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June 5th 2006
Henry looks carefully into the telescope which lets him see far, far away, as far away as the distant nebulae on the far edges of the Milky Way. Henry is an astronomer. He looks at the sky, and at stars in particular. Even though he spends much of his time looking at detailed computer reports, which are just lists and lists of numbers, his favourite thing about his job is looking through the telescope. And today he is very excited. He isn’t sure yet, but he thinks he has seen a dense cloud which might be the beginning of a new star.
July 5th 2006
Henry is still looking for a tiny point of light in the sky. He checks the lists and lists of numbers that his computer produces, and tries to make sense of them. He tries to turn the basic data into an image, a picture of the star he hopes to see, but it is not yet possible.
He arrives home feeling tired. His wife Anna sits down next to him. “I’ve got some news…” she says.
August 5th 2006
Henry is so excited about being a father that he has forgotten about his star. Anna is feeling sick and tired. Henry is no longer thinking about nebulae and clouds and gases. He is thinking about pushchairs and nappies.
September 5th 2006
Anna and Henry go to the doctor. Anna has an ultrasound scan. Henry is used to seeing distant images of planets and stars and clouds, and now he looks at this image. It almost looks like a cloud, but it is much clearer. He can see the outline of a head, the features of a face. And he realises that this means much more to him than the distant stars he is used to looking at.
October 5th 2006
Anna finally starts to get fatter. Henry is feeling terrified. For the first time now, he realises exactly what it means. In a few months time, he will be a father.
November 5th 2006
Anna looks at her tummy and now starts to feel that there is another living person inside her. She thinks about Henry’s job, and remembers how excited Henry was a few months ago when he thought that he could see a new star.
December 5th 2006
Henry thinks that Anna looks a bit like a whale, but that she is very beautiful anyway. He thinks that next Christmas everything will be very, very different.
January 5th 2007
Anna feels like she wants to sleep all the time. She feels like the baby already wants to come out. The baby is kicking her from inside. She feels like a football. She can’t wait to become a mother. Henry calls her ten times a day on her mobile phone.
February 5th 2007
It can take as long as ten million years for a star to form, but Henry doesn’t care about seeing his star any more. He knows that although he may be the first person to see a new star, it is impossible for him to see the birth of a star, from its beginning to its appearance. But he doesn’t care because a new star has just entered his life.
“But we haven’t thought of a name!” says Anna, holding the tiny baby in her arms.
“I have” says Henry. “I’ve got a beautiful name for her.”
“What is it?”
“Stella. Let’s call her Stella.”
THE END
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What do you think about this story? Have you experienced anything like Henry and Anna? Send us your texts.
Blackberry from Hungary writes “I have 3 beautiful children. They are 12, 6 and 6 years old. When I learnt I was pregnant for the second time I was very surprised, I did not know whether I should cry or laugh. I was already in third month of pregnancy when at long last I decided to have my first ultrasound scan. My doctor was examining me for a long time and he asked me several times: "Have you ever had any ultrasound scan?" I felt that he certain wanted to say to me something serious. Icy horror took hold of me. I thought there was something up with my baby. But he went on examining me without a word. Grim thoughts stormed through my mind. I started to shake. At last he broke the silence: "They are two of them" he informed me simply. At first I understood nothing. The words echoed without meaning in my mind. After that I started to get giddy. Oh my God! Relief and fear came hand in hand. I did not know again if I should cry or laugh.The years went by. I can hear their whispers, see their smiles, and as I read your story I am thinking about my daughters. They have not brought to us the shine of cold stars but the warmth of a single sun. And now I never think about whether I should cry or laugh.”
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