A Poem By A Star (No, Literally)

Submitted into Contest #51 in response to: Write a story that begins and ends with someone looking up at the stars.... view prompt

99 comments

Fantasy Science Fiction Funny

Author’s note: This story has the same characters as my first short story, Rebel Prince. This isn’t a part two, so you’ll understand it just fine on it’s own, but you might want to read Rebel Prince first to gain better understanding and enjoy this more!


I stared up at the stars. They were so beautiful, so peaceful, so awe-insp—


“ACK!” I hollered as my dog, Maya, jerked forward. Therefore, her leash jerked forward. Meaning my hand jerked forward, followed by my body.


“What was that for, Maya?” I groaned as I wiped the mud off my knees and hands. Falling into a puddle wasn’t the best start to an 11 pm walk of the royal dog.


Yeah, I said ‘royal dog’.


Nope, I wasn’t a super important dog sitter.


Yeah, earlier I said ‘my dog’.


Yeah…I was the stupid prince.


My name is Jax Conner. I’m just your typical teenage guy who happens to be the crowned prince of Tyala—a town on the continent South Hayling. Which is on the planet Ash, for you people who don’t know geography. 


Recently, I had discovered I had a power—super rare (and hated) in the modern world. I figured out I had telekinesis by saving this rebel 8-year-old, Arava. She wasn’t from around here—she had a power, liked it, and didn’t know who I was. 


Over the past week, I had been learning how to be more…rebellious. Plus, Arava helped train me in my power, too—the young girl might’ve had invisibility, but mastering one power gives you pretty good knowledge on other powers.


So, I was walking Maya in the middle of Lyon Forest. I wasn’t supposed to be out this late (even though I’m 14, my stupid curfew is 10), so I was training in being rebellious. I also wasn’t supposed to use my power (not that anybody knew I had one, yet—I wanted to master telekinesis then see the look on King Aster, my dad’s, face), so…using it was training for my power AND more training for being a rebel.


Sadly…Maya was kind of trashing my plans.


(Much like she trashed my jeans with the mud.)


“Oh, come on, girl?” I complained, bending down to scratch the puppy. “I don’t want to go back to the castle to clean up, buuut I don’t exactly want to stay muddy, either.”


She barked.


“I’ll wash off in a river. Good idea!”


We resumed walking through the forest.


*****


Lyon Forest was gorgeous, especially in the fall. A blanket of colorful leaves coated the rolling hills, with hundreds of trees spaced out among them. There were quite a few brooks flowing through the 50-acre forest, so it would be easy to find a river to wash off in.


Soon enough, Maya and I stumbled upon a stream. 


It was a couple feet wide, crystal-clear water gurgling over a bed of pebbles. I walked up to it, barely acknowledging the glowing teenager across the stream. I started to wash my kne—


What?!


A glowing teenager?!


*****


It was seriously comical—one of those situations you’d see in a movie or show. When there’s something completely out of the ordinary, and the main character pays no mind before finally seeing it a second later. I’ve seen it at least 20 times on TV, and now it was happening to me.


I did a double-take. Yep, there was a glowing teenage girl.


“Uh, hi!” I squeaked.


I know, I know, very poetic. But excuse me, I’m not a good people-person when meeting strange girls, who are, in fact, shimmering. 


She got up. “Hi?”


The girl I had just met wore light gold athletic shorts, with a white tank-top and a gold belt. She had midnight-black hair that was easily 2 feet long, meaning it stopped near the bottom of her back. She had tan skin with big, shining green eyes. A golden halo of light surrounded her. Oh, and she was floating a couple inches off the ground, did I mention that?


“Who are you?” I asked. “And, uh, why are you glowing?”


She frowned. “My name’s Asteria. Which means star. That should answer your questions.”


“You’re a diva?” I was really confused. “Pop star?”


Asteria snorted and flipped her hair. “Not at all.”


