Page 112 of Cryptic Curse

I simply nod.

“But they’re always there.Even when you can’t see them.Even when they burn out, the light still reaches the earth for millennia.”He sighs.“Because they’re so far away, it takes their light that long to get here.”

“Yeah, we learned that in science class.”

He smirks at that.“Yeah, but science class can be boring.You need to think about it, about the miracle that it truly is.That the stars continue to shine even after they burn out.It’s a metaphor for so many things.”

“Like what?”I ask.

“Like life, Hawk,” he says.“Don’t ever forget that even after you’re gone, your starlight will shine on the people whose lives you’ve touched.”

His words hit me hard.

I’m young.Just a kid of twelve.I don’t think about death.About legacy.

But my grandfather died.My father’s father.We all went to his funeral.

“I guess I never thought of it that way,” I say.

“I’m surprised you haven’t,” Ted says.

“Why would you say that?”

He gently pokes my forehead.“Because you’re a thinker, Hawk.You think about everything.”

He’s not wrong.But how did he know that?

“I see it in your eyes,” he says, as if reading my mind.“I see you weigh the pros and the cons of every decision you make.I see it when we play board games, and I see it when I teach you something about how a game is played, how it sits in your mind, becomes part of your overall strategy.Above all, you want to do what’s right.Not just for yourself, so you can win the game, but what’s innately right.For the universe.”

“That’s some heavy shit,” I say.

He raises an eyebrow.“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear you say a curse word.”

“Oops.Sorry.”

He laughs.“There are worse things, I suppose.And yeah, it might be some heavystuffto talk about with a boy your age.But am I wrong?”

I shake my head.“You’re not wrong.”I hand the star back to him.“Where could I find an earring like this?”

“Hell, I got this a long time ago, from a jeweler in Houston.But it can’t be hard to find.”

“Never mind.”I kick at the ground.“My father would never let me wear it anyway.”

“Who says you have to tell him about it?”

I scoff.“He’d see it in my ear, for one.”

Ted chuckles.“He doesn’t have to see it.You don’t have to wear it.All you need to do is know it’s there.In fact, you don’t even need the earring.Your star can shine inside you.”

More heavy shit.Stuff, sorry.

But I like this guy.I already have a big brother, but Falcon is a bona fide teenager now, interested in girls and dating and hanging out with his friends.He’s not much of a brother to me these days.

Ted is a grown man, but I feel like he’s my big brother.Or my cool uncle with an earring.

“Why do you think my dad doesn’t like earrings?”I ask.

“That’s hard to say.”He crosses his arms.“Maybe he truly does just think they’re only for women, but he’s wrong.”