Starfall (The Starfall Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  Radianne nervously walked toward the strange object as Piri lingered cautiously behind her. Crouching low, Radianne took a closer look. As she examined the glowing thing, she couldn't believe her eyes. A memory flared to life. Recalling a picture book she'd seen as a child, she knew without a doubt that what was there on the grass before her was a star.

  “But how could this be?” she wondered out loud. “Stars are supposed to be huge and lifeless burning bodies of fumes in the galaxy… though for the sake of children and their imaginations, in the picture book the stars were drawn much like what I'm seeing now.”

  The five-pointed star in the grass was small and definitely full of life. It glowed like an orb but had clear points. It even had silvery eyes and what appeared to be a mouth – all of which were currently open wide and staring at the two of them, as if in complete shock. Radianne could relate. She felt just as as stunned.

  Piri peeked over her shoulder. “Well this is something I never imagined I'd see!” she exclaimed, fluttering her wings rapidly with excitement.

  Radianne was tempted to poke the star to see what would happen, but thought that doing so might be a bit unkind. It was evident the star obviously was a living creature and was capable of emotion. So instead, she decided to try simple communication.

  “Hello there,” she offered, not certain if she'd receive a response.

  The star stared at her with frightened eyes. “Hello,” it said, in a small and timid voice.

  Radianne gasped. “I never thought I'd see an actual star,” she said, her eyes growing wide. “And never one that talked, for that matter.”

  She then frowned as she thought about its predicament. “It appears you have fallen from the sky, you poor little thing.”

  She darted a glance at Piri and then back at the new arrival. “I'm Radianne and this is my friend Piri. Welcome to the land of Eugladia.”

  The star was silent for a moment, gazing at the two of them in bewilderment, as if at a loss for words. Then it spoke again.

  “My name is Blink,” it said weakly. “I did not fall. I was pushed – well, shoved actually, from the sky. I did not exactly fall. Only old and weakened stars fall. Or stars involved in violent confrontations…” he trailed off.

  “Who would do such a thing?” Radianne shook her head in disbelief and moved forward to inspect her otherworldly visitor more closely. “That's horrible!”

  “A much larger star named Wink,” Blink the star said. He lifted his eyes to the dimly twinkling stars above and a shadow of sadness crossed his face. “But home is so far away now. I wonder how it is that I will ever get back.”

  Radianne shook her head again. “This is truly awful,” she said sympathetically. “Well Blink. We are happy to meet you, if even under such unfortunate circumstances. I wonder, is there anything we can do to help you at the moment?”

  Blink frowned. “I'm not sure. I would very much like to go home, but don't know if or how that's possible. From all the old tales, it seems unlikely.”

  Tears welled up in his eyes then and he began to cry softly, silvery droplets streaming down his face.

  Radianne reached out slowly, stretching her hand. She touched him gingerly with one finger. She wanted to in some way comfort the peculiar and marvelous creature that had dropped into a world so unfamiliar from its own.

  At the contact, a warm tickling sensation ran up her arm, as well as an odd jolt of connection. As if the moment was meant to be. She shivered.

  “It will be all right,” she whispered. “I'll figure out a way to help you. Will you come with me for now? It will be easier to figure things out at home, after I get some sleep. I'll just have to keep you hidden for tonight.”

  With a thoughtful look on his face, Blink nodded. Some of the girl's talk was confusing, but he had nothing to lose. “Why not? There is obviously no other place to go as I know nothing of your land. I suppose my situation can't get much worse.”

  Radianne thought things could get worse, if the wrong sort discovered him. She frowned and turned to Piri. “I'll see you later. ”

  As the fairy flew off into the darkness, Radianne reached down and picked up the star with both hands. That odd tickling sensation flowed through her palms and up into her arms again, as if unleashing some sort of electric and vibrant energy. For a moment, the feeling scared her, and she wondered if she'd drop Blink. But the sensation went away as quickly as it had come.

  The star was lighter to carry than she'd expected. She marveled at the feeling in her hands as she walked, and felt as if she were lighter too.