“Thank you so much for explaining,” I smiled, my voice thick with sarcasm. “it’s really helpful. Oh, and my name’s Jax.” She nodded, and we stood (well, she hovered) in silence for a couple moments. “Uh…” I racked my brain for conversation starters then remembered the super-obvious one:


“Who the heck are you?”


“I’m Asteria,” she said, “as I already told you. And I’m a star spirit.”


“Woah.” My eyes grew wide. “They exist?”


“Duh.”


I bowed. “My pleasure to meet you, Miss.”


She laughed and yanked my head up from over the stream. “Don’t bow to me, stupid. I’m 16–not super important. I’m from a newly created star.”


“That sounds pretty important.”


“Well, I won’t stop you if you want to bow again.”


I grinned at her. “So…why are you on Ash?”


“I needed to get clean,” Asteria groaned. She started splashing the water on her body again. “cuz I’m really dirty.”


“Yeah,” I said plainly, “those typically go together. Wait, don’t they have showers where you live?”


She splashed me. “HELLLOOOO?! I live on a STAR. A ball of flames. No, Jax, there are no showers, baths, or water at all. I don’t need water to live—I’m immortal until the star, aka me, dies—but I do need it to get clean.”


“Why couldn’t you go to the nearest planet?” I had figured out that she wasn’t the Nus (our solar system, the Twix’s, star), because the Nus had definitely been around longer than 16 years.


“I’m starting to think you don’t want me here.”


Asteria looked offended, so I put my hands up in defeat. “No, no, this is cool. I’m just super confused.”


“What’s to be confused about?” Asteria threw her hands up. “I’m a star spirit. I came to Ash to wash off.”


“Last question, I swear: how the heck did you get dirty in the first place?!” Seriously, how did the essence of a burning ball of magma get unclean?


“Light pollution, duh.”


“What?”


“I thought you said no more questions after the ‘how’d you get dirty’ one.”


“Too bad. How are you dirty from light pollution?!”


Asteria glared, but gritted her teeth and started to answer my millionth question. “The name answers itself. Light pollution is, quite literal, pollution for light. It makes us star spirits dirty, which is really annoying. Teleporting 6 trillion miles because all of you humans turn on lights at the same time drives me crazy.”


“Sorry,” I winced.


*Cue awkward silence*


“So, uh, what?” 


“What what?” Asteria squinted at me.


“I dunno. Are we going to talk about anything else?”


Asteria shrugged. “Do you have any more questions? You seem to have a question dispenser.”


I laughed. “Nope. But let me get this straight: you, Asteria, are the 16-year-old spirit of a star. You came to the planet Ash to wash off, because light pollution made you dirty.”


“Exactly!” She beamed at me—quite literally, seeing she was glowing. 


Asteria washed off in the river a little more, then finally got up. “Well, I have to go soon. Thanks for talking to me, I guess. Ash is usually pretty boring.”


“You’re welcome?” I shrugged. “Thanks for answering my questions.”


“Oh, and before I go…” Asteria started digging around in her pocket. Finally, she pulled out a folded up piece of paper. She pressed it into my hand. “That’s my first poem. I think it's pretty good, but I’m obviously biased. Read it when you get home and tell me what you think of it.”


“Okay!” I said. “Well…bye! It was nice meeting you!”


“Byeeee!” Asteria called as I walked off, poem in one hand and Maya’s leash in the other.


*****


I snuck into the castle, took Maya off her leash, and scurried up to my room (which was the size of two gyms). Once there, I collapsed on my king bed.


My bed was pressed against the wall, where huge windows stretched above it. There weren’t any shades, because I liked to wake up with the Nus and I didn’t need them for privacy reasons. I was on the 11th floor of the castle—nobody could see me or anything.


I took out the poem (I had tucked it in my pocket) and unfolded it. The note read,


YAKTHON 

By: Asteria Johnson


Windows are clear


Or else they’d be doors


I’ve never seen


A cat that snores.


If you have a corkboard


You might wants some tacks


Don’t you dare be racist 


Or I’ll call you a yak.


I snorted. True poetry.


