Edited by: thirtxn

The waves washed up on my legs, soaking my clothes. The sand was dark. My heart fluttered, I looked up hoping to see stars but what I saw was a battle between night and day. They were both pushing back on each other. The darkness finally won the war and filled the once, bright sky. I gazed in wonder as a star flew down from the sky and implanted itself in the center of my palm. I heard a whisper in my ear. "You don't have to choose. You can be both."

"Both what?" I asked. But the answer was never given to me.

I woke up, gasping for air. My heart was pounding from the dream I had just had. I looked down at my palm and gasped. The star from my dream was in the center, glowing a purple glow. I blinked my eyes again and again, but the star was real. I traced the outline of the mysterious star. Suddenly my mother bursts through my bedroom door, shouting.

"Honey! Happy Birthday!" My mother exclaimed, smiling. Her smile immediately faded when she saw the look of shock on my face. I could tell that she was trying to hold something in. "Whatcha doing?"

"Nothing!" I said, hiding my hand behind my back. She couldn't see what had just happened. Who knows what she would do.

"I got you this," she stated, handing me a small box.

"You didn't have to," I said, sitting up slightly to look at the box.

"It's no big deal, I made it myself," she explained proudly.

My mother found her gift of art when my father died. It was her way of distracting herself from her emotional pain. Every time she made something it was magnificent. I once asked her why she didn't move to the city and become an artist, but silence was her only response. I still love what she made. I was really excited to see what she made me for my birthday.

I tore open the paper and frowned. It was a beautiful bracelet, but it had a sun and a quote on it that said 'Always stay in the light my little sunshine!' My mother knew I had always loved the idea of the night and she made me a sun charm, with a quote telling me to 'stay in the light'! I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but the anger consumed me.

"You made me a sun," I whispered with anger.

"Yes! Do you like it?" She was dismissing my anger.

"It's very beautiful, but you know I've always wanted to see the night and you make me a quote saying stay in the light?" I asked as calmly as I could.

"You don't need to use that tone! I made you something that took me a long time and you aren't even thankful for it," my mother said, snatching the bracelet away from me. "Good to know I have such a appreciative daughter." Then she slammed the door, knocking down all of my drawings I hung up on there. I walked over to the drawings and started to gingerly pick them all up.

You shouldn't have said that stuff. You know what she's like. I sighed in frustration. I needed to know why she wouldn't let me outside at night. I dropped all the drawings and speed walked to my mother's room. The door was open a crack. I placed my hand on the creaky door knob, "don't come in here!" my mother shrieked. I heard her footsteps as she stalked across the room and slammed the door shut the rest of the way.

I stepped back in surprise. Placing my ear on the door, I listened. I could hear the shuffling of papers and mutters leaking through. "Stupid! She's gonna find out soon," my mother said to herself. I heard the clank of something and then her footsteps disappeared. Hesitating, I started to turn the knob again. But stopped. Letting my hand fall from the knob, I ran back to my room, afraid. Thoughts swirled around in my head. What did she mean by 'I was gonna find out soon'?

I placed a hand on my head, and the throbbing forced me to lie down. Something was up. Something she obviously didn't want me to know. But what?

At dusk I tiptoed back to my mother's bedroom and strained my ears to here for anything, but only silence stood.

"Mom?" I called out. Nothing. Should I go in? I thought. No. You've been told not to. That would be betraying her.

Quietly, I got down onto my stomach and peered in through the crack. My vision was blocked by something dark. I stood up and tried to push the door open. But it wouldn't budge. The wiggly knob finally came off after my attempts to break in. I don't know why, but tears flooded me. What was so bad that she needed to lock my out of her room for? I brought my leg back and slammed it into the door as hard as I could. Pain coursed through me, but I couldn't feel it, it was just numb pain. What kind of mother concealed part of the world from her own daughter and felt the need to keep something else secret from her? My mother. That's who.

My tears turned to anger as I screamed. No one could here me. I was alone. My mother was somewhere else, doing something I didn't know about. Something she thought I didn't need to know. I slumped my back against the wall, sliding all the way down. Normal kids wouldn't go through something like this, but what my mother wanted was for me to not go outside at night. For once I wanted to disobey her. That night, I decided, I was going to do it. I was going to do what I was told not to do for so long. What was basically forbidden for me - what normal kids got to do all the time. What I always wanted to see and experience. I was going to do it, and no one was going to stop me. I was going to see the night.