Underneath a sky full of Stars

Prologue

I've been holding on for as long as I can remember.

I never wanted to harm or inconvenience anybody. I never wanted to feel these kinds of hopeless thoughts, and I certainly never wanted to feel these kinds of pathetic feelings. 

The darkness pours into my bedroom as the sun disappears over the horizon, and I lay helplessly on my old -and rather lumpy- bed. Paperwork and old pictures decorate the floor of my small apartment. The tears that previously poured from my eyes have finally dried, leaving only the stains of my now ruined mascara. Through half-lidded eyes, I can't help but look up at the ceiling in defeat.  

For no reason in particular, a story that my mother used to tell me as a young girl came to mind.

"Did you know that you were gifted to us from the universe itself?"  She used to say.

"I believe that whenever a star falls, and shoots across the night sky, a miracle happens." No matter how many times she said it, she always had a twinkle in her eyes; Almost as if she really believed it to be true.

 "Once upon a time, there was a man and a woman who were expecting to have a child. Every single night the couple would stand outside, look up to the heavens, and make a wish. About a week before her due date, the woman looked up to find thousands of stars, all shining brilliantly; and she whispered 

'I have not felt my baby kick for some time; I wish that next week, when I'm expected to bring her body into the world, I hope she'll have a wonderful soul to match! This is my wish. One that I desire with all of my heart.'

The stars looked down at this woman and felt great sympathy, as she and her husband would make this same wish for the next few days. Until one night, she didn't bring herself before them. The woman was now in the hospital, and her baby was arriving earlier than expected. 

Doctors panicked as they struggled to find the baby's heartbeat. The young woman laid on the hospital bed in tears. 'Ma'am, we need to get this child out of you, right now!' one doctor spoke, while the woman's husband quickly went to her side. He took her hand in his own, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Everything was a blur as the woman tilted her head up to find the ceiling greet her. She could only hope that above that ceiling, the stars would be there, and hear her prayers; for in that fleeting moment, every fiber in her body was wishing for a miracle. 

Little did she know, the stars were listening. 

In an instant, the sky lit up as thousands of shooting stars filled the atmosphere. The darkness that had previously enveloped the city had disintegrated as the sky painted itself  bright shades of blue; shedding light on even the darkest of alleyways. Stardust lingered in the air, and many dreams came true all at once. A little girl sung her heart out as the lead in her school production, A young man conveyed his feelings to the woman he loved so dearly, and a baby who had the odds stacked against her, was born into the word.