by Ahmet Zappa
Sage and Cassie were bickering about holo-books. Cassie was certain that Sage had borrowed her copy of Once Upon a Starry Night.
“I didn’t borrow it,” Sage said.
“But I saw it in your hands,” Cassie argued, her eyes blazing behind her star-shaped glasses.
“I picked it up, it’s true,” Sage admitted. “But it seemed kind of boring, so I put it back on your shelf.”
Cassie’s mouth opened in disbelief. “Boring? Are you serious? Once Upon a Starry Night is the best book ever. What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Sage retorted.
“And what’s wrong with you?” Libby suddenly said, staring daggers at her roommate, Gemma.
“Who, me?” asked Gemma.
They had their own squabble going, about Gemma’s housekeeping skills, which Libby deemed startacularly poor.
“That’s what happens from living on a farm—messy seems normal,” said Libby.
“That’s not true,” Gemma’s older sister, Tessa, said. “We had to be very neat, but Gemma could never get the hang of it.”
Tessa, meanwhile, had her own issues with Adora—specifically over their shared bouquet. Tessa thought the coral flowers looked much more pleasing on her green side of the room and clashed horribly with Adora’s blue. Adora found the argument frankly absurd, however, as her holo–color wheel clearly proved.
As they went on and on, Leona turned to Ophelia and rolled her eyes in a weary “Who cares?” arc.
“Oh, my stars,” Leona remarked to Ophelia as they left the table together, arm in arm. “Is it me, or did everyone wake up on the dark side of the moon today?”
“So they aren’t always like that?” asked Ophelia.
“Oh, no,” Leona said. “Well…” She rethought that. “Maybe, sort of, lately. But never as bad as today.” She shrugged. “Lucky us, is all I can say. I was actually having the same problem with my old roommate until you took her place.” She gave Ophelia’s arm a happy squeeze. “We’re like the perfect roommates! It’s as if we’ve known each other forever already, don’t you think?”
Ophelia smiled and nodded. “It’s a cosmic connection!” Leona continued. “For instance, I used to get mad at Scarlet for moving our flowers around, too. But with you I don’t care. We’re roommates. We should share!”
“What do you mean?” asked Ophelia. “Move what flowers? Where?”
“Our bouquet. You know.” They emerged from the café and into a misty, sparkly rain. Leona closed her eyes and turned her face up, and Ophelia did the same. “Did you know they say that the rain on Wishworld doesn’t even sparkle?” she asked Ophelia. “And that the lakes there reflect light but don’t make any of their own?”
“Amazing,” Ophelia said, nodding. “How do they get glitter into their star showers do you think?”
“Beats me.” Leona shrugged, pulled out her Star-Zap, and dialed up an energy bubble umbrella for them both. “Anyway, I don’t know where you put the flowers, but it’s fine. I don’t care,” she went on.
“But I didn’t move them,” replied Ophelia.
“You didn’t?” Leona turned to her just as the lights throughout the campus shifted spectrum, turning from warm white to rosy pink.
“Time for first period already?” exclaimed Leona. “I guess I better get going to Wish Theory.”
Ophelia was on her way to Wish Energy Manipulation. They arranged to meet up before Star Darlings class.
“I always thought it was strange, you and Tessa and Adora being in that special class,” Ophelia told Leona as they made their way to the soundproof classroom where the secret class was held at the end of each school day. “And the others, too, I guess. You all seemed so smart in all your other classes. I mean, doesn’t Adora win the Astro Science Fair every year?”
“So now you know,” said Leona. “Lady Stella just made up that story to help keep our mission confidential. None of us likes it at all.” Leona groaned. “But we’re helping Starland, so it’s worth it, I suppose.”
Their special Star Darlings lesson that day was about young-Wisher theory and was taught by Professor Illumia Wickes, who led her class by tossing ideas into space to see how far they’d travel and how bright they’d grow.
“Star greetings, Ophelia!” she exclaimed as Ophelia and Leona entered the room. “I heard there had been a Star Darlings replacement, but I had no idea it would be you!” She whipped off her enormous star-shaped rose-tinted glasses and flashed a suprised but welcoming smile.
