Stars and Shadows

Cocoa the bunny was the first to see the inky shape outside. Ellie, her nine-year-old owner, was in the kitchen, her parents out shopping. Only Cocoa saw the door open and someone slip inside.

Somehow, she wasn’t human; too slight and too quiet. She held something that glowed dimly. Her fingers tumbled and looped smoothly over what they were clutching, spinning gossamer webs of blackness over the misty light. The girl was like a deeper version of a person, her hair dark and rippling, her face streaked with ashen crescents that curved over her cheeks. She seemed shadowed more than necessary, as if light tiptoed cautiously around her.

The stranger unlatched Cocoa’s cage.

Suddenly, Ellie turned and spotted the girl.

Hastily, the intruder spoke, with a sound like a brook behind glass, burbling mutedly. Quickly, the girl pressed her fingers to Cocoa’s back.

From Cocoa’s mouth came words. “Don’t be alarmed. Rabbits are receptive translators, but it’s harmless.” Ellie stared. “Call m Ash. I live on planet Nebula, planet of shadows. We get light to make shadows from stars. But our stars are injured. I’ve brought one here for fixing. If they can’t be, we’ll melt into blackness. I can repair it, but the process of mending our particular stars will be bright and warm—not bad for you, but deadly for us. Please, hold it while I work.”

Ellie nodded and cupped her hands. Ash slipped the glowing orb to Ellie. Pure light shot out, painting the room a buttery cream swirled with glowing gold. Shadows hunkered in corners shook dust from their pelts and fled.

But a jet of smoky darkness pierced the glow. It throbbed as Ash’s fingers flew, tucking scraps of light into the cavity. Soon the star was whole again. Ash took it from Ellie, but Ellie’s fingers continued to shine.

“Thank you,” whispered Ash, clasping Ellie’s hands. Light streamed between her fingers, soaring upwards. Then Ash was gone.

What that light did is invisible from Earth. But on Nebula, a new constellation sparkles in the sky: a girl and her rabbit, heroes of the heavens.