Shooting Stars

by Brian Falkiner

  But I was glad too. He could go and find Moma and then I could tell her that my father has changed. He is not like he was before. He is really nice. Then she can come back to the world too.

  “Would you do that for me?” I asked.

  “In a heartbeat,” he said. “Let’s just both cross our fingers and pray that she is there.”

  Crossing your fingers is a superstition. Praying is a religious thing. It seemed strange to do both, but maybe that way I was covering both bases.

  Tonight, before I started writing my diary, I crossed my fingers and prayed to Jesus to let her be okay and in the old stone hut.

  J.T. is going down there tomorrow.

  Things I am afraid of:

  That she won’t be there.

  Word of the Day:

  BOLT HOLE

  A place to hide away.

  March 4th

  Still waiting for J.T. to telephone.

  Lauren took me to the doctors today. Dad was busy.

  The doctors stuck a lot of needles in my arm. They are called inoculations. Apparently I should have had them when I was much younger, but I never did, and without them I could get very sick or die.

  The needles didn’t hurt much, but I didn’t like the idea of people sticking things into my arm.

  Lauren said I was brave. So I said she was brave too.

  She seemed confused.

  What I meant was about her boobs. I found out that she’d had an operation on them. I thought she was brave to have had an operation on her boobs.

  But when she asked me why she was brave I got kind of flustered and didn’t say anything.

  So she just smiled. She’s nice like that.

  Afterwards she asked me if I wanted to go and have some lunch with her. I said yes, and told her my favourite restaurant was McDonalds.

  This made her laugh, I don’t know why. She suggested a different restaurant with a fancy name.

  She said she would call Dad so he wouldn’t worry about where we were. I said she didn’t need to worry because he would know where I was.

  She was a little confused about that, so I explained about the phone. I forgot I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about that. But it was only Lauren, so I’m sure it doesn’t matter.

  Then we went to McDonalds after all.

  PS:

  Still waiting for J.T. to ring.

  Word of the Day:

  Inoculations

  Injections that stop you getting sick. I never seemed to need them before, but now I need them.

  Things I am afraid of:

  That Moma won’t be there.

  March 5th

  J.T. rang today.

  Moma wasn’t at the hut.

  It took him longer than he expected to find the hut. (I could have given him directions, but he said he didn’t need them!!!) By the time he found it, it was getting dark, so he had to camp for the night.

  He didn’t have a radio, only a phone, and they don’t work in the middle of the forest.

  This morning he hiked out and called me as soon as he could. He said that she wasn’t there … but, more worryingly, that she hadn’t been there.

  I am not quite sure how he knew that. But he said that he could tell nobody had been in the hut for months, probably since I left.

  He said he was going to look around and see if he could find anything. He said he has ‘some skills’ that might be useful. This makes me at least a little bit hopeful.

  He also said there are lots of tomatoes on our vines.

  Yay.

  Things I am afraid of:

  That I will never know what happened to Moma.

  Word of the Day:

  I don’t have a word of the day today.

  Facebook page update:

  1,739,827 likes.

  OMG

  March 6th

  J.T. texted me today.

  Still nothing. He just wanted to let me know he was trying. He will ring when he has some definite news to tell me.

  March 7th

  I have been invited to go onto an American television talk show.

  I am really confused as to how this happens and quite frightened of the whole thing. And I am even more worried about Moma than I was before. So I said no.

  The police can’t find Moma, and J.T. hasn’t found Moma and he has been looking for two days.

  But the TV lady rang back after about half an hour and said that the host of the show wanted to talk to me herself.

  Her name was Helen, and she was really nice. She said that she thought millions of people might live better lives if they heard me talk about my code and by me being on television I would be doing a lot of good in the world.

  Rule #13 says to try and do good things for people. So I said yes.

  The television show is filmed in America, which is a long way away. I will finally get to go on an aeroplane!

  They are sending two tickets, so I asked Dad if he would come with me.

  He can’t. He is too busy with his work.

  I asked Lauren and she said she’d love to come with me.

  I am still quite frightened of going on a television show, but it is also quite exciting.

  I hope that the police, or J.T., find Moma while I am away.

  We go to America on April 3rd. I need to get a passport first. Lauren is going to help me apply for one.

  Word of the Day:

  TALK SHOW

  A TV show where people just talk about stuff.

  Things I am afraid of:

  I can’t remember what Moma’s face looks like. I feel she is slipping away from me.

  So much is happening in my new life that I am forgetting my old life.

  March 8th

  I saw Regina today.

  It was very painful for me.

  We went into the city to have my photograph taken for my passport and to take the passport application form to the passport office. We had already downloaded and filled in the application form. We could have posted it all in, but Lauren thought it would be faster if we took it directly to the office.

  When we walked out, I saw Junior, Mohawk and Reggie walking up the other side of the road. Little Allan wasn’t with them.

  They didn’t see me and I didn’t call out or anything.

  I still couldn’t believe that she would do what she did.

  Maybe she was right to do it. I don’t know.

  And what I have learned, because of Regina, has turned my life upside down. To find out the truth about those fifteen years hiding away in a forest. About Moma’s mental state.

  Is that why I feel so much pain when I see Regina? Because she forced me to confront the truth?

  Or is it because I trusted her and she betrayed me?

  For money.