Her wraparound dress, Leona noticed, displayed a constantly shifting pattern of stars and moons. It would certainly have hypnotized anyone who stared at it too long.
“I see we’re all here,” Professor Illumia Wickes said as Leona and Ophelia took their seats and let them adjust to their height and weight, “so let’s go ahead and get started. Our starhour always goes so fast! This starday, I want to give you a scenario and ask you what you’d do….Say there’s a young Wisher who wishes for a moonium dollars in Wishling currency—”
Libby’s glittery arm shot up. “Trick question!” She grinned. “Money wishes fall into the ‘greedy’ category, which means we would never be called to grant a wish like that.”
“Ahem. As I was saying,” Professor Illumia Wickes continued, nodding at Libby, who lowered her hand to her lap, “a young Wisher wishes for a moonium dollars in Wishling currency, not for herself, but to pay for a new playground for her school, which doesn’t have one. Now, tell me: how do you help?”
She gazed around the room as hands rose slowly.
“Yes? Sage?”
“Conjure a treasure? And help the Wisher find it?”
“Treasure…Interesting…” The professor looked around the table again. “Any thoughts?”
Vega frowned and raised her hand.
“Yes, Vega? You don’t agree?”
“It wouldn’t work,” Vega said.
“Oh? And why not?”
“Any currency or jewels or precious metals we conjured would glow or glitter on Wishworld and give themselves away.”
“Ah, interesting point…” Professor Illumia Wickes said, nodding. “Libby? Yes? Now you may speak.”
“I still think it’s a trick question,” said Libby.
Gemma turned and asked, “Why?”
“Because as soon as you attach a price to a wish, doesn’t it take the purity—and the truly good energy—away?”
“Ah, but does it?” asked Professor Illumia Wickes.
Leona spoke up. “I don’t think so. It’s the basic reflective property of wishing we learned last week. If the Wisher’s heart is pure, then their wish has to be, too.”
“Yes, but in a way, wouldn’t that Wisher’s wish be selfish?” Cassie asked. “I mean, the playground would be for her, as a student at that school….”
“Correct,” said Tessa, “and yet it would be there long after she graduates and leaves the school….Perhaps, though, you could nudge her away from the ‘moonium dollar’ wish toward a different one—but one that would have the same result?”
“Interesting!” Professor Illumia Wickes’s smile lit up. “Such as…”
“Such as the whole school community coming together to raise money,” suggested Tessa.
“Oh, I know!” Astra exclaimed. “She could organize one of those ‘-athons’ they do so much on Wishworld. A walkathon, or a jumpathon, or something like that!”
“Or a cake trade!” Gemma offered. “They’re always doing those down there!”
“I think you mean a bake sale,” said Professor Illumia Wickes. “But yes…I like where this is going! Don’t stop! Any more ideas?”
“How about a fashion show fund-raiser?” said Adora. “Wishling garments are so dull, we know, but still it could be fun!”
“You know what would be the most fun?” said Leona. “A fund-raising concert! And if it was my Wish Mission, I would sing—of course!” Energized, she turned to her new roommate. “What do you think, Ophe
lia?”
“I…I…” Ophelia stared back at Leona blankly.
“Yes, Ophelia. What do you think? You’ve been very quiet!” Professor Illumia Wickes smiled. “Don’t be shy just because you’re new. Feel free to jump in here and tell us what you would do!”
“Um…I…uh…”
“Go ahead,” Leona urged.
“It’s just…” Ophelia winced as if her brain hurt. “It’s just…I’m a little confused. We didn’t learn much about young Wishlings’ wishes in our other Wish Theory class…so I don’t understand. And what exactly is a ‘playground’?” She paused. “Is there, um, a vocabulary list I could get, by any chance?”
A few giggles circled the table along with a rainbow of raised eyebrows.
Gemma snorted and threw back her head. “What in the stars! I feel like we really are in a remedial class!” She laughed.
“Like you know everything,” Libby muttered across the table to her roommate, not at all under her breath.
Gemma fired back a hot orange glare. “I know this: you think you’re so neat and perfect, but you’re not very good at making your bed.”
