Welcome to another installment in our OPS Authors series. In this post we focus on an OPS Author from the sixth grade, Kaylin, who recently wrote a short story, Starfish: How They Came To Be. The story, which began as a comic, is an origin tale of sorts so we hope you enjoy it. When you are done, check out our interview with the author!
STARFISH: HOW THEY CAME TO BE
There are lots of places to be in the universe. You can be on Earth, Mars, Venus, Jupiter. Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, and more. But her home is way beyond the thin atmosphere of your home, Earth. It is in the cluster of stars surrounding the Solar System. The Milky Way. And this brings us to the normal day that Light Celeste experiences everyday.
Shooting Stars would be the main motivation for stars. Shooting down to Earth sounded wonderful. It was wonderful. It was elegant. It was also the reason why Light was so lonely. You see, you had to reach a certain level to become a Shooting Star. And Light had not reached this level yet, and all her friends had. And the more they waited, the pull would be more and more urgent, until they would be hurled down to Earth. So there was no backing out. And no waiting around for a star. Even Light. “안녕!” One of Light’s friends waved goodbye. She circled around Light and smiled, happy to pursue her dream. Then she plummeted down to Earth, becoming a smaller speck by every second. “再見!” Another one of Light’s friends dived down to Earth. “Au revoir!” “さようなら!” “¡Adiós!” And so, one by one, all of Light’s friends crashed down to Earth. Soon, there was nobody up in Space except for Light. And this was the time that Light let her starlight shine. “I’m going to dive down to Earth! I don’t care about the ranks, or the rules! I’m going to see my friends again!” And with that, Light hurtled down to Earth. “AAAAAGHHH!” Light screamed her head off. Her star-shaped body felt like it was getting crushed because of the pressure of the atmosphere. She looked behind her, only to see a flaming trail of fire behind her. When she looked back ahead of her, she saw it. Her impending doom. It was the ocean. And it was getting closer. And closer. Until, finally, Light slapped the surface. And then she sank. Lower, and lower, and lower. When she woke up, Light’s eyes hurt. And then she panicked. “Where am I?” She screamed, swimming around. There were tons of colorful corals, little fish swimming around, and clear, clear water. “The coral reef?” she gurgled. “I have to get out of here!” Light swam upwards and upwards, trying to swim to the surface. But then she found that her little light of hope was gone. I’m stuck here forever… Crying herself to sleep, Light curled up and closed her eyes, sobbing as the hope she once had floated away, sobbing as the loneliness took over. Light didn’t know how long she had slept until a blinding light woke her up. The light seemed blinding, almost exactly like… a star! “Hello?” Light tried to shield her eyes, for she had not seen another star in months! The light got brighter, and brighter, and then Light felt another hand close around hers. “Is that you, Light?” a star was smiling and squinting, wondering whether it was her friend or not. “Selina?” Light squinted back, and she could make out the features of her best friend. “How’d you come down here? Did you reach the shooting star rank?” Light squirmed, and decided to tell the truth. “Nobody was up there, so I just jumped down.” “Still, nice job! Let me introduce you to the other stars in the area, you probably forgot about them.” After an introduction full of laughter, happiness, and pure joy, Light learned how to swim properly. In fact, all of the stars learned how to swim, and adapted to the marine lifestyle. And soon, these stars were called starfish. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Author Interview:
Your short story, Starfish: How They Came To Be, reads like a folktale. Was that intentional? Do you enjoy folktales?
It was not originally intended to be a folktale, more of just a nice, short story. I do enjoy folktales, however, like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Jack and the Beanstalk. What inspired this particular story? I would say that comic books, like the Cucumber Quest series, and the book, Glitch, especially inspired the story. The story was originally a comic that was 2 or 3 pages long. How do you start a story? Does it come to you fully formed or do you start with a basic idea and see where it goes? I usually start stories by gathering lots of basic ideas, seeing where they all go, and which story idea is initially my favorite idea. Some parts just write themselves into my head, and I string them together to make the whole story. What is tougher for you to write, the beginning or end of a story? It is definitely harder to write the end of a story because I don’t know which way I should end the story. It’s also tougher for me to write the ending because I don’t have much experience with it. Usually, I just start writing small stories, and then just leave it to start writing another story idea. Where and when do you like to write? I usually like to write at my desk, or, when I’m feeling lazy, in a corner on my bed, leaning against the wall. I like to write when I get ideas, like when I’m writing a book or listening to a video or song, and my brain just makes up a story idea. It can be simple as one line, and I’l get my laptop and start writing. Do you plan to continue writing throughout your life? Yes, I do plan on continuing to write throughout my life, and if I’m fortunate enough, have it as a career. When I was in third grade, I picked up a Harry Potter book, which is still one of the books in my favorite series today. I felt so inspired at how the author, J.K. Rowling, created another world full of magic, fun, and mystery. I want to make that feeling for someone else.
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