In a wide bay mud, there lived a dog. Every day, he trotted through shallow puddles with brown stains caked onto his fur. Since no one was here to make fun of him, he was free to be as dirty as possible. Once he was done for the day, he bathed in a crystal-clear pond nearby.
One night, as he was finishing his bath, the dog felt tired and lay down to take a nap. As he was about to close his eyes, he found himself gazing at the night sky. He never had a chance to really think about what was there because he was so busy with the mud… Until now.
The sky seemed like a void with dots of white at first, but it was much more than that; it was a whole new dimension. A dimension where the merging of black and blue equaled a glitter bomb of flickering diamonds and pearls, and where birds soared towards who-knows-where and touched the stars.
It captivated the dog, and he reached up, hoping to touch the stars as well—but he was disappointed when he noticed those stars were so far away from him.
He looked at the earth and frowned. Compared to the scene up above, it didn’t have much beauty in and of itself. He was still happy about the mud, of course, but beyond that, it had the desolation of a desert. Soon a new, strong feeling began to grow inside of him: it was discontent over simply
being there.
He sighed and began to wonder, Why can't I be like the birds?
But then…
THUMP!
The dog got up and saw something beside him: a strange, glowing cat-like being that appeared to be made of the essence of a galaxy, with its colors varying from blue to purple to pink and their fur dusted with glitter. They were breathing normally despite the impact they sustained from falling through the sky, or so he thought. (He was looking down at the time, so it was a little hard for him to tell. He would have to figure that out later.)
“Hey,” whispered the dog, as he slowly approached them with his paw hovering. A cautious hound, his body grew tense and he hoped that this creature wouldn’t suddenly leap at him.
That didn’t happen, thankfully. Instead, the cat turned towards him and revealed their big, shining eyes. Then they said “Hi,” saw his paw, and lowered their head as if they wanted to be petted.
The dog smiled, relieved that they were calm and friendly by nature. He stroked the cat's head; it was cool, but also soft.
At a time when the dog almost felt uncertain, he had a fateful encounter with a cute kitten. Finally, a new friend! They were not only a potential playmate but also someone who was most likely willing to talk about life with him. Oh, the countless days they would spend together…
Soon he grew drowsy and rested his head on the ground once more. Before he drifted off to sleep, he felt the cat shifting closer to him and heard a quiet purr.
The next day came. The sun's rays brightened the now-blue sky, and a little dirt had already dried. However, the mud puddles remained, and the dog was glad about that.
So he decided to introduce his new friend to the bay mud and how he spent his free time. He let himself fall into a big puddle with a
splash, and then he rolled and rolled around.
The cat looked with such wonder and curiosity that they soon joined the dog and rolled on the wet ground with him. They played for hours, and eventually, the cat was covered with so much sod that their shimmering fur was nowhere to be seen.
The dog later noticed that he, too, was smothered in dripping mud. They looked at each other and laughed merrily.
By that point, the sun was setting, and they had to get cleaned, so they went to the pond and dipped their bodies in the water.
While they were washing themselves and each other, the dog curiously asked the cat, "Where are you from?"
The cat turned their head to the night sky and pointed. "Up there," they answered. The dog’s suspicions were confirmed. "I was just floating around, looking for a friend among the stars.
“As I was exploring, I spotted a giant, blue planet. I went near it, but then I realized I couldn’t float there. I fell to the ground, and then I saw you."
The dog looked towards the sky, taking in what the cat said about their home.
"So there is a place on the other side of this earth," he registered. "I wish I could be up there with you, but it's so far away. How can I get there?"
The cat just looked down sadly. “...You can't.”
“Oh, yeah…” the dog replied while copying the cat’s expression. “I was wondering, because sometimes when I look at the sky at night, it makes me want to be up there instead of
down here.” The dog patted the ground as he explained himself.
“And that made me realize how huge the world really is. I mean, I just want more out of life than mud puddles. I still like it here and all, but… Is that all? Is that all I’m gonna get for the rest of my life? Just mud?”
He turned to the cat. They were deep in thought, and he could tell because they had their paw on their chin.
After a while, they put their paw down. The next thing they said was: “
Two men looked through prison bars. One saw mud. The other, stars.”
The dog stared silently at the cat.
“What’s that even mean?”
“I don't know, but it reminded me of you. I got it from someone on another planet; he told me it inspired him once he read it in this thing called a book that he got from a blue planet… Probably the one I’m in right now.”
Still confused over the poem, he decided not to think too much about it and continued to wash them. Soon, the stains had disappeared from the dog’s and the cat’s fur.
The two got up from the pond and shook off the water. The dog stretched himself, ready to nap, when he heard a faint thud.
The cat had collapsed, and they were breathing heavily. Shocked, the dog rushed to the cat and held their head to his.
"Are you okay!? Are you alright!? Was that from the fall!?" he spoke worriedly.
"Back...I will be back home..." the cat merely responded.
"Answer me!! Are you okay!?" the dog squealed.
The cat's panting slowed. They shivered and looked up at the dog with a look of hope in their eyes.
"My friend," they comforted. "I will be fine. I’ve landed on planets the same way billions of times before, and on all of those occasions, I survived. It's just that the time has come for me to return to the stars. It's where I belong, and because of that, I can't stay in places like yours for long. I'm grateful for all the mud you’ve got, but more importantly? I'm glad we met."
The dog began to tear up and embrace the cat. The cat reached out and touched the dog's cheek.
"You don't have to hold me close and cry," they breathed. "I won't be here, but I will not die."
Then their eyes closed, and their body fell limp. The body began to glow, and it rose quickly to the sky.
With his head up towards Heaven, the dog howled for his one and only friend, who introduced him to the world beyond his home in the bay mud.
Later, he trudged back to his home, unable to look at it the same way. It felt like nothing more than miles and miles of dirt. And there was no beauty and no value to be found in filthy dirt compared to the stars at night.
But that wasn't all: he was just a tiny speck of life in a vast, barren land, and the one person he managed to befriend was gone in a flash. And since no one was there to judge him for how messy he could be, that also meant there wasn’t anyone else who loved the mud as much as he did... Other than that cat.
"I thought I loved it here," the dog lamented. "But that's just not reality. The real world is filled with nothing but mud. The real world is a horrible place. It's mostly misery and loneliness out there, and that's reality…
Right?”
In an instant, he remembered what happened to the cat and looked up. There it was: the most beautiful, most brilliant night sky he ever saw. The diamonds and pearls had increased in abundance, and somewhere within the stars, he swore he could make out a cat's head.
And so, he finally realized what the cat’s poem really meant. Instead of dwelling on how unfair life could be, he would look for the stars—or make the most out of his circumstances—in times of doubt.
The End
Notes
- The Mud and the Starswas inspired by:
- Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls by Dav Pilkey (The title comes from one of the chapters, and Mudhound’s dialogue at the end is based on a quote from one of the characters.)
- Two men looked through prison bars by an unknown author
- Immortality by Clare Harner; Cosmew's last words to Mudhound are based on the last two lines of the poem: “Do not stand by my grave, and cry— / I am not there, I did not die” (Sound familiar? A variant of this poem was referenced in Dog Man: Grime and Punishment.)
- The story was originally planned as a picture book, but this concept has since been shelved.
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