its core is crushed by its own weight.
but the core is resilient; it becomes stronger.
the pressure is relentless,
yet the star endures.
seven times, the heart reforges itself
each time closer to breaking.
until at last, it can take no more.
the star collapses,
a final burst of light igniting the night sky,
its dying breath scattering pieces of the broken heart across the universe.
eons pass.
the remnants of that heart live on,
woven into the fabric of all things—
now coursing through the bloodstreams
of you and me.
