Starlight
by Catherine Mesick
“Star light, star bright,” Angie murmured to herself.
She looked at the single star in the sky—the first star of the evening—but she couldn’t bring herself to make a wish.
There were no more wishes left in her.
As she watched, the sky grew darker, and more stars came out. Angie sat in the grass and watched the night sky fill up as if with diamonds. At one point, she saw a shooting star streak across the sky and fall toward the earth.
Once upon a time, Angie would have made a wish. But that time was long past.
She watched until the falling star disappeared from her sight. Then she went inside.
Somewhere in the middle of the night, Angie was aware of a light in her room.
She sat up, and she saw a woman standing in front of her. The woman’s hair and dress seemed to be made of tiny lights—they looked like little stars.
Angie stared at the woman for a moment, and then in the next instant, the woman was gone.
Angie looked around in her dark room—the only light that was visible now was the red numbers on her alarm clock.
She went back to sleep.
In the morning, Angie was tempted to text her best friend about the dream she’d had about a starlit visitor, but in the end she decided against it. It was really too fleeting a dream to be worth mentioning.
Angie went on with her Saturday. She went to her usual places, did her usual things, but somehow something was missing—a light had gone out in her.
When friends invited Angie to dinner that night, she turned them down.
She sat instead on her porch that evening and watched the sun setting. Then she went inside, and eventually, she went to sleep.
Somewhere in the middle of the night, Angie woke up again. Standing in front of her once more was the woman dressed and crowned in stars.
This time the woman didn’t disappear.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hello,” Angie replied.
“My name is Maia,” the woman said. “I’m here to be your guide.”
“My guide?” Angie asked.
“I heard your wish yesterday. I’m here to help you fulfill it.”
Angie shook her head. “I didn’t make any wish.”
“You most certainly did,” Maia said.
“No,” Angie replied. “I didn’t have a single thought in my head that could remotely be called a wish.”
“You didn’t wish with your mind. You wished with your heart.”
“I didn’t—”
“Never mind the protests,” Maia said. “Your wish was received, and I’m here now.”
“This is a very strange dream, I’m having,” Angie said.
“Not a dream,” Maia said. “Now get up. We—or rather you—have a lot to do.”
Against her better judgment, Angie got out of bed and stood next to the starlit woman.
“Now then,” Maia said. “I have two-and-a-half tasks for you to complete.”
“Two and a half?” Angie said.
“Yes. And you mustn’t neglect that half. It’s just as important as the two full tasks.”
Maia fixed her with a piercing stare.
“Task One. Find the letter ‘J.’”
(Part 2 is in the next blog post. Click here to read.)
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