  Blink glowed wonderfully in the darkness, casting the both of them in illuminating light as they trekked through the forest and back across the swaying bridge. The laughing river was still silent as they crossed. Blink's glow cast ripples of soft light over the water.

  As she approached her house, Radianne tucked Blink into the folds of her green dress. She climbed up the steps past the front door, then shimmied up the vine and through her bedroom window, trying to be as quiet as possible. The last thing she needed right now was to wake up her parents – especially her father.

  The floor creaked as she crawled into her room. She stood up and immediately walked to the woven vine flaps hanging over her doorway, pulling them tightly closed in case prying eyes were up and about at the hour.

  As she pulled the star out from beneath the folds of her dress, rays of light lit up her room and nearly blinded her. Fumbling, she made her way over to one of her tree stump chairs, where she set Blink down and moved several feet away to sit on the bed so she could study her new friend more closely.

  He looked around her room, staring in wonder at her purple pet bird, which was obliviously asleep on its perch. He admired the ivy and flowers that decorated the walls of her room.

  “It's beautiful in here,” he said softly. “It's a nice home. I never really imagined a home other than my own before.”

  “Thank you,” Radianne said. “You'll have to tell me all about your home. But first…” she leaned back against her silkworm pillows and decided to share with him what she'd been thinking. “I have an idea about how I might be able to help you.”

  Blink turned his eyes toward her and listened.

  “Tomorrow morning I will take you to the wisest in our land, a good friend of mine,” Radianne continued. “She will certainly know what to do. If anyone has the solution to your problem, it will be her.”

  Blink said nothing but his face looked hopeful.

  “Soon though, I have to get some sleep,” Radianne yawned. Though she was tired, she did have some questions that she felt could not wait.

  “Do stars sleep during the daytime?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.

  “Stars sleep whenever they wish,” Blink said. “It's what we do. Glow and sleep. And sometimes zoom around.”

  “Oh? I didn't know stars slept or zoomed. To be honest, I really didn't know you were even living creatures.” Radianne raised an eyebrow. Then she laughed. “Truth be told, I thought you were just balls of fumes burning brightly in the sky.”

  “Well, I didn't know what to think of the creatures below,” Blink told her. “We heard the tales, of course, but we thought they were all merely stories The Man In The Moon told us for fun. A sort of entertainment.”

  “Well what will happen to you during the day?” Radianne asked. “Will you still glow? And who is the 'Man In The Moon?'”

  “I'm not sure about your glowing question,” Blink said. “But I can answer the other. The Man In The Moon is our guardian. He watches over the sky and tries to keep things in order. He loves us like a great father. The Creator gave him charge over us.”

  Radianne listened intently as Blink described the mysterious moon man in detail, spinning an enchanting tale of his long white beard and kind yellowed eyes, and how he'd been guardian of the stars since the dawn of time.

  Though delighted and filled with curiosity at his stories, Radianne soon grew bleary-eyed. Tiredly, she eased off her be
d and walked across the room, holding out a small blue blanket to her new friend.

  “I suppose I really should sleep now,” she apologized. “Would you mind if I covered you with this blanket to dim the intensity of your glow? I hope you don't find my suggesting it offensive.”

  “Not at all,” Blink said. “Sleep well.”

  “You too. If you can. ”

  Blink's light went out as Radianne placed the blanket over his shimmering body and she crawled back into bed.

  Not long after, both star and girl fell fast asleep, the star dreaming of a far away home, and the young woman dreaming of how very close she was to escaping her own.

  -3-

  Questions

  T

  he next morning, Radianne woke up much earlier than usual and crept over to the blue mound sitting on her tree stump chair. Had last night been a dream? She wondered if it had all really been an absurd figment of her imagination.

  Timidly, she picked up one corner of the blue blanket and cocked her head to the side, uncertain of what she'd find beneath.

  It hadn't been a dream.

