When the Evening Star Meets Dawn

When the Evening Star Meets Dawn

By Thảo Đinh

Note to readers: I wrote this story upon drawing inspiration from the Vietnamese traditional funeral customs. It is believed that once a person dies, it takes them 49 days (7 weeks of 7 days) to fully recognize and accept that they have passed away, so they can peacefully move on to the afterlife. During the course of 49 days, the living will bring them food, drinks, and clothes as if they’re still alive. The living will try to do more good deeds so that the soul of the dead person has a higher chance of cleansing sins and being able to reincarnate faster. The rituals help both the living and the deceased process grief and mourning.

49 days left.

“Yvaine, darling, would you mind passing the blanket? It’s freezing.” Bearing a migraine, Alfajiri mumbled in drowsiness. He always got migraines when it became too cold. 

“Darling? Are you asleep already–” Alfajiri turned to his right side where Yvaine usually cuddled deep in his rosemary scent, softly breathing in a steady rhythm, quiet and peaceful like the gentle waves of the ocean caressing the crunchy golden sand. 

Except, she was not there. 

“Yvaine? Yvaine… where are you??” 

Alfajiri’s vision blurred from the thick fog. He wiped his eyes, his sleeve was of soft, shining white silk. There was no bed, no blanket, no Yvaine; he was by himself on a small wooden boat drifting on silent waters into the dark night. Behind him, the last light of the day twinkled, then vanished. With short, rapid breaths, Alfajiri allowed the frigid air to enter his lungs and pierce him like needles from the inside out. The vast nothingness of black was consuming him. It penetrated his head, and a heavy mist seeped in, shadowing all of his thoughts and sight. His brain throbbed, and the pressure of a thousand deafening bells tolled in his skull. Is it the migraine? Or the cold? Or the bewilderment? His shaking arms crumbled on his knees, all of his veins tense and vivid blue, cold sweat dripping down his spine.

“Alfajiri, look at me. Don’t focus on anything else. Just look into my eyes.” Yvaine’s soft voice rings in his ear, crisp and clear like the sound of metal hitting a piece of quartz, instantly lifting Alfariji from the nightmare he was drowning in. 

“Breath…breathing in…one, two, three, four. And hold….one, two, three, four. And out…slowly…Good job, Alfajiri! See, now you’ve calmed down. Those were the exact words you taught me. I’m of some use after all, right?” 

A fond memory. Alfajiri felt her warm smile. Her comforting presence. He remembered her ethereal eyes–the pigment of bright cherries–fluttering in a forest of snow-covered leaves that resembled her long, flowing hair. The village was scared of her, even her mother, who named her “Vain”. No one else saw her beauty, how kind she was even to mere ants on the ground, and how radiant her soul shone, forgiving everyone despite their ill intentions and treatment towards her. 

Just because a person looked different, did not mean they weren’t one of us. 

To Alfajiri, Yvaine was his evening star in the darkness; he was the reason she transformed from “Vain” to “Yvaine”. The day she acknowledged her new name, hence, her new life, Alfajiri swore that he was ready to fight against the entire world, even the underworld, just to keep her safe and happy. 

The fog thickened. The night ate away the last flickering light. Trapped in this pitch-black box, Alfajiri lost all sense of direction, but he knew he needed to find Yvaine before she woke up without seeing him by her side. She might panic.  

Alfajiri’s boat had finally found a harbor. He saw his house and immediately ran towards it, hoping to find Yvaine. The sky was deadly scarlet. From the window, he saw Yvaine weeping on their bedside, her hands holding a piece of paper. He bashed in the front door.

Suddenly, the house dissolved into thousands of glowing specks. Within a few moments, nothing was left for him. 

 

36 days left.

“You are the dawn of a new day that’s waking… A masterpiece still in the making…The blue in an ocean of grey…” Yvaine’s soft voice drew Alfajiri to a field of rosemary under the stars. That was Yvaine’s favorite lullaby, sang to him every night. He squinted his eyes. It was dark, but he saw two figures in the middle of the field. He saw himself resting his head on Yvaine’s lap, her hand gently playing with his curly locks. 

“Wandering child of the earth…Do you know just how much you’re worth? You have walked this path since your birth…You were destined for more…” Alfajiri looked up to meet Yvaine’s loving gaze, trying his best to duet with her with his cracking singing voice. 

“Stop that” Yvaine broke into giggles. “You even got the lyrics order wrong” 

“Well, I just want to say those words to you, my evening star.” Alfajiri lifted himself up to kiss her forehead. 

“Now tell me, do you know just how much you’re worth?” Alfajiri wrapped his arms around Yvaine’s neck, pulling her down into a warm embrace. They both laughed and rolled on the grass. The stars twinkled and the wind was slow.  

 

Alfajiri wanted to race into the scene, but once he was near the couple, they vanished into golden specks again. Alfajiri understood then; this was not his world. This is limbo where his soul was drifting between the memory islands of his life. 

 

8 days left.

