No…
“…stage set for three romantic starlit evenings…”
Gimme a break…
“…now, the Top Ten Singles’ Stargazing Songs!”
“Oh, c’mon!” That’s it. Off with you. Damn radio…
Why even bother? Practically the only thing worth all these rocks and dust are the stars, but even those lost their luster.
Funny… eight years ago, this used to be the best time ever: lying down in my pickup truck in my tank top and jeans, guitar serenades on the radio, and the summer breeze under evening’s embrace.
‘Course, eight years ago…I wore one ring. On my finger. Not a second one, like my pendant.
Nowadays, it feels cold and lonely out here every year, on this night. More reason to pack it in once it’s over.
A silver streak darts across darkness, then another. Soon the sky filled with ‘em…
I can see her short blonde hair and dusk blue eyes among them…
“Beautiful… It’s like magic…”
Layla…
“Victor…let’s do this every year… Please?”
We could've…and so much more… I wish…
Ugh…rub 'em out…it’s making the stars too bright…
… Actually, I think one of ‘em is getting brighter… And larger…
“Oh, shit!” Run away! Run away!
THOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!
….......
Holy. Shit! That meteor barely missed me!
The dust cleared up, giving a good view of the crater. I could hear crumbling dirt…and coughing?
A chirpy cough. A little girl, probably eight years old. Long blonde hair like a comet’s tail and a white dress dirty and tussled.
She rubbed open her grey eyes, like mine. She looked around, panicked, then glanced at me, then…the sky? “Ah! No!”
She bolted to the crater’s edge, waving frantically. “Come back! Come…back…”
The lights in the sky disappeared…
Her body's quivering.
“Huuahhh…”
Oh, no…
“Waaaaaaaahhhhhh! M-M-Muh… Mommy!!!”
Crap… I’ve never dealt with kids…
But I can’t just leave her here…
But she fell from the sky.
But her face… It looks…familiar, somehow.
“Um…I’ll…help you find mommy…” That just…came out.
She turned towards me, face messy with snot and tears. “Ruh…? …Really…?”
“R-Really... I- Oof!” Ow… Something’s around my waist…and something moist’s on my stomach.
“Faaank…huh…fooooo…” I think she just sobbed “thank you” into my shirt.
“Okay, there, there… Let’s…get you cleaned up first…”
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Next morning, I had a plan.
Okay, not a plan. More like a hunch.
The Herschel Meteor Showers last three days – I don’t know the science, I just know that. The nearest highest point is Binary Mound. If I can get there in the next two, I might be able to get Halley home.
Yeah, Halley. Like Halley’s Comet. I came up with it, for good reason. She’s a bit rowdy in the car, even with coloring books, but two hours into our first drive...
“C’mon… Move ya…blockhead!” Gotta watch my language…
“Why are we so slow?” She asked innocently.
“Traffic… The bane of my nine-to-five…”
“What’s a ‘nine-to-five?’”
“Ugh… Nothing… Just wish we could move faster…”
…Her eyes are gleaming brightly… She's grinning? “Okay!”
Okay? What’s thaaaaaaaAAAAAAHHHHH! FLYING!?
WE’RE FREAKIN’ FLYING!
I can hear horns blaring below my truck!
Lemme down! Lemme do- Oh, thank God…! Stable, open, road.
“Heehee! Your face…”
“Wh-?! Did you…?”
She kept giggling. “It’s still...!”
“You… Not funny…!”
It didn’t stop there. Altered gas prices, sudden shortcuts… True to superstition, Halley can grant wishes.
She always apologized after some scolding, but I always bought her ice cream after. (She likes Rocky Road. Go figure.) I couldn’t stay mad at her for wanting to help.
Halley.
Sometimes mischievous, ultimately harmless.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Binary Mound…named for two grassy slopes, shaped like swirling teardrops, the two merging into a hill at summit.
It’s the third night.
“Hurry!” Halley cried.
“I’m coming! Don’t go too far!”
She got tired ten minutes up, making me piggyback her. Silly girl…
“Halley?”
“Uh-huh…?”
“Why do you trust me?”
“…Ring!”
“What?”
“Mommy said people wearing rings around their necks are good!”
“…Your mommy said?”
“Uh-huh!”