Then I remembered I was supposed to give my friend feedback. I glanced out my window and stared at the starry night beyond.


“This was awesome, Asteria,” I grinned.


And it was probably just my imagination, but I was almost certain that the nearest star smiled back.

July 23, 2020 13:29

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

99 comments

נιмму 🤎
06:16 Jul 26, 2020

Cute lighthearted story, VERY creative! A whole new world... that's freaking awesome

Reply

10:15 Jul 26, 2020

This means so much to me, thanks!

Reply

Ranya Navarez
20:35 Aug 06, 2020

I think the answer to your riddle of the day is that the old man's birthday was on Leap Day, so he actually only had 25 birthdays when he was a hundred years old!

Reply

20:53 Aug 06, 2020

Yep! 👏👏👏

Reply

Ranya Navarez
00:36 Aug 07, 2020

Yay! My family has talked about that kind of scenario a lot, so it was instantaneous for me.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Rayhan Hidayat
07:50 Aug 04, 2020

This was so adorbs, wow 🤩 I love how your Jax stories feel like little TV episodes where he goes on a different misadventure every time. That poem made me smile, I’ll admit Good job overall, I’m about to check out the next one 😊

Reply

12:18 Aug 04, 2020

Thank you!!! 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
20:14 Jul 27, 2020

Wow I really liked this! I love the humor too!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 0 replies
Cam Croz
02:10 Oct 08, 2020

Yet another Beautiful tale! I really love this world you've created with Jax and would love to read more of it! The first one, Rebel Prince, made me laugh as did this one. The end was very heart warming and a great way to wrap up this short story!

Reply

00:43 Oct 09, 2020

Thank you so much! Lol, you’re the first to comment on this story in a month or so 😂 Thankssss

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply

Hey! Great story Aeirin!!!! Love the details and description!!! So creative!

Reply

11:31 Sep 03, 2020

Thank you!!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Corey Melin
21:51 Jul 26, 2020

Another imaginative story of beauty. I loved the conversation between the two, knowing it's between two of differing attitudes. The poem was awesome. Well done indeed!

Reply

21:56 Jul 26, 2020

Thank youuuuu! You give the nicest compliments, Corey! 😁😁😁

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Jubilee Forbess
23:39 Jul 23, 2020

Beautiful! Keep writing and reading to improve even more an if I think of certain things I'd change in this story, I'll let you know.

Reply

00:04 Jul 24, 2020

Thank you!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
TJ Squared
01:10 Jul 07, 2021

I was laughing quite a bit while reading this one XDD the poem...the poem...XD funny definitely fit this story (as it does for most of yours XDD) not gonna leave much critique (cause there isn't much to give), but I will be reading your other stories a lot right now XD. *note all the 'XD's' lol*

Reply

01:14 Jul 07, 2021

Yay thank you XDD (we’re finally venturing into the realm of stories I kinda like XD something about super random and slightly crazy stories from a year ago, when I was just getting into writing more seriously and hooked on Reedsy, is kinda endearing hehe) Yessss I’M A POET AND I KNOW IT OKAY :DDDD (I remember writing this nonsense thinking it was the absolute funniest thing in the world and then absolutely melted when some cynical old guy in the comments didn’t take the joke and say it was awful. Bleh. Or maybe it wasn’t a cynical old guy c...

Reply

TJ Squared
01:18 Jul 07, 2021

XDDDDD wHaT a NiCe ReAlM tO bE fRoLiCkInG tHrOuGh XD lololol XDD I'll get to it eventually lol :D lookin forward to writing more comments :))) (no rushes lol)

Reply

01:21 Jul 07, 2021

yEsSsS iNdEeD And if you’re planning to keep reading the stories well the next one- the next is, uh, something. I actually like it but it’s weirdly over dramatic lol I like the fainting lol And ima stop complimenting my own stories with the faint memories of my re-reads half a year ago haha- OH NOOO gosh Thank youuuu sis :DD

Reply

TJ Squared
01:37 Jul 07, 2021

XDD yeah, got that lololol XDD soon, soon XP ofc :D

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Sia S
04:41 Aug 05, 2020

Wow! Light pollution, how do you imagine all that!!!!!! 🤯🤯

Reply

11:48 Aug 05, 2020

Haha, thanks!

