Wish Upon A Star

Everything was normal in the small village of the Dragonacre kingdom. The servants labored in the farms and harvested the ripe delicious vegetables from the soft damp soil. The lazy barn cats were sluggish and slumbered in a heap of parched hay and straw. The drowsy cats paid no attention to the spirited mice in the corner that devoured the morsels of bread that had been left behind by the young peasant boys and girls. A youthful princess stumbled across the courtyard wearing a bulky, rosy pink colored gown as she strove to reach the ballroom on time. All was peaceful in the busy little town, except down one woven dirt path, was an old cottage.

The cold and dark cottage was owned by a small family of two, an elderly man and his sweet and caring daughter. The poor unfortunate family did not have much aside from the magnificent garden that they slaved on day and night. The stunning vines of wisteria latched themselves onto the stone bricks on the cottage walls, the lovely cherry blossom trees blushed under the rays of sunshine, the beautiful lavender flowers gave the garden a nice hint of color, and the gorgeous pond with pristine waters was surrounded by polished lime-stone and was garnished with bright green lily pads as the colorful Koi fish swam underneath. The family may have not been wealthy, but they were definitely rich with secrets.
Amai treasured the breathtaking pond that rested in the center of their prized garden. She adored viewing the Koi fish dance under the cloudless water. Her favorite fish in the pond was the most graceful and clever one of them all, which she had named Kashikoi. The fish resembled an unfinished canvas of a masterpiece. On one side Kashikoi scales were empty of color and blank, they were plain and nothing but pale boring silvery gray scales. However, on the other side of his body was soaked with all the beautiful and vibrant colors of a rainbow. On an early summer morning Amai headed out early to retrieve two loaves of bread for her father and herself to last for the remaining days of the week. Amai's father had given her two crowns which was just enough money to buy what they had needed. Once she had arrived to the crowded marketplace, the young woman browsed the market stalls and wagons viewing the intriguing handcrafted trinkets and ornaments. She wanted to buy several of the fascinating accessories and lockets, but Amai simply didn't have enough money.

She finally squeezed and forced her way through the crowds and made her way to the bakery, when something caught her eye. The cutest and chubbiest kitten begged for Amai to scratch its perky little ears. She immediately forgot what her farther had sent her out for and rushed over to the fragile wooden cart. The shop keeper wore many colorful pendants. The kitten rumbled with joy as the caretaker ran her scrawny bone like fingers though the kitten's somber grey fur.

"Aww , what's his name?" Amai asked.

"Haji " the woman hissed with a thick and heavy accent.

"How much?" Amai asked in a tenderhearted manner.

"Two crowns" the woman grumbled. Amai clasped the two identical gleaming gilded coins in the palm of her dainty little hand before replying "I'll take him." The kitten smiled sheepishly as Amai grabbed him and placed him in the cotton lined wicker basket, which was originally meant for the loaves of bread. Haji bobbled and bounced inside the wooden basket as Amai sprinted down the twisted dirt road back to the undisturbed little cottage before the land was consumed by darkness.
Kashikoi waited patiently under the star soaked skies for Amai. The intelligent fish gazed above at the mesmerizing aurora borealis that shimmered like a neon lasso. The lonely fish yearned for the enchanting stories that Amai would tell every night. But he kept waiting and waiting, but she never showed. Instead, she spent her time playing with the adorable kitten. In place of Amai slaving on the time eating garden, she watched Haji frolic in the fresh fields of lavender. And in place of telling her exciting stories to Kashikoi, she told stories to Haji.
The months faded away in no time whatsoever and Haji grew to be a massive overweight pampered and spoiled cat. Haji was fond of tormenting he Koi fish in the pond and snacking on the defenseless field mice. He had even killed a few. His most selected target was the most colorful and unique fish, Kashikoi. Haji teased the fish every second of everyday when he wasn't with his owner. Amai hardly ever spent anytime tending the garden. The graceful rosy blossoms began to wilt, the tiny fragile lavender petals had lost their pretty purple hue, and the beautiful pond began to cloud. The garden was no longer the lovely backyard that the family had once treasured and for a replacement, it was nothing but a dreadful, lifeless, and tedious patch of brown shrubbery. Amai loved her cat. However, she enjoyed the gorgeous garden so much more. All she wanted was to see was the flowers once again. Amai begged her father for a way to revive the dreamlike garden.

He stumbled outside into the unpleasant garden. He stood next to the murky pond and leaned on his shaky wooden cane under the stars that drowned in the dark night sky. He slowly lifted his arm and pointed to a star. However, it wasn't just any star. The old man explained to his daughter that everyone could have no more than one wish. One wish that could make almost anything thing happen. She made her whimsical wish for the once lovely garden to sprout to life once again. But what they didn't know was that Kashikoi had heard almost every single last word.
The speckled fish knew this was the seamless remedy for his riddled problem. He waited for darkest evening and spied for the most brilliant and brightest star of them all. He waited and waited but couldn't locate the star that the man had mentioned. Kashikoi was prepared to surrender his flawless plan for the malevolent cat that teased his friends and family, when the gleaming star caught his eye. He closed his eyes and made his wish, but nothing appeared to have happened and he felt like a complete idiot for believing in such a silly myth. He gave up on his "well-thought" plan. He drifted to the bottom of the pond and waited for morning.

The summer sun heated the small busy kingdom. Kashikoi woke to the joyful chirps of the finch birds that nested in the trees. However, something was off. He wasn't in the pond anymore. He was resting in a pile of dry spikey spiny straw. He had four fluffy paws, a long fuzzy tail, and was covered in a blanket of silky gray fur . He was stuck in a body that wasn't his own. However, he was missing the long wavy whiskers that Haji had. His wish had worked, somewhat. Switching bodies wasn't exactly what he had wished for but he could still manage to carry out his plan this way as well.

Kashikoi wandered over to his pond looking for himself. But instead of Haji in Kashikoi's body swimming around with jumbled thoughts, he found a new fish. This fish was dark in color, with lengthy twisted whiskers sprouting all over its face. This fish was hideous. It had a terrified look in its eyes. He darted to the bottom of the pond for safety when he saw Kashikoi with the body of a cat. Everyday Kashikoi would irritate and pester Haji. He would swat his fluffy cloud like paws at him and sometimes even jump in. Haji was finally getting a taste of his own bitter medicine; he didn't like it at all. With his wish, getting a little revenge wasn't the only thing Kashikoi could do; he could finally explore the beautiful garden and the magnificent courtyards. Kashikoi was enjoying this. He was finally able to see the world beyond the four walls of the pond. However, he began to miss his old life as well. He was going to carefully wish them back tonight. He spent the rest of that day exploring the garden that was once again beautiful. He played in the patches of petunias and he frolicked in the fields of flowing ferns . The sun started to set and in no time darkness had consumed the land. The stars appeared and began to shine. Kashikoi spotted the star with ease as he remembered where it was from a few nights ago. He shut his eyes, cast his wish, and just like the last night nothing happened. He sprinted into the small wooden barn and drifted to sleep.

Kashikoi awoke and was ready to see his family and swim in the refreshing waters once again. However, he was still in Haji's body and Haji was still a fish. Kashikoi was confused . Maybe he had wished on the wrong star, maybe wishes could only be made on certain days. But he tried again and again and again on every day of the week, but nothing happened. But what Kashikoi didn't hear the elderly man say was that you only got one wish. They stuck that way forever. So from that day on Kashikoi stayed a cat, Haji stayed a fish, and he was called Catfish because of his long whiskers.