Prologue
The Kingdom Lost Among the Stars
Two stars forged into constellations
Separated by time and space
Part of different galaxies
Part of different worlds
Two lost lovers hoping to be found
“Canis Major has the brightest star in the sky, Sirius. It represents Laelaps, the fastest dog in the world, said to be able to outrun anything. One day, it was sent to chase after a fox that was supposedly destined to never be caught. They ran for ages. After a while, Zeus got bored and casted them both into stars.”
“Okay class settle down! Settle down! Take a seat on the carpet” Mrs. Blake said as she made her way to sit in her mahogany rocking chair, with a book in hand.
Twenty two little second graders quickly scattered from their desks and onto the rainbow carpet. Whispering softly among one another the children made their way into a big circle.
Octavia twisted the ring on her left hand and then continued talking once everybody was sitting and the class had quieted down. She waved the book in front of the little kid’s faces and said “Today we will be reading one of my favorite books.” They stared at its cover in awe. “It’s signed by the author and was a present given to me by Coach Lincoln for my birthday. It’s called The Kingdom Lost among the Stars.”
“Is anyone familiar with it?” she questioned gently.
The kids just looked around at one another and shook their head.
“That’s what I suspected” she laughed slightly. “Well, it was written by an old race car driver named Raven Reyes. She was better than the best and won every time she raced. One day when she was practicing on the race track her engine over heated and her car swerved of the track”
“Oh no!!” a little girl yelled. “Was she okay?” her eyes flashed with worry.
Octavia put her elbows on the book in her lap and rested her chin in her hands. She smiled slightly and said “Don’t worry Harper, Raven is fine now.” Harper's face showed nothing but relief after hearing this. “Like I was saying, Raven got into an accident and had to stop racing completely in order to get better. A friend of hers named Wick stayed with her and helped her get better. He taught her about the constellations and told her the story behind each and every one of them” Octavia said, throwing in a little fib here and there.
She opened the book to the first page and read aloud “Dedicated to Kyle Wick who didn’t give up on me even when I wanted to and for being the thing that inspired me to write this.”
She turned the page and began to read aloud once more…
“Once upon a time a princess was born in a faraway kingdom that only the planets and stars knew about. She was raised by her mother and father to rule over the sky with a kind heart. She was worshiped by all and learned to love the little things. The kingdom above the sky was content as they watched the princess grow throughout the years. Everyone was happy and everything was good for a long time.”
“The princess was stolen from the sky one night, not even her army of stars could protect her. Stripped from the heavens and forced down into the mortal world. The kingdom flooded with despair and sorrow for their lost princess.”
Then again this is a fairytale. Everything is fine until something happens that brings us back to reality…
It was dark. Half past midnight at least. She quietly ran down the hallway, holding her breath and tiptoeing as she passed her parents room, running when she was in the clear. It was these nights that she loved the most, under the light of a thousand stars and a million different galaxies.