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JEN

“STAR LIGHT, STARbright

First star I see tonight

I wish I may, I wish I might

Have the wish I wish tonight!”

The cadence of our twelve-year-old voices fell silent amongst the songs of the crickets.

After several minutes, I heard a whisper. “What did you wish for?”

I rolled my head to look at my best friend. Kayla was still on her back, staring up at the night sky. Her face was highlighted by the light of the full moon, already hanging high in the sky over the grassy hill where we lay.

I rolled my eyes at my best friend. “I can’t tell you that, silly! It won’t come true if I do!”

Kayla giggled in response. “We’re not six years old anymore, Jen. I’m pretty sure our star wishes are just for fun.”

“Ha! Then how come last year I wished for Danny Puglisi to like me, and he did? Huh?” I challenged.

She rolled toward me. “One little note asking you for help on his homework does not make a love story,” she said.

“Shows what you know! I got my first kiss that afternoon,” I replied, smugly.

Kayla sat up quickly. “You never told me that! On the lips?” At my nod, she shrieked, “Spill it! I want the details!”

Sitting up, I recounted my first little romance. It hadn’t lasted long. By the following week, he had moved on to Angela Zimmerman, and my heart had been crushed. Well, at least until Ben Crawford shared his Halloween candy with me a couple weeks later. None-the-less, I still had hope that all of my starlight wishes would come true.

We grew quiet again, and I stared down the hill where our parents were still around the campfire. My mom sat on my dad’s lap with his arms wrapped protectively around her. Kayla’s parents sat apart, but their hands were linked between their chairs.

It was Labor Day weekend, and our families were taking advantage of the long weekend before the school ritual began and the relaxing summer schedule was over. Coming up to this hill and watching for shooting stars had become my and Kayla’s little tradition several years ago after I moved across the street from Kayla’s family. Our families had become immediate friends, spending lots of time together, including this annual camping trip. Both sets of adults were so full of love for each other as well as for their families.

I want the same thing when I’m an adult, I silently told the stars.A forever type of love that never lets go.

I glanced back toward the sky, just in time to see another star dash across the heavens. I hoped it carried my wish with it.