15 Stars

It was Danny’s tenth birthday, and his parents worked in their lab like always. He sat slumped at the kitchen table, playing with a toy spaceship. His big sister Jazz watched TV in the other room. At least she cared enough to give him the spaceship. His parents didn’t even come upstairs.

Danny sighed. He should know better than to expect his parents to care. They missed his and Jazz’s birthdays every year. Those were just another day to them. They even ignored their own birthdays. What was a birthday compared to ghost research? It didn’t matter that they couldn’t prove anything. They had success in college, and that was enough.

Why did they even have kids?

At eight o'clock, Jazz walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face and Bearbert in her hands.

“You missed a good episode,” she said. She put her bear on the table. “What do you want for dinner?”

“Who cares?” Danny asked glumly.

“Don’t be so sad, little bro,” Jazz said. “I have a surprise for you after dinner.”

Danny sat up a little bit. “What surprise?”

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“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise! Now, what do you want for dinner?”

Jazz told Danny all about the show she watched while she made PB&Js. They ate and discussed his day at school. When the plates were clean, she took his hand and led him to the backyard.

“What are we doing?” Danny asked.

“I got you something special for your birthday,” Jazz said. She pulled him to something covered in a tarp.

“But you already gave me my present,” Danny said, holding up the spaceship.

“I got you two presents this year,” Jazz said. “Are you ready?”

Danny nodded enthusiastically. Jazz pulled the tarp off, and he gasped. It was a telescope!

“This is for me?” he asked in awe.

“Yup!” Jazz said. “Do you think I can use it, too?”

“Of course! But me first,” Danny said, running up to the telescope. He looked through the eyepiece, saw that it was all black, and took the cap off the lens. Looking back through, he was greeted by a brilliant sky full of stars.

“This is amazing!” he said. “Even with the light pollution, I can see so many stars! Here, look!” He backed away for Jazz to see.

She looked through the telescope and said, “Oh, wow! It’s beautiful. Do you want to keep looking?”

“Yes!”

Jazz moved to the side to let Danny have another turn. She smiled at seeing him so happy.