  During the light of day, Blink the star had appeared to have lost his glow. His body was somewhat bumpy and slightly translucent and had none of the bright shimmer he'd vibrantly flashed the night before. In fact, he looked slightly stone-like in appearance. She poked him gingerly with one finger.

  His silvery eyes popped open.

  “Good morning,” Radianne said cheerfully.

  She stepped back in order to give her new friend time to adjust to his surroundings. To her surprise, he bent his five-pointed body forward and scrambled into into a sitting position.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  “You can move on your own here!” Radianne exclaimed, clapping her hands with delight. “How wonderful!”

  Blink looked down at his appendages and waved them around. He shrugged. “I suppose I can. Wasn't so sure I'd be able to move at all down here. Or if I'd even be alive. We always expected that falling stars died immediately after they descended.” His face fell as he said the words. “Or, maybe, not long after.”

  “Well, I'm so glad that's not the case!” Radianne smiled and hurried over to a little room adjacent her own where she kept her clothing and other personal belongings. She tossed some items into a silk-worm woven bag, then disappeared into another small room and reemerged wearing a sleeveless green tunic and pants made from the soft leaves of a shimmer tree. “Just a few more minutes and we'll be on our way,” she told Blink, disappearing into the little room again.

  She came back a few moments later and pulled out a piece of paper, an ink pot, and a writing quill and sat at a writing desk in one corner of the room. Quickly, she scrawled a note to her parents.

  “This will have to do,” she said as she set the note on a wooden table next to her bed. She felt a little guilty about her abrupt decision, but, as she relayed in her note, she was leaving to help a friend in need and would return after her task was complete. Surely her parents would understand. She only hoped they would not be too angry with her, or too worried. Or send someone after her.

  She could imagine her father, with his big booming voice, demanding to know why he had such a reckless and unsettled daughter. The thought of him confronting her and putting a stop to her adventure made her anxious to get going.

  “We should leave now.” She plucked Blink from the chair and set him on her shoulder. The electric feeling she'd felt the night before when he'd touched her skin surged once again. She shivered.

  Blink settled his weight onto her shoulder and she climbed out her window and down the vine, feeling energetic and positive about the task ahead.

  Warm rays of sunshine hit Radianne's skin as she walked through the dewy grass and along a winding path that led through the woods. She felt as if she were glowing from all the excitement.

  “Miss Lugia lives in these trees,” she told Blink, pushing tree branches out of her way as she walked. “She is the wisest in our land, as I said last night, and I'm sure she'll know what to do.”

  They made their way through the green and turquoise hued shimmer trees, the woods silent except for the occasional fluttering of a bird's wings or a twig snapping underfoot.

  After while, a giant red mushroom appeared. This was no ordinary mushroom. The spotted mushroom was as large as a house with a cheerful yellow wooden door embedded into its enormously wide stem. Radianne approached the door and knocked three times, waiting. After a few moments, it flew open.

  A Eugladian-sized ladybug wearing a white ruffled apron and matching bonnet appeared in the entryway. She was nearly as tall as Radianne.

  She shrieked with delight when she saw her guests. “Hello my dear Radianne! What are you doing here at this time of day child? What is that on your shoulder? Why, it looks like a star from one of those old picture books we have at the library! But how can that be? Oh, do come in dear, come in.”

  Hopping up and down with joy, the ladybug enthusiastically stepped aside to let her visitors in.

  The star gazed at the red and black walls of the mushroom's interior with awe as they entered the main room. Black and white polka-dotted furniture was scattered throughout as well as in the adjacent living space.

  Radianne smiled at his reaction. The house did seem to have a color and life of its own.

  “Come and have a seat,” Miss Lugia said. “And tell me why you're visiting today.”

  Radianne settled onto a chair at the black and white polka-dotted table and glanced around the room with appreciation. “It seems you have acquired some new finery since my last visit, including those red polka-dotted window curtains,” she pointed out admiringly. “I love your home more with each visit.”

  “Thank you my dear.” Miss Lugia placed a carved wood tray filled with little cakes on the table. “I just made these, so eat them up!”

