The Wishing Star

by Emma Beswetherick

  “Yes, but watch closely,” said Starlet, as the image on the screen got bigger and bigger as the picture zoomed in closer.

  The familiar sight of Earth gradually transformed until they could see all the incredible places they’d been learning about that term at school: rainforests, jungles, deserts, icebergs, mountains, islands, beaches, rivers, oceans – all the places they’d planned to have adventures to one day.

  “Why are you showing us this?” asked Katy.

  “Keep watching,” said Starlet with a smile, as the film zoomed in even closer.

  Now it showed them the even more familiar sight of roads and cars and lorries and buses and houses and shops and schools and playgrounds and parks.

  “Hey, that’s our school!” shouted Zia.

  “And my house!” cried Katy.

  Then the film zoomed in closer still, only what it showed now wasn’t so comforting. They saw a pile of litter stacked up behind a wall by their school, crisp packets and chocolate wrappers strewn across their local park, drinks cartons in gutters, bits of paper and cardboard packaging weaving in and out of the wheels of parked cars.

  “I don’t like the look of that,” Zia said quietly.

  “Nor me,” whispered Cassandra.

  The screen changed one last time, making Katy feel sick to her stomach. Images flashed onto the screen, for a few seconds each time, showing a river choking on plastic, forests being chopped down, ice caps melting, and dirty-looking smoke pumping out of cars and factories…

  Katy loved her planet and didn’t like what she was seeing either. She also didn’t understand why the spacewoman wanted to show it to them.

  Then, at last, the screen went black.

  “So, what do you think?” Starlet broke the silence.

  “That this doesn’t have anything to do with cats,” said Thunder dismissively.

  The girls lowered their heads. Katy felt sad and angry and knew her friends must feel the same, but the horrible things they were shown didn’t have anything to do with them either, did they?

  “I understand what Thunder’s saying, because I don’t see what any of this has to do with us either. Or our wishes.”

  The spacewoman crouched down and pulled Thunder into her arms. “Every creature,” she said, scratching the cat behind his ear, “every plant, rock and drop of water on Earth is precious and needs protection. You can’t stop every sad thing from happening, but you can put your wishes to good use today.”

  “But what about my roller skates?” asked Zia sulkily.

  “And my new bike?” added Cassandra.

  The woman held up her hand. “Remember that only one wish can be granted for each of you, so you need to choose carefully. You could wish for something important to you, or you could wish for something important to the world. That’s the power of the Wishing Star, because you really do have the power to change the world, you know!”

  Katy felt goosebumps creeping over her body. She finally understood what Starlet was trying to say and felt an enormous urge to end their adventure the right way.

  “I think wishing for a better world is more important than horse riding,” she said slowly so everyone could hear her. “Don’t you see? Why wish for roller skates or a new bike when there are bigger things to wish for?”

  Cassandra took a deep breath. “I think I agree with Katy,” she announced quietly.

  But Zia was fiddling awkwardly with the end of her plait. “I suppose you’re right, even though I really, really want a pair of roller skates.” Then her dark almond eyes seemed to grow even bigger in size as she looked past them towards the window. “Hey, look! Look out there!” she shouted.

  Katy turned and saw that the light around the window was turning gold.

  “We’ve been so busy talking,” Zia continued, moving to look outside, “that we didn’t realise we’re almost at the Wishing Star. Oh wow, come and see! It’s amazing! No, it’s better than amazing. It’s out of this world!”

  Katy looked at Starlet, who nodded as if to give permission for Katy to follow her friends. She floated over to join them and, when she looked outside, was immediately blinded by the most spectacular golden light.

  “I can’t believe it,” said Cassandra, grabbing Katy’s hands in her own and squeezing them tight. “I can’t believe we actually made it.”

  Katy had always wondered what starlight looked like close up, and now she knew. It was shinier, and brighter, and sparklier and more golden than any light you could ever picture in your mind.

  “Is that really the Wishing Star?” Katy asked. “Yes, and it’s the most powerful star in our galaxy,” Starlet answered.

  Katy felt extraordinarily happy that her dad had been telling her the truth. All the time she’d stared at the star on her bedroom ceiling and imagined what it would be like to see the Wishing Star for real. And now she was here!

  “For centuries humans have tried to find their way to this star, but until now no one has made it – and no wishes have ever been granted. But I’ve been watching you working together and caring for each other, and because of your teamwork – and the fact that you’ve thought about each other rather than just yourselves – you’ve been successful in your mission. And that gives me confidence that you’ll also think about others when you make your wishes today. So, are you ready? Are you ready to tell me what you wish for?”

  Katy beckoned to Cassandra, Zia and Thunder to cluster together, then she bent her head in closer, whispering quietly as she told them her plan. When they’d each nodded their head in agreement, they turned back to face Starlet.

  “We are,” they all said.

