Starlight
Chelsea suddenly woke up, convinced that a monster was under her bed. She didn’t pull the covers all the way over her head; that was for babies. She remembered that she was at her aunt's house. First Dad left, then Mom bought us presents, then Mom brought us to Aunt Becca's, then Mom left. She was about to cry when she heard a creaking sound in the room and remembered the monster wanted to eat her. Chelsea was pretty sure that monsters weren't real, or didn't eat people very often because none of the kids in school were ever eaten by monsters. She remembered something else: the mirror. She planned on pretending to go to sleep and then playing with the mirror after Jason had fallen asleep. Why can't I have my own room? Why isn't Dad here to make sure there are no monsters in the room before I go to bed?
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If a monster did eat her, her parents would be sorry for leaving her with Jason. Maybe it would eat Jason too. Then her parents and Aunt Becca and Uncle Jim would stand in the room crying and the policeman would tell them that there was a monster under the bed and must have been very hungry because it ate the sheets and everything. When she was satisfied her parents felt bad and said they were sorry, she decided she was going to play with the mirror.
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She hung the blanket over the side of the bed, just in case, and moved quickly across the room to the big mirror in the corner. She could barely see it in the night light, but she remembered it looked like the kind of mirror a princess would have. Before be, she had been admiring her present from Mom; pajamas that made her look like a princess. She planned on being a princess when she grew up and thought she should practice looking like one.
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As she got to the center of the room she heard the floor creak under her foot. She didn't scream; princesses don't scream. Farther along, the floor creaked again and she was confident now that it was the floor that made the sound, not a monster. She had to make sure Jason was still asleep. He didn’t know how to whisper and if he started asking questions, everyone in the house would wake up. She looked at his bed. Empty. His light up fire truck wasn't on the floor by his bed either. Monsters don’t eat toy trucks. Jason must have snuck out of bed again. He always did that at home and wouldn’t go to bed until he got a drink.
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Chelsea decided that she should find Jason before he woke anyone up and got them both in trouble. She checked the doors for the other rooms on the second floor first, but all the doors were closed except the empty bathroom. The house smelled strange – old. She was glad that Aunt Becca left night lights all over the house. She let the yellow lights guide her to the stairs. He's probably in the kitchen. He better not break anything. The stairs were lit at the top and the bottom, but not on the way down. Chelsea stayed next to the railing, trailing her hand gently on the generations smooth wood of the railing as she slowly walked down the stairs.
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Jason can't even walk on stairs; he has to crawl up and down like a baby. At home, he wakes me up after he gets to the kitchen and decides he needs help. Maybe he got lost and can't find his way back to the stairs. Maybe he fell asleep on the couch. I don't like this house, it looks like Halloween.
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The stairs came down between two living rooms and she reached up to turn on the lights. This was the living room with the fireplace; the other one had a wood stove. She whispered as loud as she dared, "Jason!"
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He wasn't in either of the rooms so she went to the kitchen. Chelsea played with one of her blond curls. Where did he go? Maybe he climbed into the cabinets or the pantry. A breeze tugged at the hem of her pants. The dog door was stuck open; the bar that kept it locked was moved enough for Jason to squeeze through.
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Chelsea opened the latch the rest of the way and crawled on her hands and knees to the porch. She quietly whispered for Jason after she stood up. She could see shadows of what was on the porch and continued down the wood stairs to the front yard. She felt the wet lawn beneath her feet and looked down at her toes as they wiggled in the grass. Her toenails were supposed to be pink, but the light made them look almost blue. She looked up to see the full moon, almost directly above her. Stars! She had never seen so many stars!
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Chelsea began to trace a big fat band of stars across the sky with her finger. Then she pretended her finger was a shooting star and traced a path in the sky. A flash of light followed her finger to the horizon! I can make shooting stars! Chelsea tried again, making a sound for a shooting star and saw another not far from her finger. This time she made a wish: I wish Dad would come back! Another: I want Mom to come back! She started a third at the horizon and made a shooting star sound. I want to find Jason and go to bed!
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"Moo!" Everything turned red and yellow. Chelsea screamed and fell to the ground.
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Jason laughed and did a little dance with his fire truck flashing in his hands. Chelsea wanted to be mad. Her new pajamas were all dirty now and she could feel the wet pulling itself into her pant legs. "Jason, we have to go to bed." Chelsea reached for his hand, but Jason pointed off to her right.
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"Wannaseecows. Moooo!" The barn wasn’t very far and the lights were on.
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Saying no would result in a tantrum. “Let’s go get a drink of water and go to bed.”
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“No. Cows over Daer!” Jason pointed again. “Goseecow Chesey. Cow.” The last word hung in the air filled with all the sorrow Chelsea couldn’t see in his face.
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“The cows are sleeping Jaysey, they went to bed; cows go to bed too.”
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Jason flashed the lights on his truck again. “Wandrinkawater.”
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“Look at the moon Jaysey.” While he looked, Chelsea made another shooting star. “Make a wish.”
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“Star!” Jason swung his arm across the sky.
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Chelsea saw streaks of light following his hand and raked her hands across the sky, “Shooting stars!”
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