[Short Story] The Time I Bought a Galaxy

“Galaxy Stall”
While walking through the park at night, I spotted a small night stall with that sign. It had many spiderwebs hanging between hydrangea branches, with tiny water droplets glistening on them, all lined up for sale.
Ah, it really is true. I remember thinking long ago that spiderwebs with water droplets look like galaxies. Each spiderweb is a special world in its own right, yet so fragile, destroyed in an instant by the wind or by people. I always hesitate to clear away the beautiful spiderwebs hung on the clothesline during the night. But I have no choice. I have to hang my laundry there. Hanging laundry is one of the few chores I actually enjoy. No, even if it were a chore I didn't like, I would still have to clear the webs to hang the laundry.
As I stood there lost in thought after gazing at the “galaxies” for sale, the young saleswoman spoke to me with a voice that sounded like a gentle ringing bell.
“Would you like one? A galaxy. They’re delicious.”
Delicious... a delicious galaxy...?
I had an illusion that I could hear the voice of a spider saying how delicious the insects caught in its web were. I shook my head slightly, thinking that couldn't be right.
“Delicious? What does it taste like? What is it made of? Is it not a spiderweb? Is it a galaxy?”
I asked her in a calm, rapid-fire tone, as if that strange illusion had never happened.
“It’s made of candy. Well, let’s see, the taste is...”
She looked up at the dark night sky and paused.
“The taste is... well, it’s a galaxy, so it tastes like putting those distant stars into your mouth.”
I looked up at the sky with her. Several silvery stars, like silver dragées, were faintly twinkling. Today was a clear day during the rainy season. Even at night, there were no clouds in the sky, and the stars were visible. The moon was out, too. I asked again in a dazed voice.
“Aren't distant stars burning? If I put one in my mouth, wouldn't I get burned? Or if it’s a star that has already burned out and exploded, does it disappear in an instant in my mouth like a ramune candy?”
She smiled softly and said,
“I don’t know about things like that, things in a universe so far away you can never reach it. After all, no one can really verify if the stars are burning or if they’ve already vanished, can they?”
She added,
“I think stars are cold and taste like a slightly sweet soda.
But if the one you put in your mouth is Antares in Scorpio, it might taste like fire, or it might taste like blood, or perhaps, quite kindly, like strawberry. If it were Sirius, it would be peppermint.”
I’m strange, but she’s strange too.
Since she is the kind of person who sells galaxies, and I am the kind of person who stops at a galaxy stall, it is only natural that we are both strange.
“Then, I’ll take one galaxy.”
I handed her a thousand-yen bill, just as the price tag indicated.
“Thank you very much. Here is your galaxy.”
I received the galaxy hanging from a branch between hydrangea flowers that she handed me, and I walked home quietly, careful not to drop or spill it. On the dim path home, it shone like a water droplet bathed in light.
Once on the way, I brought it close to my face and gently stuck out my tongue to lick it. It was cold and sweet. My tongue felt cool for a long time until I reached home and brewed some tea.
I placed the galaxy in a bottle and decorated my windowsill with it until the next day. It continued to glow faintly silver throughout the night, but by morning, it had completely vanished, leaving only the hydrangea flowers and their branches. Ah, I should have licked the rest of it last night. But since my tongue felt so cold after just one lick, if I had eaten the whole thing, my tongue might have gone numb and I wouldn't have been able to taste anything for a long time. So, it was probably for the best that I didn't lick it. Thinking that, I decided to let go of my regret.
I never saw the galaxy seller in the park again. I suppose they are always traveling somewhere else, selling galaxies.

(End)

I am participating in Kosuke Komaki's project.