The Girl Who Stole a Star

“Did you know I climbed the water tower once?” Marley said to the stranger on the bench.

“Oh yeah?” He said, flipping the newspaper.

“Yep, and I took a star.”

He chuckled, finally looked up at her,

And stifled a gasp.“Hey, kid, where are your parents?”

Marley smiled, shrugged, and hopped off the bench.

She skipped away, remembering the night she met the star.

“How are you both hot and cold?” She asked as her fingertips brushed its aura.

She stretched her palm and tightened her fingers.

“Righty-tighty lefty-loosy,” she mumbled as she unscrewed the star from the sky.

It burned in her hands, but on her arms, a chill lingers.

“Mom, I stole a star today!”

"That’s nice, honey.” She looked up to meet her daughter’s gaze

And blinked hard,

Like she'd just looked straight into a pair of high beams.

Marley skipped home, humming, her song bursting at the seams.

Stepping inside, she found her mother asleep, TV static buzzing like bees.

She crawled up the stairs on her hands and knees.

She closed her bedroom door,

And pulled a box from beneath the bed,

As she had so many times before.

She admired the pulsing glow,

Slid off the lid,

And held the star to her heart.

The words reverberated in her mind,

“I stole a star and now it sets me apart.”