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Grade
7

The angels were the happiest creatures, on earth or above. They played all day, swam in rivers of wind, throwing balls of sunlight, then fell asleep, on fluffy beds of cloud. Never before had an angel ever been unhappy, as heaven was a reward. Things stayed this way for a long time, but, as we all know, all good things must come to an end.

 

 A new arrival was the one to cause it. Her name was Sariko, and in life she had been a girl, living under the iron fist of poverty. Sachio had made the best of her life, and her death was an unfortunate accident. She was the first angel to have felt grief, and she grieved for not herself, but for her friends and family, who all loved her dearly. She was the first angel to have ever cried, and she cried for them, wishing for them to be happy, to never shed another tear. She wished for no one to suffer as they had. 

 

As Sariko's tear fell, it sprouted, and blossomed, into a shell. The shell was something no one had ever seen, and its incredible magical aura ripped a hole into time and space. The shell fell, through endless stars. The creature inside was something never before seen, born from the deepest sadness of the happiest being. As it grew inside its shell, its first thought entered its mind. I will make everyone happy. The creature, born to grant Sariko's wish, fell for 12 years, 12, long, years, before it finally landed on Earth. And that, is how this story came to be.

 

It was an ordinary day in the Murakami household, and an ordinary day for Melody. She went to school, was bullied because of her hair and her glasses, and sat through her boring, easy classes. Her walk home was just as ordinary as any other part of the day. She stood in front of her door and sighed, hesitating just a moment before reaching out to the doorknob.

 

A scream pierced the air, and Melody whipped around at the noise. Looking up into the sky, she saw a blazing ball of fire, rocketing towards her. It was falling fast, and she made a last ditch effort to get out of the way, jumping off her porch and onto the lawn. She felt her head hit the ground hard, and everything went black.

 

Dear me,

Hi, I'm Kyoko. I don't have anyone to talk to, so from now on, I'm going to think to myself, like I'm someone else. It's great to be able to share with someone, even if it's just me.

 

Dear me,

I don't know why everything is so dark. The world is quiet. There are walls around me, and I think I'm in a round thing. When I feel the walls they feel like me. Are there pieces of the walls stuck in my back? Is that what's sticking out of me? Parts of the wall are soft and fluffy, like my right side, but other parts are cool and scaly, like my left. 

 

Dear me,

Sometimes I push my hand through the crack between the sides, and peek through the hole I made. I see black, like everything else. But there are little dots of light everywhere! Sometimes I'll fall really close to one. The whole orb is flaming and orange and huge! And it lights up my shell! I see black on my left, and white on my right. I can see my hands, and their color. It gets boring to live in a world of dark, and sad too. But I don't mind. Because I have my shell around me, so I won't cry. Because I know, somehow, it keeps me safe!

 

Dear me,

Today I saw something strange through the hole. I saw a bright white and pink blob, but it wasn’t that big. I couldn’t tell what it was, but there was energy coming from it. It felt like me. I think I have some sort of magical field, because the blob was trying to get to me as I fell past it. It felt like it was trying to take something, to suck it out of me. I think it had magic like my field, and it wanted some of my power. 

 

Dear me,

I hope I land soon. I don’t know how long I’ve been falling, but it’s been a long, long time. All I ever see is black and white, and the occasional yellow from the dots up close. And the pink from the blob. That was pretty. I can see my hand sometimes, but it’s not colorful like it used to be. It’s white too. Does darkness suck the color out of things?

 

Dear me,

Am I really alone out here? I know there's no one in the shell, but lately I can feel a constant presence below me. Maybe I'll land soon! I can't wait for the landing. I know I probably still have a long way to go, but after eleven and a half years, I can't wait to see real light.

 

Melody’s eyes jolted open. Her head was pounding loudly in her ears. What was that? She thought, trying to ponder the voice she’d heard. She slowly clambered off the ground, and turned around promptly. Her eyes widened at the sight before her. Sitting behind her was a huge shell, smoking faintly. It was half black and half white, and all dirty from the landing. Wait, she thought slowly, could this have come from space? Her hand made its way up to her face and adjusted her glasses. She circled the shell slowly. She noted that the white half was coated in feathers, and that the black half was what appeared to be leather, or some some sort of scaly material. I wonder if it’s cold or warm. It was just on fire. She needed to find out. Something had to have sent those messages from inside of it. She reached out slowly to touch the shell, just a moment of contact would bring answers.

