Like A Shooting Star

Prologue

The sky was painted orange, with a hint of purple from the east. Few stars glittered the sky, and a waning moon can be seen in the horizon. The sun was setting, but a young girl was still meddling about in the busy streets of Manila, a kingdom amidst a lush, green forest. Tall, towering walls protect it from the wilderness outside. A canopy surrounded it, protecting it from land-dwelling predators that can't swim. The bridge is down from dawn to dusk. They dare not extend it even for a minute after dusk, as animals outside are very dangerous: some of them being very tricky and hard to notice at night.

This little girl strolled the Town Square, the streets, anywhere her feet would lead her. On her arms she embraced a stuff toy resembling a cat. It was white, with a lilac colored ribbon tied around its neck.

She wore a lilac dress reaching down to her knees, decorated with white laces on the hem. She had a shoulder-length hair, wore knee-high white socks, and black doll shoes.

She spotted a public playground, with a group of children playing. She approached them, hoping they could be her friend.

Boy, how wrong she was.

"Hello," she said, smiling. "Can I join?"

Four children, there were five of them, stopped watching the other guy play and turned to the girl. They wore ragged clothes. Most of them in shirts a few sizes big, and some in sleeveless shirts. They wore shorts regardless of gender. Not that it was a thing, but in this era, most girls wear skirts, not shorts.

The boy felt that there were no eyes watching him anymore, and wondered the reason why they stopped when they're supposed to help him count how many times he had hit the ball. He was slightly taller than the rest, and he stopped playing with the ball he was hitting with his foot when he saw the girl.

He smirked, and took the cat plush the girl was holding in her arms.

"Hey! Give that back!" she screamed, reaching out and trying to get her plush back.

The boy chuckled and raised the plush so he could look at it better, and making it out of the girl's reach.

"Give it back!"

The boy looked around, to check if the girl had any guardians.

It was his lucky day.

"The princess," he said "wants to play...?"

He looked at the eyes of the girl.

Whispers could be heard. How could the princess come here without a guardian? Did she ran away? Is she really the princess, or this boy is just making it up?

Hopeful that she will be let to join, she looked at him sternly.

"What if I say no? Will the princess summon his faithful servants and force me to play with you?" In his eyes spoke pure hatred, longing for revenge, thirsting for blood.

The girl, who is the princess, kept silent, not knowing what to say. How would you speak to commoners anyway?

He dropped the plush, "Whoops, I dropped it."

The plush landed on a muddy ground.

All the princess could do was watch in dismay as her plush lunges into the muck on the ground.

"How could you! As the princess of this kingdom, I order you to wash it!"

"Or what? Get me in jail? Burn my house?!" he stomped angrily at the plush, soaking it worse with mud.

"No one can defy the princess! I am the daughter of the king and queen! Defying me means defying them, too!" she said proudly, with all the bossiness she could muster.

"Like hell I cared about laws," he sneered, kicking the plush away from him and the girl. "You and your greedy family. You all just deserve to rot and die."

"Let's go, the princess spoiled the fun. We'll play somewhere else." he glared at the girl one last time,  turned and left the vicinity.

The other four children left with him, looking at the princess, making fun of her in the process.

The princess cried as she approached her plush and hugged it tight. It was a precious plush. It had been hers since the first day of her birth. And now look at it, soiled, and a few parts torn. It was hardly white anymore.

She kept crying helplessly. As child, there's always this hope that someone will save you, will comfort you. But this was not what the princess felt. Instead, she felt betrayed, and hurt.

A young boy in ragged clothes saw the whole scene. He sat on a swing silently, staring at the crying figure of the girl. He wanted to approach her, but he remembered his ma's warning that he must never approach the princess unless she is happy, and especially if she's crying. Otherwise he would be blamed for her tears, and be possibly sent to jail.

But this boy knew the culprit, and he knew it won't be a harm to approach the princess. He has no intention of hurting her, or making fun of her. No reason to be afraid, and no reason to avoid her.

"Hey, you're the princess right?" he said, squatting beside the wailing princess.

The princess kept crying, crying over her dirty and torn plush.

He fished through his pockets and found a lollipop, and removed its plastic wrapper.

"Here," he said, reaching out the lollipop to the princess.

The princess reluctuntly took it., as she remembered that she must not talk and especially take gifts from strangers. But the this was easily forgotten at the sight of the lollipop. She unwrapped the lollipop and brought it in her mouth, feeling the taste of rich chocolate invade her tongue, and not longer, she stopped crying.

"There, all better now," he stood up, smiling.

 "You can just ask the maids in your castle to wash it and sew it."

"Will it get better?" she sniffed.

"Of course it will, but.. it won't be like it used to but hey, at least it's whole again and clean, right?"

"Right!" the princess smiled.