Urgency of Keon's Consequence

Some say the night the stars fell, Keon was born. At least, that's how his mother, Jea, remembers it. The stars were already falling before she gave birth. They fell on her back and into her gut and all around her as she lay in the mud of the riverbank. She could feel them tumbling over each other through her skin and through her bones, touching down just beyond where she lay. She could hear them striking the surface of the water. The whoosh of their descent drowned out even the sound of her own cries of pain and ecstasy.

When the stars struck, they burned holes through her muddy skin like a freshly sharpened stick poked through an apple. She knew this because some of them stung when they landed on her shoulder or on her hip or between her fingers as she pressed them into the muddy bank to try to hold herself up while pushing out a child.

In those days, women gave birth alone by riversides or in small huts with rickety roofs and animal skins for walls. When a woman got pregnant, everyone knew what was next, but no one talked about it much until it happened. Jea had lived alone for a long time, fishing and gathering roots and berries in the forest with her grandfather. Her parents had died young and mysterious deaths when she was just a girl; perhaps from disease or wild animals, or maybe at each other's hands for an unknown reason. No one talked about it much then either because no one wanted to talk about death so soon after a tragedy had occurred.

Everyone pretended not to notice how quiet Jea was sometimes or how quickly she'd turn away if you tried to touch her face or the way she'd stare out at the trees sometimes with an unfocused gaze that made you wonder if she was looking at anything at all. So people left her alone in their hearts as well as their homes until that day by the river when she went into labor and there was no one else around to help bring down that baby from inside of her body where it had been living for months now like a nestling waiting for its mother to return from flight.

Jea endured pain more acute than anything she had ever experienced before that day by the riverbank. However, it wasn't severe enough yet to cause complications - at least as far as anyone could tell. Someone had advised Jea to wait until morning when another woman would be available to assist with the birth by rubbing smooth stones together to produce enough heat and friction for a fire. The fire's warmth would then penetrate her belly so that the baby could be gently eased out with its umbilical cord intact, unlike many babies born by riverbanks who are ripped out in a bloody manner because midwives have learned that fire is faster than their hands' gentleness when handling newborns' delicate heads.

So Jea waited until morning light came and then waited some more until it grew late again before deciding to give birth all by herself in the mud with stars still falling around her like icy rain cascading down from clouds too high above even for birds to reach.

When Keon's head finally emerged from his mother's stretched-open belly, he blinked once, wide-eyed at everything that surrounded him before blinking again lazily, just like any baby might do after being roused from sleep to encounter a new world full of unknown faces, sounds, and smells. With time, he would learn about these things, just like his parents did when they were his age or younger, despite neither one appearing old enough to raise a child without a nearby support network, leaving them to rely solely on each other if they'd let themselves see what was right in front of them every day.

Keon had a close relationship with Sammi, who was once named Samantha, who used to wear dresses but doesn't anymore, with occasional exceptions when feeling brave. Sammi had struggled with people's derogatory words aimed at his true self, not knowing how to share this part of his life with Keon.

Over time, their family bond became apparent and strong. They found happiness in the simple moments like sharing meals together after sunset, which brought comfort amidst the hardships they faced. These poignant memories remained vivid regardless of how many stars fell from the heavens above, leaving behind physical reminders of their journey as a constant testament to the love that bound them together.