 

“Melody!” Yelled a voice from behind her. She sighed. It was the same voice whose scream had alerted her to the shell’s arrival. The voice of her overly anxious next door neighbour Ms. Rin. “Melody don’t touch that thing! It nearly landed on your house! We don’t know what it is! Stay back!”

 

She withdrew her hand, groaning softly. “Yes Ms. Rin, you’re right, I’m sorry.” Doors on houses began to crack open, people stepping out to check if the coast was clear. “I just wanted to-”

 

Ms. Rin cut her off. “It doesn’t matter girl! That thing came from space, it could have strange diseases!”

 

“She’s right dear, it could be dangerous, back away.” Melody’s mother, Ms. Murakami chipped in. 

 

Melody tried to defend her cause. “Mom, this thing is from space, there could be something alive in there! I have to see! Anomalies and foreign life forms are like my whole life!”

 

Ms. Murakami shook her head forcefully. “No dear, there can’t be anything good in there. If you get hurt-”

 

Their argument was interrupted by a soft voice from inside the shell. “Excuse me, but if you wanted to come inside, all you had to do was ask.” Melody’s head turned sharply at the sound, her eyes falling on the shell just in time to see a crack forming between black and white. “Come in, or, I could come out of you prefer.”

 

The crowd was silent, and Ms. Murakami the same. It was Melody who found her voice first, her eyes lighting up at the sound, a smile forming on her face. “Yes! I mean, please do come out! I wanna meet you!” That’s the same voice as the one I heard while I was blacked out! She realized.

 

The voice giggled softly before it spoke again. “All right then.”

 

Melody watched, her excitement threatening to split her apart, as the hole grew wider. First, all she saw were a pair of hands, deathly pale, as if they hadn’t seen the sun for years. Then small feet touched down onto the ground, and pushing through the hole was a human girl, in a short white dress, matching almost perfectly with her slightly off-white skin. Melody was amazed, a human, from another planet, until she pushed herself entirely free of the hole, and Melody’s eyes widened in shock. She had wings. The girl was ghostly pale, a feature that was accentuated by the dark brown of her eyes and hair. But the most shocking aspect were the wings, sticking through her long, wavy locks of hair. What intrigued Melody the most was that they were mismatched, one the white feathers of an angel, the other the black scales of a demon. She realized they matched the shell.

 

The girl’s eyes widened at the world before her. “Wow! It’s so colorful! Everything is so bright! I love it!” Her head turned towards Melody, who had invited her to come out in the first place. “Oh wow, you’re outfit is so colorful! Red and blue at the same time? What?!” Melody looked down at her school uniform, having never given it a second thought before. “Woah, your hair!” Melody cringed. Everyone at school teased her for her abnormal hair, and now someone she just met would criticize it. She waited for the bomb to drop. “You’re hair is so cool! It’s way shorter than mine, and orange?! Awesome!”

 

Melody gaped at the girl. “You like my hair?”

 

The girl nodded fiercely. “It’s such a bright color!”

 

Melody smiled at the girl. “Thank you! What’s your name?” She asked happily. Wait, she thought, do alien creatures/possible sentient beings have names?

 

The girl’s smile increased tenfold. “I'm Kyoko! Great to meetcha!”

 

Melody’s mind began to whir, there was a crowd watching her interactions with Kyoko, they needed to get out from under all the watchful eyes. “I'm Melody, nice to meet you too. Hey, Kyoko, would you like to continue this conversation in my room?” She asked hopefully. She was a bit uncomfortable being scrutinized as she was.

 

Kyoko nodded without a second thought. “Hey Melody,” she said, turning towards Melody’s house, “which of these windows is yours?”

 

Melody pointed towards her window. “That one, why?” She asked hesitantly.

