St☆r Struck.

1: tongue tied in the night-time

The night sky is always so beautiful. When the sun goes down, and the moon comes up, little flickering lights follow. I always liked to look at those beautiful lights. Blinking in the dark sky as I lay in the grass with my mom. I'd point out little drawings in the sky that those lights created. The night sky was a canvas for the stars.

I enjoyed the symphony of the cicadas and frogs on summer nights, the cool breeze blowing my dark hair out of my face. My mom called it star gazing. That's what I loved to do. Every night before bed, I'd lay in the backyard, watching for shooting stars to pass, I craved the comforting sounds.

More than the sounds, I longed to see the night sky. Something about it was magical. Winter nights, it was almost silent. The sounds of creeking trees and the blowing wind were the only things I could hear. No matter what season, the sounds changed, but each time, they still comforted me.

My mom would teach me about the constellations and what they looked like. She told me how the stars were made. The clumps of cold gas and dust reach a limit, causing them to collapse under their own gravity.

One day, I was no longer able to enjoy the sounds I loved so much.
"Did you hear what happened.? Wren and his dad got in an accident,"
I knew people were talking about me. I could feel the stares on me as I sat in my classroom looking at my lap. 6th grade, middle school. I was absent from school for a month. Everyone kept telling me that it would get better. I was going to be okay.

I didn't believe them. I didn't speak to anyone after that. I remember the look on my mom's face when she got to the car. Police held her back as she screamed. Why couldn't I hear her.?
I saw all of the flashing lights of police, ambulances, and fire trucks. I couldn't really tell what happened. That's when I saw him. He looked different. He was red. Covered in red.

Everything went black. It wasn't pretty like the night sky. I woke up to bright lights in a hospital room. My mom was talking to doctors and crying. She was shaking her head and covering her face.
Why was that? What happened? My head hurt. It hurt really bad. They were saying things to me, but I just looked at them. My dad's face flashed in my head. I was out cold again.

It took a while for me to get used to all the changes. At home, I recovered from the surgery I'd had and the other injuries I'd sustained. The hole in my heart couldn't be healed that fast. At the table, one seat was always empty. The TV was never on anymore at 6 pm. No more late night smoothies on summer nights when mom and I were out in the backyard.

It seemed like my light was gone. No longer twinkling and shining bright.
"Hi! My name is akira!" I slowly looked up, a boy my age held his hand at me. For the first time in a long time, I could see a light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Akira became my best and only friend. My new twinkling bit of hope.

He'd just moved from his hometown for his dad's new job. He looked different from everyone else. He had light hair, almost white, his eyes were a cloudy cool color of blue. He reminded me of the warm breeze on a summer day. cheerful and friendly. He shined bright for my dark sky. A star.

At first, I didn't like him. He was always trying to get me to do things like play games with him and sit with him at lunch. He invited me to a sleepover 1 week into knowing each other. He was almost overwhelming to be around. I finally explained to him that I couldn't handle all his excitement. It hurt my head. He understood and started to be calmer.

He started to ask me what my interests were and what I liked to do. In class, we'd pass notes to talk to each other.
When my dad and I got into that accident, I'd gotten a head injury. At first, I had a lot of headaches followed by ringing in my ears. When I awoke in the hospital, I could only hear the ringing. After the surgery, it was silent.