Their Indefinite Substance

1.
Andrea saw the stars as infinity reflected in the inky blackness of her coffee on a moonlit patio. Marcus saw the stars as blurry fabrications - any meaning lost as their light strains through our atmosphere. Both wondered: What colour are the stars when gleaming in the eyes of a lover? But they were not lovers - nor would they ever be.

2.
Lost and alone in the desert a long time ago, Mary de Jesús, Andrea's great-great-grandmother, found the stars at once incredibly useful and painfully not. Out of their indefinite substance she was able to fashion herself shelter, clothing, even companionship. She found though that their light could not provide sustenance. Her body lay beneath the stars barely half a day before becoming buried in the indifferent sand while the stars watched, unfeeling.

3.
Antonio Luis Cardella, Marcus’ great-great-grandfather, was the designer of exquisite hourglasses. He could speak all day of the process he went through to craft his breathtaking creations, telling all who would listen everything down to the last detail. But the one thing he would not tell was where he procured the sand to fill the glasses, and he swore on the stars in the heavens above that he would take this secret with him to his grave. Antonio was an honest man, and stuck by his word.

4.
No, Andrea and Marcus were not lovers – nor would they ever be. Nor could they ever be. Andrea saw the stars as everything - Marcus, nothing.