Reply

Sia S
14:02 Aug 05, 2020

😁

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
August Jett
23:15 Jul 30, 2020

This was so well written! I especially love the fact that you created a whole planet and made it feel real through your stories. I absolutely love world-building. Keep writing!! :)

Reply

23:28 Jul 30, 2020

Thanks so much! Actually, my short story ‘Rebel Prince’ is like Part 1, so IT has most of the world building. But I’m glad APBAS does too! Thanks again!!! 😆😆😆

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
20:14 Jul 27, 2020

Wow I really liked this! I love the humor too!

Reply

20:17 Jul 27, 2020

Thank you! Yep, I try to make my writing funny! Also, Rebel Prince is like Part 1 of this, so if you enjoyed A Poem By A Star (No, Literally) uou might want to check that out! Thanks again!

Reply

22:07 Jul 27, 2020

Of course I will definitely do that! and if you would, could you please read my story, if you don't mind of course! thanks!

Reply

22:10 Jul 27, 2020

Sure!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Avani G
15:17 Jul 27, 2020

This was great, Aerin! The ending was especially cute! A couple things. First, I think that you could have made the poem seem like an important thing to the stars (or in this case, Asteria). The other thing was to Show, not Tell. Otherwise, I loved the sarcasm of a fourteen-year-old boy who just me a star, lol. Keep on writing!

Reply

16:45 Jul 27, 2020

Thanks!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
San T.
14:04 Jul 27, 2020

Wow.. I loved all the imagination and specially the humour.. this story can go on and on.. and I want to read more of it... So good!!

Reply

16:43 Jul 27, 2020

Thank you!

Reply

16:43 Jul 27, 2020

Actually, Rebel Prince is like part 1 of this, so if you liked this, you might enjoy that!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Selene Sweck
11:20 Jul 27, 2020

Very creative. I enjoyed your story! The Star wink was cute.

Reply

16:42 Jul 27, 2020

Thank you!!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Sunny 🌼
02:59 Jul 27, 2020

Your writing style is just so fresh. It reminds me or Percy Jackson or a quick snack before a long jog. I really like this story and can't wait to see what else you can do.

Reply

10:09 Jul 28, 2020

THANK YOUUUU! Rick Riordan is my idol so that means so much to me!

Reply

Sunny 🌼
12:43 Jul 28, 2020

I love Rick's work too. And your quick and sometimes sarcastic writing style just screams "Percy Jackson". Keep writing, you're amazing at it.

Reply

12:44 Jul 28, 2020

😆😆😆 Thank you!!!!!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Zyönnah Isiguzo
01:20 Jul 27, 2020

Dear Aerin, Your writing is quite outstanding! I love the way you took me on a journey and sneakily, indirectly made me read the first story without making me know you made me. 😒😒😒😒😁😁😁 😁. I do have a question though. - Can you make this into a full blown novel? It is already showing signs of a best-seller!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Mira Caplan
21:58 Jul 26, 2020

Here I am! I really loved the ending, and think that the whole idea is really creative!

Reply

21:58 Jul 26, 2020

Thank up so much, Mira!

Reply

Mira Caplan
14:03 Jul 27, 2020

:)

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
ADHI DAS
07:15 Jul 26, 2020

Awesome 👌🏼👌🏼

Reply

10:18 Jul 26, 2020

Thanks!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Tori Routsong
03:05 Jul 26, 2020

You're so imaginative! The voice is so clearly that of a 14 year olds as well-- nice work!

Reply

21:31 Jul 26, 2020

Thank you! I’m so glad! I’m a tween, and I try to pick ages I can write well. 10-15 is the voice I know best, so I usually write that!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in Reedsy Studio. 100% free.