wishing on a star

note: this one here is a contribution from MADDIE, a good friend and a creative artist. she is an architect by profession and she manages their family business. right now she is in paris.

WISHING ON A STAR
By MADDIE

"Star light, star bright! First star I've seen tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight..." I closed my eyes and made my wish.
He was standing by the dusty roadside waiting for his ride as I pulled up my jeep asking for directions through the deserts of Morocco. He squinted under the afternoon sun as he pointed to the direction where I was supposedly headed to. I thanked him and sped right off, hoping to catch the beautiful sunset.
I pitched my tent under a blanket of stars away from the other travellers who set camp nearby. I huddled close to the bonfire, making myself comfortably warm while gazing at the diamonds in the sky. He taught me how to wish on the first star I happen to see as I looked up in the clear sky.
I now remember the story he once told me while we were still together...
For two weeks he had spent his nights under the sky, but he still has to see a single star fall out of its place.
Yuletide was still months away yet the young September was already blowing a cold wind. He pulled his clothes against him, and as he laid on the grass smelling the sweet earth around him, somehow he knew it was going to be a long night.
The breeze was gently slapping his face and it brought a scent that instantly shook him from his thoughts. Without turning his head and looking back he knew it was her. She gently walked towards him, then sat upon his side. Against the pale light of the moon he could see the eyes that always haunt him, the lips he always dreamt of kissing, and he wondered how it would feel to run his hand through her long auburn hair.
"You really should stop wishing on those falling stars."
Her words brought no comfort, and he watched her as she lazily traced the stars while softly speaking their names.
"Pelè, the bear hunter with the golden arrows
Istari, the centaur"
With fondness she added:
"Hiiaka and Lohiau, the lovers"
It was then that she told him the story.
When the world was still young and everything was new, Lohiau was the sun-god and Hiiaka was the daughter of darkness. They fell in love with each other at their first meeting, but Hiiaka, being an offspring of darkness, was terrified of Lohiau's light so she fled across the sky. Lohiau chased her but could never really quite catch her. So they both died of exhaustion.
He smiled for he was the one who told her that story. he could have laid there on the grass all night just staring at her face, but she eventually said the words he dreaded.
"I'm leaving tomorrow."
For a minute he could hear nothing but those words repeating themselves in his head. Above him, viewed against his tears, the stars and the sky blended into a single color of gray.
As she was about to get up, he said it for the first time.
"I love you."
And for an instance he thought she would stay. She kissed his tears away, but in the end she still left him.
For an eternity he was numb. He wanted to sleep and never wake up. As he was about to close his eyes, he saw Pelè let loose one of his arrow.
Was it too late for wishes?
He smiled, and for the first time in two weeks since she told him she was leaving, he was happy. She was a free spirit that could never be tied down--- like the wind that wills its way and goes where it must go. Only now does he understand her.
"Return to me after all your journeys
You know I will be waiting."
So he makes his wish, while above him, Lohiau finally let Hiiaka go, ending his chase.

"You really should stop wishing on those stars. They might come true."

How long was I gaping with my mouth open? I was startled to see him sitting across my bonfire with that familiar squint. Was I dreaming? I certainly didn't recognize him while asking for directions awhile ago. He slowly got up and came over to where I was huddled. He sat behind me and gave me a tight back hug and slowly kissed my left ear down to my nape.

I closed my eyes and all the stars fell into place.

That night, my wish came true.