GRANTED

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"Did you know that the nearest star to us is 4.25 lightyears away, that's why wishes take at least 9 years to come true", our physics lecturer Mr Bernard said, the whole class stared at him with complete disbelief and then burst into laughter, except me, I was intrigued, did he think he was teaching kindergartners, how could he confidently say crap like that to high school students and expect them to believe it, I imagined that was what went on in their heads, Mr Bernard had always been a strange man, sometimes in the middle of lecturing, he'd just stare without focus, mumbling words no one can hear, the whole school thought he was crazy, but he was the best at teaching physics, so they didn't let him go.

After the weird information from Mr Bernard, I continued to sketch in my book, I was quite uninterested in anything else he had to say, in fact I wasn't interested in school at all, all I wanted to do was sing and show my art to the world, but my parents wouldn't have it, they wanted a daughter that'd carry on the family's legacy in science, the only reason I was stuck in a science class was because of them. The noise of the students brought me back to reality as they rush out of the class, the class was finally over.

I got up and packed my books into my backpack, I made my way through the perfectly arranged chairs, so perfect it made me sick, I was almost at the door when Mr Bernard shouted "Rita, come here", I was shocked that he even knew my name, I walked back to his table and he said "you don't want to be here, do you?", "ooh of course I do" I said trying to avoid making eye contact, he quickly caught my gaze and called our my lie, I was going to talk but he cut me off and said "you shouldn't be here", it was starting to get creepy, he was starting to mumble again, so I slowly backed away and made my way out of the class.

It was a long walk home, but I had my headset on, so it didn't seem so far, I got home and went straight to my room, ignoring my parents in the sitting room, I locked the door behind me and soon enough, my mum came knocking to check on me, "hey honey, is everything okay" she asked worriedly, "I'm fine mum, just tired" I answered, "okay, then, hope you're excited your birthday tomorrow" she replied walking away from the door, I had completely forgotten about it, most girls would be excited about their 19th birthday, not me, I never really liked birthdays, In fact I hated them, I decided to go to sleep because I knew they were going to wake me up in the midnight for my birthday, it's a stupid tradition, why not just wait till morning like normal families.

I woke up around 1am, it was already past 12 and no one woke me up, something wasn't right, I felt a weird chill run through my spine as the wind blew through the window, I got up and walked out of my room, the house was awfully quiet, I had expected candles and a huge birthday cake and my mum and dad shouting "surprise!" as I walked out of the room even though it wasn't exactly a surprise anymore, "maybe they forgot" I thought to myself, then I remembered my mum talking about it some hours ago, something was weird about the house, it seemed different, but I couldn't focus on that at the moment.

I went to their room to check on them, but to my surprise, they weren't there, in fact, nothing was, the room was completely empty, I was starting to get worried, I moved around the house and I noticed that it was the same everywhere, all their things were gone, did they travel?, did they leave me?, different questions started to run through my mind. I quickly ran out of the house to our neighbor's house, I knocked for a while before Mrs Percy answered the door, "what's the matter dear?" She asked, "I can't find my parents" I said with a broken voice, "what do you mean you can't find your parents", she further asked, "they are not inside, they're gone, all their things are gone" I said almost crying, "what are you talking about Rita, you don't live with your parents, they passed away some years ago, what's going on with you Rita?" She asked looking confused and worried, my heart skipped a beat and I slowly walked away from her while she kept calling me "Rita Rita, are you okay", it all seemed like a dream to me, how could she say I don't live with my parents, how could they have passed away years ago when I still saw them some hours ago.

I walked back to our house confused, I almost didn't notice the full moon and the stars that surrounded it, that was when it hit me, it was my 10th birthday, it wasn't going well, I had just discovered that my dad broke the guitar my uncle gave me and burnt all my drawings, it was the worst birthday I ever had, it's one of the reasons I hate birthdays so much, I remember running out of the house that midnight and hiding somewhere behind the house, staring at the stars wishing my parents would disappear.

Then I remembered what Mr Bernard said in class about the stars and wishes, the clearer everything was the more confused I got, I was just a little girl making a stupid wish, I didn't think it was actually going to come through, I made my way back into the house, I stayed up all night wondering what was going on, I knew I had to find Mr Bernard to get more answers, so I waited till morning, I took my bath, got dressed and went to school.

The moment I stepped into the school, I knew something wasn't right, all the students were looking at me weirdly and murmuring, but not in a bad way, they seemed really shocked to see me, I ignored them and kept walking, I saw some of my classmates and tried to talk to them, they all just screamed "omg! Rita Sullivan just said hi to us" I did not understand the excitement till a girl brought me drawing to sign, apparently I was famous for my music and artworks, I couldn't wait to enjoy the attention, I had to find Mr Bernard, I went straight to his class, he was the only one there, I was happy to see him, I couldn't say the same about him tho, he seemed to remember me, I went to his table, I was about to talk when he said "you shouldn't be here" repeatedly, I tried to talk to him but he wouldn't listen, he just kept saying "you shouldn't be here".

I went back to an empty house, I finally had everything I wanted, freedom, fame, but it didn't feel like much, in fact it felt terrible, there was no one to share it with, I spent the night outside under the same stars that put me in this situation, I wished more than anything that everything returned back to normal but nothing happened, before I knew, I fell asleep outside. The next thing I heard was the sound of footsteps approaching, I was so scared that the sleep completely left me, I opened my eyes only to see a light bulb, a light bulb outside? I thought I was going crazy, as my eyes slowly adjusted to the light, I realized I was in my room, I was still trying understand what just happened when I heard a knock on the door, I quickly ran to open it.

It was my mum and dad with a huge birthday cake, they started singing but I cut them off with a hug, almost causing the cake to fall, they were surprised, they knew how much I hated birthdays, seeing me that happy was knew to them, my mum even went ahead to ask if I was okay, I didn't even bother explaining things to them, I was too busy enjoying the moment, they came into my room, they hang and did all the usual birthday things, then my dad left the room hurriedly or excitedly, I couldn't quite tell.

He came back with something behind him, It was too big to be hidden, I could see it, but I couldn't believe my eyes, it was a guitar, my dad was giving me a guitar, he didn't say anything, he just smiled and gave it to me, I was speechless, my most dreaded day was becoming one of the best days of my life, after a while, they left the room and allowed me to sleep cause I had school in the morning, I was up for hours before I finally slept.

It was morning already, it was like I just closed my eyes and opened them, I wanted to go back to sleep but I had to get ready for school, after preparing for school, I had breakfast with my parents and left for school, school was back to normal, no one was asking for autographs or looking at me weird, I was walking with a little smile on my face, then I bumped into someone, it was a janitor, it was Mr Bernard!!!..why is Mr Bernard a janitor, he grabbed me and said "you, what have you done, you shouldn't be here".

Original piece by @darkmayhem
Entry to the FACT TO FICTION WRITING CONTEST