Twisted Wonderland: Wish Upon a Star

Chapter 1: The Starsending

Once upon a time, in a rural town... There lived an elderly toymaker who built a puppet made of wood. The old man cared dearly for this puppet, as he had no children of his own. One night, he gazed up at the twinkling stars blanketing the sky and said... "I wish that my little puppet might be a real boy." The old man drifted off to sleep soon after, only to be awoken by a great clattering in the night. And just what was making all that noise? Why, it was his very own puppet, talking and moving around! The toymaker realized, much to his amazement, that his wish had come true. He was overcome with joy! And so he raised the puppet with love, and they lived happily together.

—Excerpt from a famous piece of literature

One day in the classroom...

Crewel announces, "We'll stop there for today. But before we adjourn, we have some school business to discuss."

Grim groans and tired, "Myaaawn... Looks like we're done here. Another hard day's work, done and dusted."

"'A hard day's work?' You've been dozing off since lunch," Ace says.

"Pretty sure I saw you gazing out the window all day, yourself," Briar says. comments.

"Weeeell, I GUESS that's true..." Ace says.

Then says in defense, "But I was listening to the teacher, honest. My eyes just happened to glance outside occasionally. Anyway, still better than napping."

"You both need to get your act together and pay attention to Professor Crewel," Deuce says.

"You're always so uptight about this stuff," Ace says.

But Grim says, "But your grades ain't no better than mine."

Deuce cries out, "Hey, shut up! What's that got to do with anything?!"

Suddenly, Crewel shouts, "SILENCE! You pups are making a racket."

"Sorry, Professor..." Everyone replies.

"Now, as you already know, there's to be a school assembly in the lecture hall after class. I assume they'll be going over the Starsending, which is happening a week from today. Attendance is mandatory. That concludes today's announcements. Everyone, proceed to the lecture hall at once," Crewel says.

Later at the Lecture Hall, everyone is inside to have the mandatory meeting.

"Well, we're here. But I still don't get what this whole rigmarole's about," Grim says.

"Weren't you listening? The professor clearly said it was about the Starsending," Ace says.

"What's that?" Grim asks.

"Are you being serious right now?" Ace questions.

Just then, Briar says, "I'd like to know too."

"Me too," Sereia says.

Ace is shocked, "Really, Briar? Sereia? You don't know either?"

Deuce then reminds him, "Briar's from another world, so that makes sense to me. But I am surprised Grim and Sereia don't know."

"Is it really that big a deal?" Grim asks.

"Yeah, kinda," Deuce says.

"What's it like?" Sereia asks.

Deuce explains, "Schools and communities all over the world do it. Hard to imagine someone not knowing what it is."

"Then how's about you tell us, so we can be in the know too," Grim says.

"Eh, the headmage'll prolly go over it," Ace says.

Then turns to the twins, "Hey guys, did you both know about it?"

"Sure we do," Jasper says.

"Yes. Our mother used to read the story it relates to when we're going," Tanzanite says.

"Really?" Briar asks.

"Yes," Jasper says.

Suddenly, Crowley shouts, "Quiet down, please! The assembly is about to begin!"

That causes everyone to turn to the hedgemage.