Alfajiri wandered to his home village. He knew that if he came any closer, the memories would again dissolve into shining fireflies, disappearing from him. So he just stood on the side, watching. It was the first day Yvaine arrived. Her hometown exiled her at her coming-of-age ceremony. “Look how ghostly white you are! You will only bring bad luck and death if you stay. Go away!” Those were her neighbors’ last words. Her mother could not bear to show up. 

Yvaine had been walking for three days with nothing to eat. Her cheeks hollowed out as if a vulture carved open her dead flesh, then flew away not bothering to finish the rest. She collapsed to the ground, right in front of dwindling lights from a small village. 

Sunrise. A young man rushed to her side, carefully checked her pulse, then carried her in his arms back to his house. It was Alfajiri. Yvaine was as light as a dove’s feather; she had lost all consciousness. Children screamed at her sighting, “A ghost! No, a vampire! Run!!” 

Alfajiri scoffed, “Stop that! She’s a human, just like you. She needs help.”

 

Watching from afar, Alfajiri’s soul smiled. He remembered this. He remembered all this. Yet, he couldn’t figure out why he could not see Yvaine again. 

 

2 days left.

Alfajiri arrived at a river bank, where he found a wooden boat, reminding him of his first time arriving in limbo. He understood that this boat would carry him to the afterlife and he would have to leave the physical world behind. Following the realization, he was greeted by a slim, tall, dark figure. Though held back, Alfajiri climbed onto the boat with the figure. 

“Hello again, Death.” Alfajiri said with familiarity as if he had met Death before.

“Have you remembered why you died?” asked Death, running his bony fingers along his golden, chipped scythe. He had no pupils, only two pits of void on a cracked skull. Upon Alfajiri’s hesitation, Death knew the answer. 

“Let’s see it again, shall we? You don’t have much time left here. Since your reason for death was as special as it was noble, I will help you.”

Death lifted up his ghastly veil, revealing his skeleton arms. He twirled his scythe in the air seven times, counterclockwise. 

“We will go back in time, right before your passing.” In front of them emerged a circulating fog, quickly hardening like a mirror, reflecting Alfajiri’s last moments on the land of the living. 

The last day that Alfajiri lived was the day he set out to see Death for an agreement. Since he wasn’t certain he could come back to Yvaine, he left her a note by her bedside while she was asleep. He couldn’t stand seeing Yvaine getting mistreated by people anymore, given they had moved village after village. They also could not survive in the middle of anywhere by themselves; the lands were bare and unsafe. Yvaine’s mysterious disease was seen by none before, thus there was no diagnosis nor cure. Only fear and abandonment. Yvaine had become more and more spiteful of her disease. She started hating herself for it. It wasn’t fair. Alfajiri loved her regardless, but he wanted her to love herself, as much as he did. She wanted to be “a normal person.” The best option that he could hope for was- 

“Death. I’m grateful that you have heard my prayers. Now, can you help me with my request? I want Yvaine to be lifted off her disease so she can live a normal life among others.” Alfajiri placed his hand, and all of his faith, on his heart.

“It is possible. But, be warned. The cost of that request is extremely high: you’ll die today. Everyone has their own destiny to lead, and to change that destiny, well, is to exchange your life for it.” Death calmly explained, convinced that Alfajiri would turn away.

“I accept. I have expected this.” Alfajiri fixed his gaze upon Death. Confidence shone in his voice. 

“Very well” Death amused. He raised his scythe and gracefully swung a semi-circle straight through Alfajiri’s heart. His life thread was snapped a third through.  

It was sunset when Yvaine found Alfajiri’s note. The sky was deadly scarlet. Orange clouds scattered in unusual ripples. Screams of crows echoed from the distance. Darkness quickly fell upon Yvaine. Her long, black hair covered her deep, black eyes. 

   

Death waved his skeleton fingers to dissipate the misty image of the past. He turned to Alfajiri, whose eyes tried looking for the last of Yvaine’s image. 

“Death. I know I’ve been asking a lot, but I have one last request. Please, let me see Yvaine again. I need to say goodbye to her. In the physical realm.” Alfajiri clenched his palms, containing his trembling voice.

Death was so used to seeing deceitful humans, that it was fresh for him to witness a sincere heart. He quietly nodded. 

“Just remember,” Death sighed, “your time on Earth runs out very soon. Yvaine is reaching the final steps of your 49th-day ceremony.”

  

1 day left.

For a full day and night, Yvaine stayed awake to organize Alfajiri’s conclusion ceremony 49 days after his death. This meant she had to accept the fact that Alfajiri’s soul was officially departing this Earth. She had not been eating well nor sleeping well, although her skin was pink with life flowing through her, and her cheeks lit up like they had never before. Her obsidian hair matched her obsidian eyes. Yvaine had blended in with the rest of the village, only prettier. 

Just a little longer, dawn would break on this land. Yvaine carefully pulled out a set of clothes from a gilded box she had not touched since Alfajiri’s death, then sat on a mound overlooking the river where 49 days ago, her own hands had placed her lover’s urn on a wooden boat to send it down the river at sunset. Wasn’t it just coincidental, she thought, that Alfajiri died at sunset, that he was sunlight incarnate? 

