[ WP ] Write a dystopia that turns into a utopia .

Stars. 
 
 
 I can never get enough of stars. In the ancient times, the Babylonians and Greeks saw them as gods and godly planes, the planets being the godly heroes travelling through the unimaginably fantastic worlds, and heading to the underwold every time a planet disappeared behind the horizon for days or months. *Planetai* in greek meant to wander. That's why I like the planets most. They wander through strange lands just like I once did. They always travel their assigned ways, even if it means stepping down to the world of the dead. Many years after the ancient times, romantics imagined that every star is a soul of a dead person. It is strange how death let us reclaim the stars, I thought. 
 
 The majestic cloud of the Milky Way was arching over our heads, with visible color differences between the stars. Some were yellow, some blueish, but my favorite were the ones shining in a fiery, ruby red. 
 
 `` Hondo'' - said one of the children by the fireplace in a low, inquiring tone - `` why do you look at the stars so much?'' bringing me back from the world of wandering thought into reality. 
 
 I paused, looked at the child to acknowledge his question and looked away, stroking my beard. I learned to take my time with everything I say and this was a very personal question, but the child could not know that. Silence conveys ideas too. 
 
 `` You see, child, when I was young, there were no stars visible. What do you think when you look at them?'' 
 
 The child stuttered, not being sure what kind of answer I expected from him. `` I think they are mysterious.'' - the young boy said hesitantly - `` But they look very pretty on a night like this.'' He relaxed a little. I could see that his face, lit by the fireplace, was directed towards the sky as he was talking. 
 
 `` Yes, they are very beautiful. When I was your age, most of the people in the world were deprived of that beauty. I think it should be a human right to see the stars, just like it once was a human right to have a room with a window to the outside world. But then things changed. There were chemical plants and factories and power plants growing and growing and they made so much dust and smoke. So the sky turned white, then grey, then brown. Some people never saw the stars in their lives.'' 
 
 `` Why did they do it, teacher?'' There was curiosity in the boy's voice. The other children, sitting in an uneven ring around the fireplace, slowly stopped their quiet chatter. They were all curious. Perhaps because they could not imagine how could someone live without ever seeing the wonder of a starry sky. It was a good moment. It was time to tell them. 
 
 `` Well...'' - I said, modulating my voice up and down not to sound too serious. I wanted them to know I am not only their teacher, but also one of them. - `` back then people did not seek the touch of rock on the palms of their hands. They did not want to sweat. They forgot the smell of cooking meat over a fire, and the joy of making something of their own. They seeked out other things. Various things. Posessions, status, or simply, some kind of twisted ease of mind. They bought with money everything made for them. That became their sole purpose. They were like children, trapped in a playground full of toys too colorful and shiny, to care about anything else. Their souls were eaten away slowly. Along with the souls, died the friendship and kindness.'' I paused to grief for these poor, lost people. `` How did you make Alekke your best friend?'' I asked the curious boy. 
 
 `` We were in the forest gathering firewood, when a bear snuck up on us. The sun was dawning, it shined in our eyes and we could not see what lurks in the west. Alekke warned me and when the bear attacked, we killed it with a slingshot and spear''. He straightened up his back, and his chest inflated with pride. He was talking with me, but discreetly glanced at others to make sure they heard his tale. Of course they all heard it before, but he was never tired of retelling it. 
 
 `` What happened next?'' - I asked, letting him bask in the glory for a minute longer. 
 
 `` We brought back the bear and the firewood to the village. It was even harder than killing that monster. Bears are heavy! But when we made a fire of that wood and ate the bear meat, it was the best meat I have ever had. And the coziest fire, too!'' He laughed. 
 
 `` Because it was so hard to get it, and you did it all by yourself!'' I added. 
 
 `` Yes, Hondo. But what happened to the factories? Something must have happened because we can see the stars now'' 
 
 `` Yes. These people did not know the pride of doing something so courageous and laborious. They had everything handed to them, that's why their bodies and souls went bleak. There were a few who disagreed with the blindness of that world. They did not know how to wake others from that slumber. When I want someone to wake up and he wo n't, I slap him in the face if I must to. And this is what they did'' - I sighed - `` they waged war. They were born into, and lived in a rotten, skewed world and they could not see clearly. They did knww they had to do something, and took the simplest way. They started destroying the factories, the power plants. But many people did not understand them, and they fought them back. The factories, instead of wonderful toys, started producing powerful weapons of blazing fire, and the skies changed from brown to red. Normal people did not know what to do. They had been secluded in their beautiful homes and did not understand the world. So many of them died'' - I glanced at the stars again - `` I understood. I knew we had to get away. I knew how, because I had learned to read maps, to understand clouds and seasons. I was friends with the plants. Me and some of your grandparents left our homes and headed east, and then north. It did not matter whose land we were walking on. There was chaos. We hid during the day and marched in the night, until we were in the planes of the southern Siberia, where we are now. There were no factories there, only steppe, so we knew we were safe. But we had to do everything on our own. It was hard for our bodies, but good for our souls. Many died, but most died happy. They earned a good death, -'' I hung up my voice, hesitantly. I wanted to tell them about the unholy deaths of the bleak people. I saw many of their deaths. For some, it was quick, with very little anticipation, while for others, slow and agonizing, but they all had something in common. The fear, confusion and a striking lack of understanding of what is happening. Death and pain were excluded from their worlds, until war knocked to their doors. Their pitiful, weak bodies would n't allow them to run for their lives, when it came to it. So they died. By hundreds, thousands, millions, by numbers larger than all the stars in the sky. They never went away fighting. They were not familiar with the notion. 
 
 `` But what happened to the smoke?'' Inquired a high, squeaky voice. I was grateful for the interruption of my memories of death. I would spare the young child the horrors of war. For now. 
 
 `` 5 years after our settlement, and 7 years after out departure, I saw the hazy silhouette of the moon. A year later - the first star. Actually it was the planet Venus. It had emerged from the underworld under the horizon in the early morning, before sunrise. Over next months the day sky slowly turned from red to brown, to gray to white-ish and then finally it went blue, and all the stars returned.'' I said in a concluding tone. I liked to tease my students this way. 
 
 `` But whyyy?'' The boy asked, wriggling in his seat. I smiled. 
 
 `` Well, I do n't know, to tell you the truth! But I think that all the factories must have been destroyed. And the people... well, they either learned to live on their own account, like us, or... died. The starry sky is their gift for us.'' 
 
 A small falling star made a small trail over the horizon. 
 
 `` Make a wish!'' I said, but my wish was already there, staring me in the eyes, with a bright, reddish glow.
