Twisted, Twisted, Shooting Stars

World

"Alright!" Jonah shouted, his hands on his hips, and stood in front of his three other members. "The mission today is to clean the beach!"

"Why?" asked Jacob. "Nobody ever goes to this side of the beach." Their hometown of Radiant Haven has a vast beach, where fishermen's canoe can be seen occasionally. The spot where they were standing was one of the more abandoned spots, far from the main harbor where merchants and voyagers dock their ship.

"Which is exactly a perfect place for our secret base!" Jonah grinned again. "We're creating our own turf!"

Jacob huffed. "This is stupid."

Magda hummed as she tapped her cheek. "To be completely honest, I have to agree with young Jacob here," she said. "This seems to be too much work."

"But it would be fun," Bree stepped forward and stood next to Jonah. "The beach can be pretty again. And go green."

"Exactly!" their leader cheered. He hugged the girl from behind and spun her around, earning a giggle from her. "I love you so much, Bree!"

"That's not fair!" Jacob shouted. "Bree agrees with everything you say!"

Jonah stuck out his tongue toward Jacob. "If you keep disagreeing with me, you're just like a villain."

"You are the villain here!"

"Alright, alright." The brunette girl stood between the boys and pushed both of them away from each other by their heads. "Let's not argue who is the hero and the villain here. Although, if anything I'm the princess here."

"Oh!" Bree picked up her skirt and gave a small curtsey toward the other girl. "Yes, Princess Magda."

Magda let out a sweet chuckle. She then turned to Jacob with a mischievous glint in her green eyes. "And as the princess, I choose to clean the beach."

"WHAT?!" Jacob shouted, glaring at Jonah who laughing at him. "No fair! You're on my side earlier."

Magda shrugged. She walked behind Jonah and Bree, her hands on their shoulder. "They managed to convince me."

"They didn't do anything!"

"Jacob." Jonah suddenly grabbed Jacob's hand. "Come on. We'll do this together. It'll be like a treasure hunt! You'll never know what you'll get."

Jacob puffed out his cheeks. He looked at Magda and Bree who were smiling at him then back to Jonah. His black eyes were twinkling in excitement like the stars in the sky. How could he win against them?

Jacob let out a groan. "Ugh... Fine." At Jonah's beaming face, Magda's teasing smirk, and Bree's clapping her hands, Jacob turned his head to the side. His cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "B-But I-I'm only doing this until dinner time!"

"Yay!" Jonah suddenly launched himself to Jacob, giving him a hug and ruffling his hair. "You're the best, Jacob!"

"Stop messing with my hair!"

Jonah let Jacob pushed him away. He then dug in the pocket of his pants and took out a sheet of cloth. "And when we're done, we set out flag!" He opened the cloth, revealing a simple drawing of a shooting star. "From now on, this will be our play area. Nobody can take it away from us. We'll be creating our childhood memories here."

He grinned toward them. Pointing his finger toward the sky, he shouted. "Alright, Shooting Stars! Mission 'Piece of Our World' start!"

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He could see trash among the sand from where he stood. How could people be so uncaring toward their environment? The boy with dual-colored hair let out a sigh. He walked down the stair toward the beach, a big plastic back in one hand. He picked up a nearby plastic bottle next to his feet and put it in his plastic bag. So much work...

"Jacob?"

Turning his head, he saw the two familiar girls. Magda was carrying a plastic bag of her own while Bree had her trusty red wagon. He nodded at them as an acknowledgment. "Magda. Bree."

"Cleaning the beach again?" asked Magda again as the two girls walked toward him.

Jacob shrugged. "Yeah. It's not like I have anything else to do this holiday. Beside..." He looked around the beach, remembering every spot. "We have to keep our turf clean." He remembered the spot where they launched off their first hand made rocketship, where they saved the stranded sea turtle, where they had a late-night campfire and stargazing, where Jonah stood by the shore and smiled at him for the last time...

He felt someone pulled the sleeve of his jacket. Turning his head, he saw Bree smiling at him. "Jonah will be happy if we keep the beach clean."

"He would," Jacob said, a soft smile grazing his face. "But probably complain that we left him out the plan."

"That might be," Magda chuckled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Would you like to say it?"

Jacob nodded. "Come on, Shooting Stars. Mission 'Relife the Piece of Our World' start."