“That’s only because you crawl over it to move those flowers! Why can’t you just leave them on my nightstand, where you know they look the best?”
Zwwooosh!
A ball of light appeared in the professor’s hand and she tossed it to the back of the room. It skimmed right over their heads. The girls’ mouths opened in disbelief.
“That’s enough!” said Professor Illumia Wickes as the Star Darlings covered their heads. “So much negative energy!” She clucked and shook her head.
The light ball slowed and returned to her outstretched hand, where it dissolved into a shimmering shower, spark by spark.
“Star apologies,” said Libby.
“Yes, star apologies.” Gemma looked down.
“Star apologies accepted, but all this bickering has got to stop. Now…” She scanned her holo-notes. “I’d like to spend the rest of the class on this idea of young wishful thinking, so if you’d all get out your Star-Zaps, please. Feel free to record my lecture so you can absorb it in your sleep….”
“Ophelia! Wait up!” Leona hurried after Ophelia, who was the first Starling out the door. “Don’t listen to Gemma,” she said, linking her arm with Ophelia’s. “Every Starling knows she has the biggest mouth in school.”
“But she’s right,” said Ophelia as they rode the Cosmic Transporter out the front door of the school. “I’m so far behind the rest of you. I don’t know where to begin to catch up! And it’s not just that. I’ve seen some of the things the other Star Darlings—and you—can do with energy, and I’m nowhere even close….”
“You’ll get there!” Leona tried to reassure her. “It might take some time, but you will!”
“But how? Do you know, when Lady Cordial first called me into her office, I thought I was being expelled. Do you know I got a D on my Wishworld Relations exam last week?”
“Really?” said Leona, stunned. D, for Dim, was the lowest grade a Starling could get.
“And it’s not only that. You’re so special! And the other Star Darlings, too. I don’t fit in at all, and I don’t see how I ever will….”
“Come on.” Leona took a sharp right, onto a path toward the edge of the campus.
“Where are we going?” Ophelia asked.
Leona pointed toward a thick grove of pink ozziefruit trees just past the campus border. It was her favorite place to walk and sing and think. “A few berries?” She winked at Ophelia. “They make everything better, don’t you agree?”
As soon as the Cosmic Transporter reached the orchard, Leona and Ophelia stepped off and walked between rows of tall pink-leaved trees heavy with ripe indigo fruit. Leona reached out and picked a berry for Ophelia and another one for herself. Instantly, two new fruits grew in their places, just as big and juicy and blue.
“Shall we sit?” Leona asked, settling in the grass at the base of the fragrant tree. As Ophelia sank beside her, Leona took a bite out of her ozziefruit. “Mmm!” Leona said as she chewed and dabbed at a stream of blue juice dribbling down her chin.
Ophelia smiled.
“See? I knew these would make you feel better. And you haven’t even eaten one yet.”
“It’s your mouth…” Ophelia said, pointing.
“What?” Leona glanced down at blue ozziefruit-juice stains on her fingers. “Oh, no!” She laughed. “Are my lips blue?” She shrugged. “Who cares? It’s worth it! See? I’m not that special after all!”
Just above them, a delicate twelve-legged rainbow-orb spider was busy weaving her star-shaped web. The star-silk stretched between the branches like shiny tinsel, flashing wherever the sunlight found it.
“Did you feel this way at first?” Ophelia asked Leona. “Like you didn’t know why you were picked?”
Leona almost answered, “Sure,” but then she realized that wasn’t true. In fact, she remembered clearly how right being chosen had felt. Of course, I’m a Star Darling! she’d thought when Lady Stella assembled them the first day. And I’m going to be the best!
“Don’t worry,” she told Ophelia instead. “It’s going to get easier. Use your Mirror Mantra! It always helps me.”
“Mirror Mantra?” said Ophelia.
“Yes, you know—the words you recite when you need strength or reassurance. You can use it with your Wisher, too.”
Ophelia looked at her blankly. “Um, I don’t know…I guess I haven’t gotten one yet.”
