A world born from the First Tear

Hundreds of people hurried past the jeweller’s window each evening. Aenili stood motionless behind the glass, crystals filling her hair, with her faithful companion Nili beside her. Above them floated the First Tear.

The city thought it was simply an unusual window display.

Yet nobody could explain why a glow remained long after the shop lights had been switched off.

One rainy evening, an elderly woman stopped before the glass. She took off a glove and touched the little pendant at her neck. Long ago, someone had helped fasten her chain every morning. For years now, she had struggled with the clasp alone.

Nili nestled gently against Aenili’s hand.

Without eyes, they could still sense what was happening within people. One pale-lilac crystal in Aenili’s hair began to shine. Its light crossed the glass and settled on the woman’s pendant.

For a moment, the woman caught her breath.

She remembered a morning. The open window, the cold coffee and a familiar voice behind her:

“Wait. Let me.”

She stood there for a long time. Then she smiled, tucked the pendant beneath her coat and set off home.

The light in the window grew quiet again. But a new, tiny crystal had appeared on one of Aenili’s curls.

The jeweller noticed it in the morning.

He could have sworn it had not been there the night before.

Written by Kamilla Akhmin