Prologue
Steve doesn’t remember much of the first time it happened. He was five, sitting at the kitchen table with a blank sheet of paper in front of him. He glanced up at his mother and she gave him a bright smile, nudging her head towards the pencil. It was one of the rarer days where Steve wasn’t in bed. He had hoped his mom would let him go outside when Bucky stopped by, but she had gotten that frightened look on her face that she always got when he had good days. She had insisted that Steve stay near her and had tried cheering him up by placing him at the table while she cleaned the kitchen. Steve was trying to show how unhappy he was by not even bothering to touch the pencil.
That was when it happened. His eyes got hazy before him and was terrified something else was wrong with him. But then he was no longer seeing the kitchen table, but a bright screen with moving things on it. The colors were beautiful, they looked like the stars in the sky. Steve wanted to reach out and touch it but was scared what would happen. Suddenly the picture changed and now there was a man talking. He felt a sudden sadness and tears welled in his eyes. Why was he about to cry? Big boys didn’t cry, only babies did! That was when the shrill started inside his ears, he could feel the sobs welling up in his chest. Steve covered his ears and his mom rushed to his side. There was a strange man also beside him, trying to tell him it was okay but the screams wouldn’t stop. Who was crying in his head?
As soon as it was there, it was gone. Steve blinked and the whole vision was gone and so was the crying. He looked up to see his mom wrapping her arms around him.
“Stevie sweetie, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?” She asked him hurriedly.
Steve shook his head. “No, there was someone in my head and they wouldn’t stop crying.”
His mom froze at his admission. “What do you mean someone was in your head?”
His eyes lit up. “I gotta draw the stars!”
Steve ignored his mother as she tried to question him about it more. He picked up his pencil and began to draw the stars he had seen. Later that night when his mama tucked him in, she made him promise not to tell anyone what had happened today. He didn’t know why, but he swore he would never tell a soul.