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Bedtime Story, Part 11

Part 11 of 12 in a series:
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English

0:00 Once, I awoke in the middle of the night and happened to see her standing by the window. 0:08 In my dim hospital room, the fluorescent lights switched off, the glow from the parking lot came in through the window and cast her shadow on the wall. 0:19 Shiina was staring intensely into the night sky.

0:24 Thinking back on it now, on that night….

0:29 She may have been moving the stars with the intent of changing my destiny.

0:41 “I had thought I would never again change the stars’ alignments to change someone’s fate. 0:51 But when they tried chemotherapy during your first stay in the hospital, while I was looking at your horoscope I made my decision. 1:04 I’d change your fate. 1:06 I swore to myself I wouldn’t let you die.”

1:11 She tells me a horoscope is something that shows the positions of the planets and constellations at the time of one’s birth into this world.

1:22 I turned off the radio. 1:25 Our breathing breaks the room’s hushed silence.

1:31 The distant sound of a window opening reaches my ears. 1:38 I suppose a patient in some other room opened his window to watch the meteor shower.

1:48 “In your horoscope, Saturn has several crucial links to other stars. 1:57 Each is a major aspect as defined by Ptolemy. 2:02 It appears as though Saturn’s presence is in a position of control over the others.

2:08 “Throughout the history of astrology, Saturn has been the star that governs adversity. 2:16 All sorts of bad things were thought to be the fault of this star. 2:22 This is a stereotypical view, however, and there is a side which sees it as a star of challenges to encourage growth….

2:31 “But why did Saturn end up as the symbol of adversity?

2:39 “The answer to this is that in the age before telescopes, among the planets in the Solar System, Saturn was the most distant. 2:50 To the people of ancient times, Saturn stood for the edge of the world, the limit, end, terminus, as well as being the star associated with death.

3:07 “…I know what it’s like. 3:12 That impulse, when you lose your family or those you love in a famine, to place the blame on an unlucky star…. 3:23 If you don’t do that—if you don’t blame someone—your heart cracks and shatters, under the weight of those thoughts….

3:37 “In your horoscope, Saturn casts a shadow over the sun and dispels the protection of Jupiter. 3:46 To change your destiny, I have to do something about this planet…. 3:53 That’s what I thought.”

Part 11 of 12 in a series: