Author Games: On Air

Quarter Finals - Pick-Me-Up - Females

ARIES TERRELL - -Raven-

Mum took me out to see the stars at night. 

I ran through the fields with the grass tickling my feet, giggling as I went. Twirling round and round, I laughed as the dizziness took over and I fell flat on my back in the open area, staring up at the night sky. It was so beautiful. The stars seemed to spin, as fast as my brain, swirling into a big, starry mess. 

Mum's footsteps came up from behind me as my eyes started to cross, the giggling never once ceasing as I tried to focus on the shifting world. "Mum!" I called, still laughing from my position on the floor. 

"Like the stars?" she asked, bending down to kneel next to seven-year-old me. 

I nodded as my eyesight went back into focus. Now the stars were clear. Shining white sparks against the deep blue sky. "They're so twinkly," I said, staring at them with amusement. "Like Mr Bearnedict's pink bow at home." 

Mum laughed and her breath tickled my face as she leaned down to kiss my forehead. "You don't get to see so many stars in the city back home." 

I nodded silently and closed my eyes for a few moments, only to open them again. 

Brushing a few locks of hair from my face, Mum sighed. 

My eyes shone with the concern of an innocent child. "Are you sad?" I asked. 

"No... I'm just happy,” she said with a smile. “Sometimes, people sigh when they're happy." 

"Oh." 

There was silence between us before Mum spoke again. "Have I ever told you about star signs?" 

"Yes," I blurted out without thinking. "Those shiny signboards with sparkly stars on them. Right?" I asked for confirmation.

Mum looked like she was trying to hold back laughter. "No, Andrea," she chuckled. Star signs are signs of the zodiac. There are twelve in total. A person's star sign depends on his or her birthday." 

I frowned as I struggled to absorb the large chunk of information. “What star signs are there?” I asked. 

"Hmm… The first one is Aries, followed by Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio…” 

I frowned as the words got weirder and weirder, my mind unable to comprehend such foreign terms. “They sound weird,” I said as she finished reciting. 

"In a way, yes. They do." Pause. "I'm a Capricorn." 

"Capricorn?" I wondered aloud. I didn’t remember hearing that earlier. "What’s that?” An even better question, “What am I, then?" 

"Fifteenth of April. That makes you an Aries," she said, smiling gently. 

"Aries," I mused, trying it out for the first time. "It sounds pretty." 

Amusement flashed across Mum’s features. “You just said they sound weird.” 

She lay down next to me and took my tiny fingers in hers. "Do you think you could reach the stars?"

Reaching up towards the night sky, I wiggled my fingers to try and grasp the floating lights. "Yeah," I said, imagining them fizzing between my fingers.

"Very funny, Andrea," Mum teased in a gentle chiding tone. "Imagination running wild. You can't actually reach the stars." 

"I can't?" 

"You can't." Her face scrunched up. "At least not yet." 

"Not yet?" 

She nodded. "Ever heard of the phrase 'reach for the stars'?"