Holding a Star

By: Ivory Stephens

“I see it, I see it!!” I yelled. There it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Streaking across the midnight sky, a shooting star. I had always wondered what it would be like to be one of them. Flying across the wide sky, coming from a place so far away most people could only dream of it. To be so rare that simply the sight would be enough to keep a person happy for days. I went back to my room shivering with delight. As I looked up at my ceiling, I saw the sticker stars. It wasn’t that long ago that I used to believe my dad would catch a shooting star when it fell and put it in my room. Obviously, I know the truth now, but I wish I didn’t. Life was so much easier when half of my world was made up of fairies and princesses. I toss and turn but I just couldn’t fall asleep. I still had tingles running up and down from the shooting star. 

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know I'm being shaken out of bed. 

“Wake up Starlight!!” my little brother Sam yells in my ear. Still groggy I get out of bed. Suddenly the excitement of the night before hits me. I’m cheerful all through breakfast. 

On the walk to school I wonder what it would be like to touch a real-life star. To hold it would simply be magical. I ponder the question all the way to school. Halfway through math class I realize it would be next to impossible to find the shooting star. For all I knew it could have landed in the middle of Russia. Then during social studies have my next big brainstorm. What if I make a star, it can’t be impossible, can it? The idea was enough to keep on my toes all the way till science class. As soon as class was over, I ran up to Mr. Hernandez’s desk. “If I were to make a star, how would I do it?” I asked him cautiously. I had hurt myself enough in class making a volcano, if he knew I was planning to make a star, I would never be able to get past Phase 1 of my plan. Luckily, he didn’t catch on. 

“Well you see Starlight making a star is a very complicated process, and even if you did manage it, it would burn a whole through the floor.” 

“Oh,” I said disappointed. I guess I would have to find another way to see a star on the ground, since I wouldn’t be able to hold it anyway. As I went home, I realized why see a star on the ground when you could much more easily see one in the sky with a telescope! I rushed home. 

“Wait up Starlight!” Sam called to me. He had just started kindergarten this year and I kept forgetting I was supposed to walk home with him. As I skidded to a stop, I tripped over a rock and scraped my knee. 

“Owwwwwwwwwww!” I yelled. I held my throbbing knee, while Sam ran up to me. Blood was running down my leg.  

“Can you walk?” asked Sam anxiously. Slowly I got up to my feet, realizing my ankle hurt too. 

“Yeah, I think so,” I replied. As I took the first step, I fell again. This time I barely noticed the blood, my ankle was throbbing. Sam looked at me with a worried face. “Go home and get mom,” I instructed. Reluctantly Sam left. I sat there clutching my ankle. A moment later I saw mom rushing up to me. 

“Starlight, what happened? How did you fall? Are you ok? Where does it hurt?” she asked bombarding me with questions. 

“I fell, tripped over a rock, I'm clearly hurt, and my knee and ankle,” I replied. Slowly she felt my ankle. 

“Luckily, your ankle is just twisted,” she replied relived. As she helped me walk home, I remembered the telescope. 

“Do we have a telescope at home?” I blurted. 

“Of course, we do. Don’t you remember your father used to be an astronomer? Why do you ask?” 

“I want to look at the stars.” 

“All right, I’ll get out the telescope and you can look at them tonight.”  

Once we finally get home, I clean up my knee and bandage my ankle. I’m lying on the sofa doing my homework when I hear a weird beep. Then mom comes downstairs. “Did you hear that?” I ask. 

“Oh, it was just me getting out the telescope.” 

“Our telescope beeps?” I ask suspiciously. 

“It is one of the best, so yeah it does.” 

“Ok,” I say still not completely believing her. Still I finish my homework, so excited that I probably got half the questions wrong.  

After what seems forever, dinner rolls around. Then because I'm in a hurry today, Sam obviously comes to dinner late. And because we can’t start dinner without everyone, dinner lasts twice as much longer than it should. Then when we finish dinner Sam obviously has half of his homework left, which he takes forever to do. I mean, come on! Nobody needs help with homework 5 times, all when someone is busy doing something! So, when he finally finishes his homework, he’s hungry again! It's like he’s doing it on purpose and knowing Sam he probably is! And all this time, all that I can do is sit on the couch and read! So, when Sam is eventually done and we’re all successfully in the yard, dad realizes we forgot the telescope. Now normally that would only take a minute to get. This time it takes 20 because the telescope is too heavy. At last we’re all in the yard with the telescope. 

When I peer inside, I see something almost as majestic as the shooting star. The stars look so real. As if I could reach out and touch them if I try hard enough. After what seems like a mere second, but is actually 30 minutes, mom gently pulls me away. 

“Here I have something for you,” she whispers softly. When she opens her fist, I see a tiny box. As I slowly take the box, my mind races. The possibilities inside are endless. Once I open the box my breath is taken away. It can’t be, but it is. Inside I see a tiny star beeping.  

“Is this a star?” I ask breathlessly. 

“No, but it’s an exact replica of one except colder. The beeping is what means the replica is still working and isn’t going to break apart.” Gently I lift the star careful not to drop it. Slowly I hold it up against the sky, it fits right in. My star with all the real stars. 

“Thank you,” I whisper not sure if I’m talking to my mom for the star, or the sky, for having stars.