  “OK then. Tell me your wishes.”

  The girls held hands tightly and looked Starlet square in the eyes.

  “I wish for more things to be recycled.” As soon as Katy said it, the Wishing Star flashed and she felt herself filling with warmth. It started at her feet and then moved upwards towards her head, radiating outwards and soaking her body in happiness. She then looked at Thunder and her friends, encouraging them to join in.

  “I wish for fewer trees to be chopped down,” said Cassandra, who must have experienced the same feelings as Katy because she was beaming in a way that Katy had never seen and dancing round and round in a circle, just as the Wishing Star flashed again and began to shine even more brightly.

  “And I wish for people to stop wasting so much water,” said Zia, smiling and hugging her body tight to capture the feeling of goodness that their wishes brought. Once more, the star’s brightness increased.

  Starlet nodded in approval. “But that’s only three wishes. How about you, Thunder? What do you wish for?”

  Thunder frowned.

  “Come on, I know you’re a cat, but right now you have the power to change the world!” she urged.

  “OK. First though, are mice endangered?” Thunder grinned mischievously.

  “No,” they all said.

  “In that case, I wish to protect endangered animals,” he said and, after another flash of light, he shook out his fur before launching himself into Katy’s arms.

  Everyone laughed.

  “What happens now?” asked Katy. “To our wishes, I mean? How do we know if they’re going to come true?”

  “You’ll know,” said Starlet, “because you’ll feel it. That feeling you all experienced just now? That’s the feeling you’ll get whenever your wish is being granted somewhere in the world. And remember: if you all pick up just one piece of litter every day, or turn off your taps when you’re brushing your teeth, the world you live in will be a cleaner and happier place. Small acts of thoughtfulness can make the biggest difference. It’s that simple.”

  Starlet then pulled four tiny jars out of her pocket. “I also want to give you these gifts, to say thank you for wishing so wisely. A jar of stardust for each of you, to remind you what the Wishing Star has taught you. Keep them safe, and when you go on your next adventures you won’t forget what you’ve learned today.”

>   “Thank you,” they said.

  “Now, who wants to go home?”

  Once again, they formed a circle in the air, legs splayed out weightlessly behind them in a star.

  “Repeat after me: I wish to go home,” said Starlet.

  “I wish to go home,” they echoed.

  Katy pictured her bedroom at home, the mess of recycling scattered across her carpet, the junk-model space rocket by the window, the glow-in-the-dark stars zigzagging across her ceiling.

  At once she started to feel funny again – that bubbly, fizzy feeling she’d felt in her room when their pretend adventure had first come to life. Bolts of electricity were shooting all around her body until gradually she felt it return to normal. Then she opened her eyes.

  “Did that really just happen?” asked Zia, blinking as if she didn’t believe what she was seeing.

  “I, er, I think it did!” replied Cassandra, also looking confused when she saw she was back in her school uniform, no space suit in sight.

  Thunder was darting in and out of their legs, meowing and acting far more like his usual catlike self.

  Katy checked her pocket and found something hard and small at the bottom.

  “The jar!” she squealed.

  Her friends plunged their hands into their pockets as well and that’s when Katy realised what their adventure to the Wishing Star had been all about. It had been a test – to see if they could put the world before themselves. And it looked like they’d passed, because inside Katy’s jar was a tiny gold bracelet with a tiny charm in the shape of a star.

  “Look! It’s beautiful!” she cried, taking it from the jar and slipping it on to her wrist.

  “I’ve got one too!” shrieked Zia.

  “And me!” cried Cassandra.

  “We need to wear these to remind ourselves.” Katy smiled. Then she grabbed her friends’ wrists and they held their bracelets together in a silent pledge. “Hold on a minute,” she said, looking more closely at her wrist. “I think my bracelet has two stars on it.”

  At that moment Thunder started nudging her ankles and suddenly it made sense.

  “Cassie, can you hold this?” Katy asked, slipping the second star from her own bracelet before handing it to Cassandra. Then she bent down and pulled Thunder into her arms. “Thunder, I know you can’t talk now, but I think Starlet wanted you to have this,” she said, fastening the star on to his collar. “It looks like you’re part of The Playdate Adventure Club too!”

  Thunder grinned a Cheshire cat grin then pounced from Katy’s arms and started parading around the room, tail high in the air, the star glinting proudly from his collar.

  The girls all clapped and cheered, until they were interrupted by Katy’s dad calling them from the kitchen.

  “Dinner’s ready!”

  “Er, coming!” Katy called back, frowning again at her friends. “He said dinner was in half an hour. Surely we’ve been gone longer than that?”

  Zia and Cassandra both shrugged their shoulders.

  “Well, I suppose we’d better go and eat. Come on! Who’s hungry?”

  But before they turned to go, Thunder dropped the same foil cup he’d pulled from the recycling earlier by their feet and stared up at them like an expectant puppy.