  Radianne gladly took one of the little yellow cakes and bit into the sweet and sticky goodness. “Delicious, as always,” she said as the sugary honey cake melted in her mouth.

  “What about that young star? Does he want one?”

  Embarrassed, Radianne realized she had forgotten to introduce her guest. Or to offer him any food.

  As she properly introduced Blink, Miss Lugia moved closer, eyeing the star with suspicion and scratching her shiny black chin.

  “What exactly is a star doing in Eugladia anyway? I always thought stars were bodies of burning gas…” She leaned forward, her voice lowering to a warning whisper as she raised her eyebrows at Radianne. “Seems to me like it could be foul magic from the likes of those no-good Snorgs.”

  Whatever a Snorg was, Blink didn't like the sound of Miss Lugia's voice. His eyes grew wide at the accusation and he became even more pale and translucent.

  “Have a honey cake.” The giant ladybug promptly presented the pastry to him, as if reading his troubled thoughts, seemingly forgetting her insult.

  Normally a polite star, Blink did not know how to respond without sounding ungracious. “Uh, I…” he began.

  “What is it?”

  “It's just that I've never eaten this sort of food before. I'm used to eating moon dust.”

  Radianne looked at him with sympathy. He must find this world very strange.

  Miss Lugia frowned. “Moon dust? Dust!” She clucked her tongue and shook her head. “There is no nutrition in that. No wonder you look so dingy. Stars are supposed to shine.”

  She thrust the cake at him again.

  Appearing to be embarrassed at her words, Blink accepted the treat. His mouth took a small bite. Instantly, his eyes lit up. “Oooh. This is good,” he said appreciatively. “Yes, much better than dust.”

  Miss Lugia smiled proudly.

  As Radianne and Blink ate, the hostess chattered about random topics, such as the weather, the forest fruit supply, and rumors of recent Snorg attacks. After some time, the chatter stopped, and she looked expectantly at Radianne. “Well? As I said earlier, I know there
is a purpose behind this visit and your new companion…”

  Radianne cleared her throat. “Well,” she began. “I need your advice. I figured if anyone can help us, it would be you.” She leaned forward. “After all, you're the last Large Ladybug of your kind and we all know how wise your ancestors were.”

  “This is true,” Miss Lugia said sadly, her face growing solemn. “I am the last. And our advice, of course, always brings the best of luck. It is a tragedy the others have gone.” She sighed a deep sigh. “Our world could use much good advice now.”

  “Indeed,” Radianne said, thinking of the horrible disappearances.

  The vanishing of the Large Ladybugs was a great Eugladian tragedy and mystery. The Eugladian ladybugs had mysteriously disappeared from the land a number of years before, in a matter of a few days. No one knew for sure what had happened to them, though some suspected the Snorgs had something to do with the unusual incident.

  Miss Lugia's family had vanished one night during her youth, and, sadly, she'd never seen nor heard from them again. It was also a mystery as to why she'd been the only one spared. But, she'd quickly learned how to fend for herself. And somehow, she'd kept a remarkably positive attitude at the same time.

  “Blink was forced from the sky, he was attacked by another star,” Radianne said, beginning to explain the reason for her visit. “It would seem it's impossible to get him back where he belongs. We were wondering if you knew of any way to accomplish this?”

  Miss Lugia stared off into space silently for a few moments, deep in thought. She scratched her head. Her antennae twitched back and forth. She rubbed her shiny black chin and sighed a few times.

  When she finally spoke, her tone was ominous. “Such an awful thing,” she began. “Hmmm. Dangers there will certainly be. But I do know who might be able to help you…” She smiled and there was a sudden twinkle in her eye.

  Radianne sucked in a breath. “Yes?”

  “The Winged Ones.”

  “The Winged Ones?” Radianne let out the breath she'd been holding. She'd heard tales as a child about the magnificent winged horses of Shondalina, one of the Nether Lands. But back then, she'd thought they were the stuff of long-lost legends. Or tales made up to entertain young ones. She hadn't been quite certain they were even real.