Chapter One

The stars seemed especially bright that evening when Alicia McKay was

born. I was, of course, notified of her birth, as I was for every single new

life that was born on Earth. But with this little baby girl, the stars

surrounding Earth seemed to be welcoming her, gleaming to their fullest

light. I glanced at the swirling green and blue world on a stand to my right.

Three small lights gleamed for a second in North America, indicating births.

At the same time, at least twenty more lights gleamed in other places around

the world. I looked up at the wide screen in front of me. A very, very, very,

very, very, very, (and I could go on and on but let’s say after about six more

very’s) long stream of names were flickering and appearing on the

humongous screen I had. It was like the ultimate computer with every single

human being’s name and information on it- On Earth, that is. It looked like a

large lined piece of paper, black and white with names on each line. I

scrolled down with my finger lightly until I saw the name “McKay”. Pressing

flippantly on it, a red star appeared at the very end of the line. And that’s

when the alarm sounded.




















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*

*
The whole line of “McKay” blared red. I sighed, calm as ever, and pushed

my chair back. A firm voice behind me scolded, “Wow. Trying to get into

the Classifieds once again, Captain Eathos?”

I rolled my eyes and swiveled the chair around to face the speaker.

“Hello, Anya,” I said in a false cheery voice. Her lips twitched for a second

into a smile, then was all business. Whapping me on the head with a heavy

folder that was in her hand, she said, “That’s Captain Pluthos to you,

Captain Eathos.” She walked towards the moniter.

I shrugged and studied her as she tapped on the screen, trying to stop the

alarm. Her dark hair was cut in a sharp bob that framed her pale face that

included long-lashed eyes that were the same color as the planet that she

watched, a dark blue.

We all wore a full body suit. White for the ladies, dark blue for the men. As

I had mentioned before, our eyes matched our planets. Marse’s eyes were

red, Sateen’s eyes were purple, mine were green with a mixture of blue and

so on. Our job out here in the universe was to watch this particular “solar

system”, as the humans on Earth called it.

“There,” Captain Anya Pluthos said smartly, stepping away from the large

moniter. The small but annoying blaring noise had stopped. I smiled and

said smugly, “Thank you, Pluthos.”

Her smile was quick but her dark eyes were twinkling. She answered,

“Your welcome. And that’s Captain Pluthos to you.”









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*

Everyone was waiting in anticipation. Albert McKay was twenty-five and

was running his hands through his thick curly hair, pacing back and forth,

back and forth across the wide, tiled floor. This was going to be his first

child and he was terribly excited. A hand touched his shoulder softly. Albert

turned around and found his dear mother looking up at him with caring eyes.

“Albert dear, it’s going to be all right.”

Her small, hardly wrinkled hand motioned toward the ceiling. “The stars are

welcoming her here.”

Albert smiled and nodded, looking up at the ceiling as if he can see through

at the stars. A wail pierced the silence. Albert faced the double doors and

smiled in relief when the doctor came out with a big smile on her face.

Clapping her gloved hands together, Dr. Hershey brought an end to their

anxiety by announcing, “Mr. McKay, congratulations. You have a beautiful

baby girl.”

Albert McKay, the tough man that he was, broke down and cried.

Years passed, one by one. Alicia McKay grew to be a beautiful but strange

girl. More than once did Alicia feel that the stars seemed to look at her and


whisper softly in her ear while she dreamed. Her kind parents pitied her and

told her they were just dreams, although they worried.

But Alicia moved on and no longer worried about the stars or the dreams. In

school, she was taught that they were other faraway galaxies or just

illuminating rock. She’d thought nothing of it, until the day the star fell.

“Alicia!” huffed Alicia’s mother, Bethany McKay one morning. “Alicia, you

need to get to school!”

Bethany scoured throughout the house, checking every hiding spot Alicia

usually hid in. Meanwhile, ten-year-old Alicia jumped through the woods

next to her house, eager to escape. She soon stopped in front of a large oak

tree in the very center of the woods. Scrambling up the tree to her high

perch, Alicia thought, Haha, she’ll never find me here! But grabbing a faulty

branch brought her excitement to an end. Fear rose up in her chest like an

intake of breath. As she fell, her head bashed and crashed through leaves and

thin branches, not comforting her one bit. Then a miraculous thing

happened.

Some of the sun’s rays splayed out as if they were arms, and caught her just

before she hit the ground. They laid her trembling body on the grass, and

warmed her flushed face. Alicia tried to grab a ray, but it pulled away and

resumed to warm the faces of people across the world. Bursting with a

newfound excitement, Alicia got and thrusted forward, weaving expertly

through the forest. With the large house now in view, Alicia screamed

animatedly, “Mama! Mama!”

But Alicia’s bright smiled faltered when she saw the no-nonsense look in her

mother’s eyes.

“Alicia Claire McKay. Come inside,” her mother demanded in a stern voice.

“Yes, Mama.” The ashamed little girl replied in a whisper. Once they

stepped inside so that their steps echoed throughout the big, stony house,

Alicia whispered, “Mama?”

Bethany McKay sighed and stopped to look at her feisty yet lovely little girl

and answered tiredly, “Yes, Alicia?” What Alicia said next surprised but

scared Bethany. For little Alicia’s words were this: “The sun wrapped me in its arms today, Mama. The ray’s whispered, ‘The star will come soon

to get you, little girl. And then your part in the world will truly begin’.”

For that, was the ultimate truth.