  “Thunder, we’re not building another spaceship, silly,” Katy said, picking it up from the carpet.

  Then it dawned on her what Thunder meant.

  “To saving the world, one small step at a time!” she said, placing the cup slowly and deliberately back inside the recycling box. Then she smiled happily at her friends.

  Cassandra followed, also picking up a piece of rubbish from the floor and popping it in the box. “And to the Playdate Adventure Club!” she said.

  “And to our next adventure!” said Zia, scooping up the remaining bits of junk and tossing them on top. “I already have an idea where we could go. But we’re going to need some warmer coats!”

  THE SKY WAS AGLOW WITH MILLIONS OF STARS TWINKLING LIKE THE BRIGHTEST OF DIAMONDS, SETTING IT ALIGHT IN A KALEIDOSCOPE OF COLOURS.

  How to Plan Your Own Playdate Adventure

  1. Decide where you would like to go on your adventure.

  2. Plan how you would get there. Do you need to build anything or imagine yourself in a new land?

  3. Imagine what exciting or challenging things might happen on your adventure.

  4. Decide if you are going to learn anything from your adventure.

  5. Most important of all, remember to have fun!

  LITTER

  Did you know…

  It is against the law to drop litter in a public place.

  Chewing gum is the worst kind of litter as it sticks around for ever – literally.

  Not only is litter bad for the planet, it’s also bad for animals! Everyday items such as cans and plastic bottles can be deadly for unsuspecting wildlife and even dogs and cats.

  Recycling one can of fizzy drink could save enough energy to run a fourteen-watt light bulb for twenty hours, a computer for three hours, or a TV for two hours.

  Cigarettes are the most littered item on earth, with 4500 billion cigarette butts thrown onto streets across the globe every year.

  Plastic waste is particularly harmful to underwater life. There is now so much plastic in the sea that by 2050 the ocean could contain more plastic than fish!

  Waste should ideally be reused or recycled. Using materials again helps save the Earth’s resources.

  If that’s not possible, waste should always be put in a bin.

  FURTHER READING:

  What a Waste by Jess French

  Not for me, please!: I choose to act green by Maria Godsey

  The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle by Alison Inches

  Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Since becoming a mum, one of my favourite things has been watching my children navigate the complex yet essential world of new friendships. Seeing them on playdates with their friends has also opened my eyes to the power of what their imaginations can do. So I’d like to thank my two wonderful children, Archie and Isla, and their cousins and friends, for everything they’ve taught me about being a child again. I’d also like to thank my brilliant husband Tony for his unwavering support and encouragement. Finally, I’d like to thank our two ragdoll cats, Kitty and Kion, without whom Thunder wouldn’t have made it on to the page.

  The Playdate Adventures would have remained a collection of stories written purely for the enjoyment of my own two children without the help of some brilliant people in the publishing industry. Caroline Sheldon, my agent, for believing in the idea from the very start; Shadi Doostdar, my publisher, for making my dreams come true; and everyone else at Rock the Boat, for their hard work in turning this series into a reality. Finally, the incredible illustrator Anna Woodbine for bringing my characters so perfectly to life.

  Emma Beswetherick is the mother of two young children and wanted to write exciting, inspirational and enabling adventure stories to share with her daughter. Emma is a publisher with Little, Brown and lives in south-west London with her family and two ragdoll cats, one of whom was the inspiration for Thunder.

  Anna Woodbine is an independent book designer and illustrator based in the hills near Bath. She works on all sorts of book covers from children’s to adult’s, classics to crime, memoirs to meditation. She takes her tea with a dash of milk (Earl Grey, always), loves the wind in her face, comfortable shoes and that lovely damp smell after it’s rained.

  Find her at: thewoodbineworkshop.co.uk

  If you loved this story, then you will love:

  THE NORTH POLE PICNIC

  In their next adventure, the girls come face-to-face with arctic animals and what happens when the North Pole begins to melt.

  THE MAGIC OCEAN SLIDE

  Katy, Cassie, Zia and Thunder discover an underwater world and learn there is more to the ocean than meets the eye!

  THE GIANT C
ONKER

  Transported into an enchanted forest, the girls are surprised that the further they go, the fewer trees there seem to be.

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  A Rock the Boat Book

  First published by Rock the Boat, an imprint of Oneworld Publications, 2020

  This ebook edition published 2020

  Text copyright © Emma Beswetherick, 2020

  Illustration copyright © Anna Woodbine, 2020

  The moral right of Emma Beswetherick to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the

  Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988

  All rights reserved

  Copyright under Berne Convention

  A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library

  ISBN 978-1-78607-758-5 (paperback)

  ISBN 978-1-78607-865-0 (hardback)

  ISBN 978-1-78607-759-2 (ebook)

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Oneworld Publications

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