 

“Because,” said Kyoko, “from the three steps I’ve taken in my life, I can tell walking is bo-ring!” She spread her wings, grabbing Melody’s hands, and jumped. Kyoko burst up to her room. She didn't have time to wonder how they'd get in before they phased through the glass.

 

Melody had to take a moment to process what had just happened. “Wait, we just phased through a solid object! That was amazing! I can feel you emanating an aura, what are the real limits to your power?!”

 

Kyoko though for a moment, then shrugged. “Beats me. I’ve never actually used my magic before now. There isn’t much to use it for trapped inside a shell. Speaking of which, I kinda wrecked your yard. Sorry.”

 

Melody shrugged. “Whatever. Mom was going to dig it up anyway for renovations.  Kyoko, if you don’t mind, I have a lot of questions.”

 

Kyoko nodded. “Fire ‘em at me girl! I’m ready!”

 

Melody hesitated for just a moment, deciding what to ask first. “Kyoko, when your shell landed, I heard your voice. You were talking to yourself about life in that shell. Why did I hear you?”

 

Kyoko gasped. “Thank goodness you started with that one! Melody, that means you have some of the same magic as me! You're magical too! Slightly. I bet that's why I fell down here! You must have been wishing for something, and the wish activated your magic, tearing a hole in space time and sending me here! That's why I'm here! This means we were meant to be together. I won't go anywhere else. But Melody, what did you wish for? I have to grant it.”

 

Melody thought back to her walk home, thinking about every rock she kicked, every step she took, even that brief hesitation at the doorknob. Wait, that pause! That was it! A faint blush dusted over Melody’s cheeks. “I wished I had a friend.”

 

Kyoko gasped. “Oh my gosh! That's easy! I'll be your friend Melody.”

 

Melody couldn't believe it. A foreign anomaly, offering to be her friend? “You'll really be my first friend? Really?”

 

Kyoko nodded happily. “Absolutely! I promise to be your friend until the end of my life, ok?”

 

Melody smiled. She was so happy she thought she'd burst. “Yes. Thank you.” She said, nodding tearfully.

 

Kyoko shrugged. “I was sent here with an objective to make everyone happy. And you seem happy now. Plus, you seem really cool so I’m happy too. But that was really easy. And here I was expecting drama. Well, at least I have a friend now. I'm sure things will be exciting at some point, after all, I'm an anomaly. What could be better for a story?”

 

Melody laughed aloud. “Oh come on Kyoko, this isn't a fictional story. Now let's go tell everybody you'll be staying here.”

 

As Kyoko followed Melody own the stairs, a mischievous smile crossed her face. “That's what you think girlie.” She breathed.

 

Melody had thought everything was sorted out. Her mother definitely didn’t agree. “Melody, that girl came from space! We can’t trust her to live in our home!”

 

“But mom,” Melody protested. “She’s really sweet and she offered to be my friend! She’s no threat to us!”

 

Melody’s mother shook her head fiercely. “No! I won’t have it. Your entire life has been but mere science fiction! Play with someone else! Grow up and realize the world isn’t all fun and games!”

 

A haze of silence fell across the room. Melody was lost for words. Her only response to her mother were the tears that slowly rolled down her cheeks.

 

Kyoko’s hand curled into a fist at her side. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had to fight back. So she did. “Are you aware, Ma’am, that your daughter is bullied daily? Are you aware that she has no other friends?! Are you aware that she finds no comfort at home because YOU DON’T CARE?! No! You’re not! And that’s why I’ll be staying here! Come on Melody!” Kyoko came to the end of her rant and grabbed her friend’s hand, pulling her back to the confines of her room.

 

It took a few moments for Melody to find her voice. “Thank you. For that, and for staying. She won’t put up a fight after that. Thank you so much.” Melody’s face stretched into a gentle smile. 

 

Kyoko looked away, blushing softly. “Yeah well, what are friends for?”

 

Melody nodded in wonder. “Yeah, friends.”

 

And from that very first wish and onwards, Kyoko, with Melody by her side, continued to grant Sariko’s wish, and make the world happy.