Star Child

One - I Wish Upon a Star

When I was young, like eight or so, I had the most awful nightmares where I would get chased by this demon-thing, and I would wake up in a cold sweat before it would catch me. I would then go to my mom in the living room and cry, but she would always tell me not to worry, that she was protecting me as I slept and nothing could get to me. She would often tell me a story to calm me, and her favorite was about the Princess of Pluto.

"Some say she was once the most beautiful thing in the entire universe, and because of this her brothers, the other planets in the solar system, contrived against her, and they banished her to the farthest spot from the sun's warmth, and there she was kept. But in spite of this she loved her brothers, and on each of their birthdays she would sing for them their favorite lullaby, and they would fall asleep without a care in their world. But Mercury hated his sister most of all, and as she sang to him he would mock her, cursing the shadows of the universe to fall upon her and drown her existence. But Earth felt compassionate and regretted all the wrongdoings he had done her, and he chose to take on all the curses that Mercury had sent to Pluto. And ever after Earth has been plagued by monsters of every kind."

"But what did Pluto do?" I would always ask to my mother. "Why did she just let him do that to Earth?"

My mom would giggle, telling me, "Don't worry, my son, that's not the end of the story. See, because of her great love for her brother Earth, the Princess of Pluto sent her sons and daughters to protect the people of Earth. And that's the story of how I got here."

Then I would smile, kinda half believing it, and I would forget my nightmares and be at peace.

As I would drift to sleep, my mom would whisper softly in my ear, "Don't worry, my son, the shadows cannot get to you. As long as I am here, nothing can get to you." And she would kiss my forehead and hum an enchanting tune, rubbing my back gently.

It wasn't even four months later I was at her funeral. Cancer or something like that. I didn't cry or anything, I just stood there like an idiot trying to comprehend why my mom was lying in that box in the ground while people threw dirt at her. And why was everyone so sad around me? Did I do something to cause this? Was it my fault?

They all spoke as if I was one of their adult matters they had to deal with. One man who wore raggedy clothing and smelled like alcohol got pretty aggressive over something, pointing to me and my mother while the others tried to quiet him. I didn't recognize him, but everyone else there seemed to.

After that I was put in a foster home. I was actually quite fortunate to find a good one; only a few minor dramas that I could remember growing up, and I didn't change homes like I had heard would be the case in most other unfortunate children. I guess the parents were close with my mom, because they would always talk about her like they knew her. Anyway, the rest of my life wasn't so depressing. I went to the same school as I had always gone to, held onto the same friends since kindergarten, and graduated as an above-average student. Nobody really asked about my personal life; everyone knew I was an only child with no parents or family, but since I was so young it was just what I and everyone else were used to by the time we were old enough to even think about those questions.

I had some friends too. I hung out with a lot of people throughout the years, but I only really connected with two people. They say you only ever have two close friends, so I guess that's true. The three of us were always really close; anything one of us would do the other two would tag along, or else be butthurt for not being included. One thing we'd like to do would be to go to Elisa's backyard and run around her woods screaming like little banshees. That was my favorite spot in the whole world. It was just so tranquil and dreamy and powerful, and my heart beat out of my chest every time I thought about it. I lived in the city, and everything there was just so... gray. But being with those two under the creaking trees on summer nights was an experience I would never forget.