Stars
My parents died many years ago. They left nothing for me. No letter, no message, not even a single cent. Life was hard. I was still young when they died. I had no education and no working experience at all. To continue living, I had only one option-stealing.
At first, I stole a piece of bread. It was no sweat stealing bread from roadside stalls. It was the first time in days I laid my hands on food. I ate the bread like a hungry ghost. I was still hungry and I decided to steal more food. Yum! Sweet potato!
After stealing many times, I became a professional thief. Although I was only nine years old, I could steal many things- wallets, T-shirts and even jewellery. I felt proud because I was never caught, not even once. I always hid in the shadows, waiting patiently for a chance to steal.
One fateful day, I was doing my usual work-stealing. As I was walking on the streets, something caught my eye, something shiny. As stealth as a cat, I pulled a necklace from a lady’s neck. I began running and running. To my surprise, I was not chased. After walking for some distance, I decided to rest. So, I sat on a bench. I froze when I saw blood on my palm. The necklace that I stole was star-shaped. The five points of the star pierced into my flesh. I was in agony.
I felt weak and the whole world was spinning around me. At that precise moment, I saw a shooting star coming straight towards me. I closed my eye and made a wish. Then, I lost consciousness.
Where was I? The whole world was dark. Out of the blue, there was a flash of light.
I was blinded for a moment. When I regained my sight, the whole world was black and white in colour. I rubbed my eyes again in disbelief but nothing changed. I saw many people walking here and there. I approached an old man. I called him but he seemed to ignore me. I decide to call another lady. To my horror, I could not touch her. I tried again and again but I still could not feel her. I thought to myself, was I dead? Was I in heaven?
Many questions came into my mind. I kept asking, why? Why? Why!? Suddenly I saw two familiar faces walking towards me, I stepped back but they did not stop walking and eventually walked through me. Who were they? Why were they so familiar? Oh my god! They were my parents. I hurried towards them. On their hands was a little baby boy-me.
All of the sudden, the scene changed. We were all on the battlefield. I stood there looking at my parents attentively. My parents were actually paramedics. They were helping the injured and sick. I was very proud of them. I heard a sound. Everyone looked up. A bomb! A bright flash of light came out of my pocket. It was the star-shaped necklace. It was spinning quicker and quicker. This time, there was a flash of red light……
I sat up gasping for air. I stared into thin air. I reached into my pocket. The necklace was still there. The surrounding, it was no longer black and white in colour. I looked around to see where I was. I saw nothing other than the old lady whose necklace I stole. The lady smiled and asked, ‘How was your journey, boy?’ ‘What?’ I responded. The lady continued, ‘The star, it granted your wish-your greatest wish of all.’ ‘You saw your parents didn’t you?’
I was lost for words. She walked up to me and took her necklace away. ‘This necklace of mine, amazing isn’t it?’ ‘Goodbye……Jack.’ Without uttering another word, she vanished and left a trail of red stars up into the sky. For some strange reason, I cried……
All that was lost was found again.
