Dimming Star
By Nisha N. Kale, The Quarry Lane, Dublin
Slam! Tara angrily shut the car door and turned her tear-stained face towards the window and watched her world fade away. Trees, bushes, and fields swept by her. “Try to look on the bright side,” her aunt hesitated.
“No,” Tara snapped, “I want to go home!!!” Back home under the colossal old oak tree, where mom and dad were buried. That had been the hardest, leaving them behind. They had died when she was so young… She badly wished she could remember something of her parents. Tara could only recall wisps of pleasant but incomplete memories. She rolled down the window and let the wind whip her face.
“Now Tara, it’s not like you had very many friends,” her aunt said reluctantly, trying to cheer Tara up.
“You’re not helping!”
Her aunt sighed softly. Tara knew she was right. She had been very unpopular in school, and her awkward figure, plain features, and shy manner hadn’t helped. Her main comfort had been nature. Nature was something with which she felt a deep connection. Now it’s gone, she thought. She felt lonely, out of place in the world. Tara slowly drifted off and dreamed about her parents, and home.
Whoosh! Tara awoke to the angry howl of the wind. She jumped up, startled. “Where am I?” she cried. She was in her new home. Tara faced reality; she had moved. She peered out the window and saw the gleaming moon. She jumped out of bed and threw on a coat. If I’m going to live here, I should explore, she thought. As she stepped out the door, a blast of wind blew her tangled hair back, and she felt something wet brush lightly upon her cheek. “Snow,” she said in wonder. Tara had never seen snow, and for a split second she felt happy, but then the feeling disappeared, and she just felt cold. Shivering, she walked down the icy road. Then, in front of her, she saw a boy. His dark skin stood out in the white snow. He had perched himself atop a snow bank. He raised his head, focusing his brown eyes on Tara’s cloudy blue ones.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” he said.
Tara tilted her head sideways and had a confused look on her face. “What?”
“The snow, the way it sparkles and talks.”
“You can hear it?” Tara said curiously.
“You don’t like snow, do you?”
“Not really. It’s just snow, nothing special,” she replied.
“Nonsense!” he shot back. “I’ll show you! Come on!” He started into the woods.
Tara hesitantly stepped forward. Should she trust this strange boy whom she just met? She liked his cocky, blunt manner. She stepped nervously into the woods and ran after the mysterious boy.
“Slow down!” panted Tara, struggling to keep up with the boy’s brisk pace. “What’s your name, anyway?” she wondered out loud.
The boy stopped and turned to face Tara. “I’m not telling you,” he said slyly.
“My name is Tara.”
“Tara,” he said slowly, as if rolling the word around his mouth.
“Hey,” why won’t you tell me your name?”
“That’s for you to find out,” he said mysteriously.
“Where are we going, anyway?” she asked, peppering the boy with more questions.
“Gosh, you sure do like to talk!” he commented amusedly.
Tara hung her head in silence.
“It’s OK,” he said, startled by her hurt expression. “It’s nice to have someone to talk to occasionally,”
Tara smiled gratefully at his remark. They walked in silence as the frigid winter air wrapped around them like an icy blanket.
“Look, it’s my secret paradise,” The boy smiled and stepped aside to let Tara see.
She walked into a clearing. She stood for a moment and gasped, observing the marvelous sight. The snow looked like a glittering canvas. The pine trees, swaying to the beat of the cool, arctic wind, seemed to be covered in powdered sugar. In the center of the circle of trees was a small, frozen lake. Small rainbows danced across the ice and sparkled in the light of the pale moon.
The boy broke her trance. “Well?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Tara whispered.
They sat down in the powdery snow. “So, what’s your story?” he asked.
Tara looked at him, confused. What was he trying to say?
“I come from a Native a American village. All our materials and supplies came from this forest. When I was three, oil was discovered on the village grounds, and everything changed. They forced my people to abandon the village. I never saw my parents again. I can’t remember anything else. I feel so guilty.”
“I know,” Tara found herself saying. Suddenly, she felt like she had a common bond with this mysterious boy. They were both missing something. Tara poured her heart out to him, telling him everything she had been feeling. The boy listened and occasionally nodded his head solemnly. When Tara finished, they sat and stared at the frozen lake. Tara looked up and saw the stars, littering the night sky, twinkling like fireflies. The more they shined, the stronger Tara felt, as if the stars were giving her their energy. She imagined them in her palm, and squeezed until there was no light left. Tara started to gain courage. She finally had a place in the world, and could shine even brighter than the stars. As Tara squeezed, the stars became dimmer, until their glint had been extinguished.
The boy stood up, grinning. “Do you know what my name is now?”
Tara took one last look at the stars. “Yes.”
That night, Tara changed forever. She was determined and no longer lonely.
She had the courage to move on, because she knew that she wasn’t the only one with something lost, something empty. She finally knew she wasn’t alone. Tara understood what she missed, and what she had been holding back. Her true self had been released. And it was all thanks to a boy named Dimming Star.
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