Once there was a star. She was once of the brightest stars in the night sky. She nestled in a friendly cluster of stars. The humans on earth would often look up and remark on her beauty and splendour. That made the star so very happy. Her extra happiness added to the intensity of the light that came from her. She was indeed one, happy, bright star.
One night, when the sky was clear of clouds, a rather odd thing happened. The star was where she always was, smiling her light and illuminating the evening sky. The star felt it first deep down within her heart. It began as a tiny tingle, then it changed into a pull. It felt like long rope had been lassoed around the points of her form and she was being tugged by an unseen force. The feelings were so small at first, but were quickly magnified. The pull, the tingle increased in size rapidly and then it was as if someone had taken a pair of scissors to the outside edge of the star. She felt unhinged, unattached from the fabric of the sky. Immediately, she was zooming past all of the other stars, her friends. They all watched in awe. She could not catch her breath. It was a feeling she had never, ever experienced before. The brightness of the star had not diminished in the slightest, so as she hurtled across the sky, many, many humans looked up in wonder. Some pointed up, up, up and across, across and remarked at what a wondrous sight it was. Then they made their wish. A new job, a new car, that their friend would get better, that wars would cease…
The poor star, however, didn’t hear anyone. The whizzing sound was so extremely deafening, it sounded like a lion was roaring in her ears.
She was actually very scared. Her eyes were tightly shut. What was happening? Where was she going? Would it hurt when she eventually stopped? She didn’t have long to find out. The journey ended with a painless thump and then a swing, swing, swing. She had stopped flying. She slowly opened one eye, then the other, feeling very frightened. She looked around to see where she was. Bark, leaves, branches and the smell of earth. The star had landed in a tall tree. It was Winter, so the tree had nearly lost all it’s leaves. It was a very old tree. A wise tree. A caring tree.
“Are you alright, star?” it asked.
“I think so, tree” replied star.
As the star nestled in the top branches, a curious thing occurred. The brightness from the star illuminated the tree branches and trunk. The insides of it. It was as if electricity pulsed through the tree’s veins. The tree lit up the hill where it stood like a beacon.
It wasn’t long before word spread and soon the humans were arriving in their crowds to stand at the foot of the tree with their mouths wide open. Their fingers once again pointed at the star that seemed now to be at one with the tree. It was a single entity. The light pulsed down. It went down the trunk into the ground and the humans could, if they cared to look carefully enough, see the roots illuminated faintly beneath the earth.
One by one, they made their wishes and returned home. Each one would come true, because the star was kind and listened intently to each one. When they had all gone, the star looked up at the sky and saw all her friends hanging brightly between the branches, so far, far away. She sighed deeply. How she missed being up there. She was so very pleased that she could help with the wish-making, but deep down in her star heart, she felt so, so sad. This wasn’t where she belonged. At all.
That night, there were two very late visitors to the tree. A father pushed his son, in a wheelchair, slowly up to the top of the hill. The boy’s mouth was open so wide from the splendour of the sight. The father stopped to tuck the blankets in around the boy’s legs for warmth, then followed the gaze of his son. Both faces were full of hope.
“Hello star,” said the boy.
“Go on son, ask the star to grant your wish to walk again,” urged his father.
The boy hesitated, puzzled. “You look sad, star.”
“I’m lonely,” sighed star, “All of my friends are up there and I am down here. But never mind, I have the tree….”
The star’s light began to grow dimmer. In fact, after each wish granted, the star had felt just a little bit weaker.
“I am sure that I was brought down here to help everyone. What is your wish?”
The boy looked up at his father, who nodded his encouragement, “Go on, son.”
The boy looked at star. Star with only the tree as his new friend. He looked so out of place, dangling on the top of tree. Even though they hadn’t been there very long, the boy could see that her glow had already dimmed rather a lot. The boy looked down at his legs and then back up at star.
“Oh star, how sad your story is. You’ve lost your family and your home. I don’t know what I’d do without mine. They are my strength and my light.”
The boy’s father squeezed his shoulder and smiled.
The boy scanned the sky for a moment in thought.
“I’m going to make my wish now,” he announced.
He took a deep breath and spoke in a loud, clear and certain voice.
“I wish that star could return home to her star family and be happy again.”
Straight away, a loud whoosh deafened them and an intense light blinded them. A strong gust of wind almost knocked the father off his feet.
When the two of them had recovered and the top of the hill was still again and in darkness, they looked up to see that the star had gone and that the tree was once more alone on the hill. Then, they both tilted their heads up to the sky to watch the shooting star return to her rightful place. When she stopped, she looked down on them and winked in gratitude.
The father frowned. Looking down he said, “But son…?”
The boy reached for his father’s hand.
“Let’s go back home now, daddy,” he smiled, “Then all will be as it should be.”
And so, that is what they did.

By Kate Millner

November 2016