Moonspear a bullet on fire

the boy had been gazing into the dark sky as teenagers were wont to do, staring at the distant celestial bodies that, insensate to his mourning, stared back.

most of the sky was still. arcturus had from time to time caught the burning glimpse of a shooting star streaking across the sky -- but never had he seen the simmering ruin of a downed star coming straight towards him.

or at least, that was what it looked like to arcturus -- as if one star had grown tired of its lonely perch in the immense and isolated sky, and had thrown its soul downwards in a fiery arc.

arcturus watched as the spearing star howled across the earth's horizon, a flare of white announcing its penetration of their atmosphere.

downward it went, in a rapid descent -- its white tail flaring behind it like a winter fox's. and then there was the snarling noise of burning, shredded air -- a high pitched and oscillating wail from the sky that the boy had never head before.

his ears pinned instinctively as the impact washed over him -- the dark world suddenly became illuminated in a harsh glare of flashing white; everything around him was a white or silver sheen -- and then darkness resumed its reign, leaving him in a shocked stupor.

he was slow to rise, his hair on end and heart beating rapidly; whatever he had just witnessed seemed unearthly. there were no other wolves around him, and fearfully the boy crept towards the smoldering spot, where grey plumes still rose in thin columns into the navy night. arcturus held his breath as the nauseating scent of burnt ozone hit him -- his eyes locked on the blackened, corrupted star that sat smoldering in the center of the crater.

was this what stars looked like when they abandoned the high seat of their celestial perch?