch the universe. She was ignored by the largest percentage of her family, one of the smallest of her kind. She got no special attention. No unique attributes, no special shining comrades to dance with her. She was ordinary at best.
But for her little fleet of children, she was everything. She made them who they are, lighting them just exactly right, warming them precisely to their individual level. Their entire existence revolved around her.
On the surface of the third one, just under a dense sheet of gas, a myriad of lifeforms coexisted. They were buzzing around in overestimated self importance. Full of assumptions, boasting in ignorance. They made judgment that changed nothing but their own conception of their small world. They assumed they rule the universe; assumed they ruled beyond it. They assumed they have power to control, to influence, and yet they were helpless outside the cover of their own atmosphere.
They renamed attraction, objectified beauty, and judged anything that didn’t fit their interpretation. But she didn’t budge; she continued in her elegant dance, unfazed, letting them believe she was the one rising and setting, letting them forget the laws she abides by. The laws they abide by, whether they like it or not. The basic laws of the universe, the laws of gravity.
Worlds revolved around her, circling her like children waiting for acknowledgement, tugging on her gravitational field, begging for attention. And she, obese and bright and beautiful, gave them all warmth, shining herself as far as the eye could see, and then farther, making the universe jealous with the life she spawned.
Everywhere in the universe size matters. The bigger you are, the more attractive you get. Everywhere except for the surface of one small insignificant blue planet. And yet even there, this is true, whether the tiny buzzing arrogant creatures like it or not.