Yvaine examined the clothes and unfolded them, tucking away her thoughts in the openings of Alfajiri’s sleeves and pockets. She held them up for the first ray of sunlight, the clothes glowed brilliantly, so brilliant that her eyes squinted a little. As if she saw Alfajiri before her, moving his lips and speaking to her again.  

 

0 days left.

“Yvaine… I finally found you…” Alfajiri’s astral body was flinching, unstable. He collapsed into Yvaine’s arms. Thud! Both fell flat on the mound, shocked. 

A chorus of robins sang from afar. Gentle waves of the river rustled in the leaves. The light wind smelled of familiar rosemary. Yvaine sat up and immediately realized how fragile and temporary Alfajiri was. 

“Death allowed me to see you briefly for the last time. I needed to meet you, in order to move on.” Disoriented, Yvaine just locked her eyes on her lover and listened. 

Alfajiri rested his head on Yvaine’s kneeling thighs. He reached his hands up to feel Yvaine’s flowing, luscious black hair tickling his face. 

“Your hair is always so beautiful. Before, it looked like a trail of stardust, and now it’s obsidian black like the night sky…” Silver, sparkling teardrops fell on Alfajiri’s face. Yvaine could not help wheezing, choking down on her words: 

“Why did you have to go this far, Alfajiri? Why did you trade your life with Death just so I can live on? I’d rather die with the hatred, with the disease, with you, rather than keep living on as a normal girl like this!” 

Yvaine’s pulse increased and she lost control of her rapid crying. She crouched down to embrace Alfajiri’s lifeless body. 

With the most tender gaze, Alfajiri’s smile bloomed. 

“Because I love you with all my life.” 

Alfajiri’s body seemingly cracked, beams of light shining from within. He did not have much time left. 

“My evening star,” Alfajiri said, “You are the light of my life, the reason I wake up every day at dawn and look forward to spending another blissful day with you. I have just enough time, so don’t shed another tear nor be saddened, it’ll hurt your beautiful onyx eyes. I have no regrets; my life is filled with a noble purpose that is you. I love you for eternity, Yvaine. If there is a next life, I will beg the Gods to be your lover and caretaker, all over again. Life after life, until karma is no more. Until this world crumbles into destruction and we are nothing but specks of dust. Even then, if I find you, I’m still yours, right by your side. So don’t you worry. We will meet again.” 

Their hands held tight onto each other. Alfajiri weakly caressed Yvain’s right cheek, gently pulling her face closer to his. Yvaine, still full of tears and trembling, planted a warm kiss on Alfajiri’s dead, dry lips. The pink of life from her seeped into Alfajiri’s face, making him look alive for a second. 

Alfajiri’s voice started to fade away: “My dying wish is for you to lead a happy and fulfilling life, and I will watch over you from the Heavens. Promise me this, my evening star, that you will live your full lifespan, with no shortcuts, no more heartbreaks or regrets. Only then can I rest in peace.” 

Yvaine clenched her hands in his. Holding back her grief, she also smiled. 

“I promise, my dawn.”

Alfajiri let out a final breath, and his shining body collapsed gracefully into a million specks of glowing light like fireflies. It felt as warm as the morning sunlight. The specks surrounded Yvaine one last time, then dispersed to the great sky above with the wind. Yvaine looked up, tracing the last of the specks, feeling the warmth of the sun on her reddened face. Her will to live has never been stronger because there is someone who makes her want to live again.

 

55 years later.   

All things that lived must die. The only thing that transcended time was the feeling we had for each other. Among all emotions, love was the strongest. 

Yvaine sat quietly on the mound where she held her lover for the last time so many years ago. Caressing the rosemary herbs she planted by the river, Yvaine was able to feel his love. She aged beautifully, surpassing the village’s average lifespan of 40, almost double–as if there was another life protecting her.

 “If it was possible, I wanted to live and stay by your side.” Yvaine’s wrinkled hands, scattered with lines and sun spots, tapped lightly on Alfajiri’s old clothes. “But being born and being able to experience this life is already a miracle. I kept my promise, and lived the best life I could have.” 

Several children ran to her, giggling and pushing around. 

“Great-grandma! Great-grandma! Look how early we got up!” Another child bashed in. “We wanted to watch the sunrise with you!” 

Yvaine was content. She pointed to the brightest evening star and proceeded to tell her great-grandchildren their favorite story. 

“Once upon a time, an evening star fell in love with the dawn. She would wait all night just to see him for a brief moment. Their meetings, though passing, left a great impact that lasted for an eternity. The evening star thought this would never work out, that their meetings were bound to break, and that they should not have met from the beginning. To her surprise, the dawn replied that he’d rather have that short moment to hold her, treasure her, and protect her than live an immortal life without meeting her at all.” The kids glued their eyes to her smiling face.

The dawn broke, shining gloriously.

“Good morning, Alfajiri,” Yvaine whispered. “Look how big our family has grown.” 

 

The End.