Something about that…
“Hey! Lookie!” Halley jumped down and started pointing above.
“Huh? Oh…my…”
We reached the summit. Silver tails swam above us in star-studded sapphire.
“It’s so pretty…!”
“Yeah… It’s like-”
“Magic?”
Yeah, like- Wait. Who…?
A light fell from the sky again, but this one fell gentler than Halley did. A flowing, white dress formed.
A woman. Short blonde…hair… Dusk…blue…
“Mommy!” Halley rushed and hugged her...
……….
“…L-L-Layla…?”
The woman smiled sadly. “Hi, Victor. It’s been a while…”
“But…y-you…”
“Died? Yes... Good spirits…go skyward when they die, becoming shooting stars, watching over those alive…”
“So…Halley's…”
“Hehe...no. Cute name, though.” She giggled, then sighed. “I’ve watched you for the past eight years, watching the meteor showers, both of us always wishing for a…”
“…Family…”
“Mm-hm. That's how Halley was born.”
Halley looked between us, confused. “He’s…”
“Yeah,” Layla whispered, “I sent you here so you could live a real life…with Daddy.”
“And Mommy!” Halley bounced.
“… I’m sorry, dear…I can’t…”
Tears started pouring from Halley’s eyes. ”...W-Why not?”
“My time alive is up, sweetie… But you and Daddy…have so much ahead of you. I want to give you every chance to live it.”
“W-W-Will I ever…see you again…?”
Layla smiled sweetly. “I’ll always be with you, Halley. Every time you look at the stars. Be good for Daddy? For me?”
Halley kept tearing up, managing a shaky nod. “Uhh-kahhh… I’ll…hah…miss youuuuu…”
“I’ll miss you, too.”
Layla turned her smile towards me. We both grasped my necklace-ring, and I smiled back.
“…Take care of her…” She whispered.
“…I will…”
She ghosted her lips over mine. “…I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
All of us full of tears, Layla smiled once more and her light glided into the meteor parade.
“…Daddy…? I’m gonna miss Mommy…”
“…Me too, Halley…”
She smiled at me tearfully. “C-Can you…tell me a story about Mommy?”
I gave her my brightest smile. “Of course.”
My daughter drew close, we sat down, and I filled her head with stories about Mommy and me, underneath the stars we shared.
(Meteor shower photo, uploaded by user Jeries Nashashibi to Pexels)
Author's Note
Engage maximum feels powers!
Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales are a bit more grim in their imagery, but they still contain poignant messages and themes. I was particularly captured by the idea of determination to hold a wish close to your heart, as exemplified in The Brave Tin Soldier and The Little Mermaid, and so I decided to tackle that theme.
Coming off as a side effect of seeing Your Name./Kimi no Na Wa. in theaters, I wanted to tell a sadder story with a bit of a starry theme. Thinking about wishing on shooting stars, I found an interesting belief regarding humans as extraterrestrials in the form of shooting stars and Native American beliefs of shooting stars being the spirits of shamans and heroes. Combined with the elements of tragedy in loss, finding a purpose, and holding onto wishes, and I found a compelling plot of family beyond the stars.
Victor and Layla defy my usual over-the-top naming conventions this time (though "Layla" does have a meaning of "night."). Halley, meanwhile, is obviously named after Halley's Comet, which has had varying interpretations of foreboding destruction, but is ultimately harmless. I thought the dual nature of the comet could fit the demeanor of a child very well: provoking and somewhat misbehaved, but also innocent and misunderstood.
The Herschel Meteor Shower and Binary Mound aren't real things, but are rather named for the behavior of binary stars to symbolize the positions and actions of Victor, Layla, and Halley in the story. Binary star systems contain stars that orbit each other around a common center of mass, which upon collision produce an even brighter reaction and fade out.
I decided to try a new style of writing this time by writing events in a reactionary style from Victor's POV, which works for his own conflicts, but doesn't necessarily give much headroom for the other characters. It sacrifices the imagery I'm often fond of, but really gives a sense of character progression, I feel.
Along with the writing style
Bibliogrpahy
Mythology & Folklore: Andersen Fairy Tales Unit, stories written by Hans Christian Andersen
Research on star people, William Herschel, shooting stars, binary star systems, and Halley's Comet
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