Wish On A Star

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Cailee murmured as she stood in the doorway of her house, dropping her backpack. It had been a long day at school, and she was really at the end of her wits. But this? This was just the last straw. Your broken-into house was not the first thing you want to see when you get home.

She ventured a step into her house, poking her head in first. "Hello?" she called out. There was no response, and she tentatively walked in, closing the door with a creak. Nothing looked like it'd been harmed in any way. She checked the jewelry box, the computers, anything and everything that could have been of value. Nothing was gone.

She didn't blame the thief for not taking anything. "Is there even anything worth stealing at home?" she asked herself. "Nah," she decided. "Nothing except maybe alcohol and drugs."

Cailee sat down and took a strip of brightly colored paper and a pen, about to wish on a paper star. This was customary for her when she was sad, angry, upset or even if she just had a wish. She started to write, "I wish" as the door opened again. She jumped slightly and turned around to see that it was her dad. He saw the strip of blue paper in Cailee's hand and sneered.

"Those things again? Instead of making little stars, why don't you go make us some money, you worthless bitch? We were fine before you's decided to come along. You and your ugly face, your stupid head."

The words stung, but Cailee was used to it by now. She stared straight ahead, maintaining a stoic expression.

"You never do nuttin. You ever thought about doing something worthwhile? How about dropping outta school so's you can get a job? Make life a little bit easier for me and your momma? Huh? Answer me!"

Cailee glared at him, breaking her mask of calm. She didn't have the patience to deal with anyone at the moment. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, but she failed. Fury bubbled in her heart.

"Drop out of high school so that I can live like you? So I can get minimum wage and spend it all on drugs and alcohol? If you and mom didn't spend all of our money on heroin and Jack Daniels, maybe you two would get decent jobs!" she screamed. Noting the look of fury in her dad's eyes, she continued. "Don't you dare blame this on me. 'Oh, we were completely fine before you came along!' You think I believe that? Bullshit! We were completely fine until I was 9, before you started drinking again for God knows why, before you introduced Mom to drugs, before you got fired from your great job!"

An angry sob racked her body. She grabbed her things and stormed upstairs. She could hear her father roaring insults downstairs. But she didn't care, she didn't care. She locked her door and sat down at her desk, crying. She took the blue strip of paper continued writing. "I wish things could just go back to the way they were" she wrote. A tear fell on the edge of the paper, turning it an indigo blue.

She started folding the little piece of paper. It was comforting, the steady pattern of it all. She pinched the sides of the paper, turning the pentagon into a star.

She remembered when she first started making stars. It was right before her family started getting so dysfunctional. Cailee lived in the city, so bright city lights were more common than real stars. She remembered her mom telling her about wishing on stars. She remembered wanting more stars for all of her wishes. She remembered sitting with her parents on the couch, all of them folding little stars in various colors. And Cailee wanted nothing more than to be the happy family on the couch again.

Wiping her tears on her sleeve, she looked at her finished star. It was the most perfect star she'd made yet. On that star was the most perfect wish that she'd made yet.

Cailee reached for her jar of stars, which usually sat on the far right corner of her wooden desk. She grasped air instead of the familiar glass. She looked at the far right corner.

They had taken her stars.