Flash Fiction: You Should Be Reading

1000 Stars

When I was a little girl . . .

. . . I once had a dream.

A man all dressed in white appeared before me . . .

And showed me how to make paper stars.

He told me that if I made 1,000 stars . . .

. . . my greatest wish would be granted.

I didn't really believe in wishes.

. . . but I liked making the paper stars.

I decided to make one every time I felt sad or lonely or lost . . .

. . . and I kept them all in a jar.

I don't know why it helped . . .

. . . but it did.

Day after day . . .

week after week . . .

year after year . . .

my jar began to slowly grow full of stars.

Then one night . . .

I finally made 1,000 stars.

Suddenly a man all dressed in white appeared before me.

"Hello. I'm here to grant your wish. Come with me, and you can leave the life that makes you so unhappy. You wish for a life where you are no longer alone or sad . . .

. . . or invisible. Is that not so?"

Instead, I invited him into my room happily and sat on the couch, hugging my jar of stars close.

I don't want to run away from my problems . . .

. . . and I don't need a white knight to save me.

All I ever wished for . . .

. . . was a friend.

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