Catch a Glimmer of Your Star

Blast from the past

"It's hard. So hard to protest against the factory because they're the only business keeping this town alive."

Basil asked Peter to tell his father's story. Sunny recorded it all down in his journal. Peter's father, afflicted by manganese poisoning, remained silent, his eyes staring far into the distance. Yet, slowly, his tremors stabilized a little as Peter explained the whole story of his disease. To Basil and Sunny, it felt as if a terrible burden had finally been lifted off the old man's shoulders.

When Peter concluded the story, he thanked them for recording everything down. He asked that they share his father's story with as many people as possible, hoping that the company could then be held liable for what they did.

With a nod and a handshake, Basil promised that he would get this story published.

As they left Peter's house, Basil felt an agonizing tension in his chest ease.

Peter's father reminded me of grandma during her last days.

Unresponsive. Tremors that shuddered the whole body.

Gloomy eyes that stared far into the distance, as if searching for a light.

"That was tough to listen to," Basil spoke. "Are you feeling okay, Sunny?"

"I'm alright," Sunny replied. "Are you okay, Basil? You had to ask all the questions. I just recorded everything."

"Don't worry, it wasn't so bad," Basil said, trying his hardest to sound positive. "I'm just glad that we helped them."

"What an awful company," Sunny said, gazing at the Coup de Soleil factory in the distance.

Sadly, I don't think Peter's father has much time left.

Everyone dies one day, but people rarely go peacefully, without pain.

In a very grim light, if there was one death in the world that had looked peaceful to Basil's eyes, it had been Mari's.

Her neck had snapped. She didn't struggle for a second. One moment, she had been a living, breathing person, and the next, her breath had stopped along with her pulse. The light, and her life, vanished from her eyes.

I just don't want to lose any more people.

Maybe my parents know that, deep down.

...Oh, what am I saying? They've always been in it for themselves!

Sunny opened up his journal and glanced through the pages where he'd written everything down. He suddenly took out his smartphone and began snapping pictures of each page.

"I'll upload the whole story to my email," Sunny said.

"Oh, good idea," Basil said. "Send it to Mincy. She can get the story to her grandma and her environmentalist group. They'll be able to get the word out."

Sunny stopped by the shade of a house to send the pictures to his email. The warm spring sun brought a symphony of bird songs out into the cool morning air. Lively green buds and beautiful flowers blossomed from the trees and shrubs that decorated the town streets. A mild, cozy mood grew from the scent of oatmeal and butternut squash soup that wafted out of the house they stood beside. It was not just a sight, but a whole atmosphere that was missing from the cities.

Basil started to miss Faraway, and the quiet joy that came from being out in a rural area that was surrounded by wilderness.

When I apply to college, I'll look for a college in a town or a city that's close to nature.