“No? That’s odd. Well, I’m sure you will. This is mine: ‘You are a star. Light up the world.’” Leona grinned proudly. “Nice, right? When you say it without a mirror, it makes you feel good and positive. When you say it on Wishworld in front of a mirror, you can see yourself with your Starland glow.”
“Do you think I could use yours? Until I get mine?”
Leona’s eyes brightened. “Sure! Knock your stars out!”
Then, suddenly, both their Star-Zaps flashed.
“Ooh! What’s going on?” Ophelia looked down as hers began to vibrate wildly—much more strongly than it did for a normal alert.
Leona read the screen, already knowing what it would say. “Another Wish Orb’s been identified!” she told Ophelia. “Come on! We need to get to Lady Stella’s office ASAS—as soon as starpossible!”
“Not to the Wish-House?” said Ophelia, scrambling to her feet.
“The Wish-House is for regular wishes,” said Leona. “We have a special, secret one—way under Halo Hall—for no other wishes, just ours!” She quickly grabbed a handful of berries. “For energy!” she said. “After all, who knows? The Wish Orb might belong to one of us!”
Soon Leona, Ophelia, and the other Star Darlings stood in a circle around the grass-covered platform from which a Wish Orb would soon reveal itself.
Leona looked up and saw clouds drifting slowly across the blue sky. As usual, she had to remind herself that they were underground and not in Starland City Park.
“Are you ready, Star Darlings?” asked Lady Stella, raising her arms to begin the process of the Wish Orb Reveal.
Leona knew she was ready. She gazed around and could see that the others were, as well—everyone, that is, but poor Ophelia, who looked as if she’d eaten way too much zoomberry cake and was about to lose it all. Cassie didn’t look very confident, either.
Lady Stella clapped once and the room fell dark, save for one pure white beam of light shining down on the platform, which slowly opened up, revealing a brilliant orb. It hovered in the air and then did something different: it started to race around the circle, zooming up to each Star Darling for a split second and then zipping across the circle toward another. Leona’s eyes lit up each time it approached her, and her smile faded each time it zipped away. She closed her eyes in frustration.
“Leona!” someone shouted.
She opened her eyes. The beautiful, tantalizing orb floated in the air in front of her.
She re
ached out and the orb fit in her palm perfectly. She felt a wave of pure bliss as she gazed down at it.
“Congratulations, Leona,” said Lady Stella, pressing her palms together and bowing over them.
“How long till I go?” Leona asked. “Tomorrow morning? Afternoon?”
“Actually…” The headmistress stood over the Wish Orb and studied it. “I do believe that in the case of this wish, there isn’t a starmin to lose. As you know, a Wish Orb will stay fresh and healthy as long as the Wisher keeps wishing on the wish…but if they begin to forget…or change their mind…their Wish Orb will lose its glow and fade away.”
“Is that what’s happening?”
“It certainly appears so,” said Lady Stella. “The glow is already fading, I’m afraid. This wish needs granting very soon….”
“Then what are we waiting for?” said Leona. “All I really need is my Wish Pendant, right? Then I can go catch a shooting star!”
From the underground Wish-House, Leona followed Lady Stella out of the Star Caves. After a brief stop in the headmistress’s office for a quick refresher on the features she’d need to use on her Star-Zap when she got to Wishworld, Leona raced back to her room to be sure she had everything she needed.
Back in Halo Hall, she boarded the Flash Vertical Mover, and in mere starsecs she was whisked into the sky. Lady Stella and the rest of the Star Darlings were there to see her off all wearing their Safety Star Glasses. Leona hugged all the Star Darlings good-bye, leaving Ophelia with an extra-strong, supportive squeeze.
“Remember what I told you. This is all strange and new right now, but it’s going to get easier every starday! You’re going to be a great Star Darling, Ophelia! Just hang in there and believe in yourself! Promise you’ll try my Mirror Mantra. Remember how it goes?”
Ophelia took a hopeful breath. “‘You are a star. Light up the world.’”
“Exactly! You got it!”
Lady Stella gave Leona some last-minute advice. “Focus on your mission. Be sure you don’t get caught up in the excitement of being on Wishworld,” she reminded Leona. “And be sure to discover your Wisher’s true wish—not the wish you think she may have made.”