In a small, unremarkable town, where the streets carried whispers of forgotten dreams, lived a girl named Elara. As a teenager, she booked her life into all the chaos and clutter typical of youth: laughter mingling with heartaches, long nights turned into early mornings, and endless fantasies. But unlike her peers, Elara often found herself staring at the stars, wondering if maybe, just maybe, she was meant for something beyond this world. Her fascination with the cosmos and the idea that life was more than just routines often led her to daydream of being swept away in a moment of cosmic love, perhaps even to be beamed up into the galaxy.

Then came the night when everything changed. During a celestial event—a meteor shower that electrified the heavens—Elara felt a strange pull. As the shimmering lights danced above, she closed her eyes, and for a fleeting moment, it felt as though she was surrounded by sparkling dust, as if she had been chosen for something greater. In that fleeting high, she thought she could glimpse a universe larger than herself, where love knew no bounds. But just as quickly, it vanished, as if dragged away by the very stars that had drawn her in.

The following morning, the world felt different. The weight of her heart was unbearable; she was back in her mundane reality, confused and overwhelmed. Elara found herself crying at the gym, releasing torrents of teenage angst and heartbreak, each tear a reflection of the momentary bliss she had felt. She couldn’t shake the feeling of loss, grappling silently with memories of a love she had imagined—a bond that felt real yet remained unrealized.

"Fuck it," she often muttered to herself, as if summoning the strength to rise again. “If I can’t have him, I might just die; it would make no difference.” Her workouts turned more intense, an effort to push through the self-doubt and despair, but each rep felt heavier when his absence loomed larger.

“Did you really take all my old clothes, just to leave me here naked and alone in this hollow town?” she wondered, the familiarity of her surroundings stifling her spirit. The once vibrant streets now echoed with hollowness. And when the starlight faded, who would believe her tales of cosmic love?

Mornings turned into nights as she glanced up at the sky, hoping for a sign, yearning for the spark that had flickered so briefly. In her melancholic reverie, she would find herself staring into the vastness, wishing that one of those far-off ships would come back and pick her up. Yet each time she found herself questioning, deep down, “How dare you think it’s romantic to leave me stranded with this longing?”

Elara wrote him letters in her mind, constructing fortresses in distant galaxies where they would only need to understand one another. She poured every ounce of her heart into those words, exclaiming, “Fuck it, I was in love!” as if the declaration could manifest the reality she craved.

Time passed, and the isolation became an unsettling norm. Yet even in the darkness, she clung to the memory of that cosmic kiss—the fleeting moment when she felt wholly alive. “I might just stay down bad,” she would admit when facing the mirror, “like I lost my twin.” This ache was more than simple heartbreak; it was a shared soul torn apart.

With each sunset painting the horizon in brilliant colors, Elara learned to navigate her anguish. There was beauty in the pain, in knowing that she had loved fiercely. And although she often felt lost in the echoes of “Fuck it if I can’t have him,” she also began to see the stars as her allies, whispering in the quiet of her heart, reminding her that the universe held more possibilities than she could ever fathom.

As she continued to gaze at the stars, holding onto her truths and facing her demons, she realized it was okay to be down bad. Each wave of emotion was a step in a journey that was uniquely hers, and slowly, with time and the gentle urge of the universe, she began to rise again.