  After that Lauren and I went to visit Mr K. He was really happy to see me, and very pleased to meet Lauren.

  We sat with him for an hour and had a cup of tea, and he told us stories about the Korean War. He didn’t take his eyes off Lauren’s boobs the entire time. She didn’t seem to mind.

  I guess it must be okay when you’re old.

  Word of the Day:

  BETRAYAL

  March 9th

  J.T. texted me again today!

  He said he has found some information that may help and has passed it on to the police. That is all he will say.

  He did say not to get my hopes up because it might lead nowhere.

  I showed Lauren the texts and she gave me a hug and told me it was okay to keep my hopes up.

  So I am keeping my hopes up.

  March 10th

  Today I asked Lauren if she will be my new mum when she marries Dad.

  She said no. Moma would always be my mum no matter what happened. No
one could ever replace her.

  I said that was sad. Because she was really nice and if Moma couldn’t be my mum then I wished Lauren could have been.

  That made her really sad for some reason and then she hugged me really tightly.

  Thought for the day:

  Women make no sense to me at all.

  March 11th

  Dad and Lauren had another fight last night. I hope it wasn’t over me again.

  Lauren came down into the living room where I was watching TV. I asked her if she was okay.

  She seemed angry with me but I hadn’t done anything wrong. She asked me if there was anything in my stupid code (her words) about dealing with idiots.

  An idiot is a stupid person. So I told her about rule number 26: Always be kind to people less fortunate than you.

  That didn’t seem to be the answer she was looking for. She grabbed the car keys off the hook in the kitchen and stormed out.

  Then Dad stormed downstairs and asked where she was.

  When I said she had gone out, he started to get really angry but then he stopped himself. It’s good that he can control his anger.

  Moma said everybody gets angry sometimes, but a wise person learns to control it.

  I don’t think Dad controlled his for very long though, because he went upstairs and I heard him shouting on the telephone. Then he went into his study to find out where she was, using the computer. Then he said he was going out to buy some groceries – but I think he really went to find her.

  It’s good if he and she can work out their problems.

  Moma’s Code #26

  Always be kind and generous to people less fortunate than you.

  Help them in any way you can.

  Moma’s Code #28

  Talk your problems through calmly.

  Reasonable people work out their problems without resorting to shouting or violence.

  Facebook page update:

  3,753,764 likes.

  OMG!

  March 12th

  I am writing a new story.

  I haven’t written anything except my diary since I was living in the forest. Except for my love poem for Reggie. I am writing a story about a boy wizard who lives in a forest all by himself.

  Lauren saw me writing and asked me what I was doing.

  I told her that writing is one of my favourite things and she wanted to read some of my stuff.

  That was a bit awkward because the only stories that I have with me are a bit mean about my dad. I feel a bit guilty about those stories now, but I didn’t know any better at the time.

  So I showed her my love poem for Reggie.

  She said she really loved it! She said I was a really good writer and she wants to show it to a friend of hers who works for a publishing company. She also wanted to know who Reggie is. So I had to tell her.

  I thought she would feel my pain when I told her that we broke up and I was heartbroken.

  But all she said was that young love is a fickle thing. (Her exact words.)

  I let her make a copy of my poem to show her publisher friend.

  March 15th

  Haven’t been writing my diary for a couple of days, because I have been working on my wizard boy story. But this afternoon I heard a shout and a bang from the kitchen.

  When I walked in, there were cans of food all over the floor and Lauren was sitting in the middle of them all with a hand over one eye.

  “Bugger!” she was saying.

  “Are you all right?” I asked, rushing over to her.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Bag of groceries just split and I tripped on a can of beans. Banged myself on the cupboard door going down.”

  “Let me see,” I said.

  “I’m okay, Egan,” she said.

  “Let me see,” I insisted. I’ve had a lot of bruises and cuts in my life.

  She removed her hand. Her eye socket was bruised and she had a small cut on one eyebrow.

  I had never seen someone bruise up so fast.

  “Looks nasty,” I said. “It’s already turning black and blue. Better get some ice on that fast.”

  Ice wasn’t something we had the luxury of in the forest, but the cold water of the stream was the next best thing.

  “Thanks Egan,” she said. “You’re a very caring person.”

  I smiled. But I saw something else odd before she put her hand back over her eye. There was dried blood on the cut.

  Thought for the day:

  People are keeping things from me.

  Word of the Day:

  BUGGER.

  An expression of annoyance or anger.

  March 16th

  My facebook page has hit five million likes.

  Lauren says if it keeps growing at this rate it will be in the top 25 Facebook pages.

  There are videos all about Moma’s code on a website called ‘Youtube’. I watched a few of them. Most of them are pretty silly.

  Someone has put Moma’s code to music and made a song out of it. That’s really silly. But I have had the tune stuck in my head all day.

  Also there is a

  Oops. I forgot what I was going to say there.

  Lauren just came in to talk to me. Her publisher friend wants to meet me! I am so excited about this!

  I have been working really hard on my story about the boy wizard. I haven’t written that much because I keep thinking it’s not good enough, so I screw it up and start again.

  I can’t wait to meet the publisher. Her name is Anna-Grace Rose. She is a commissioning editor which means that if she likes my stories she can make me an offer for them. Then I will be a published writer!

  Got to stop writing this and get back to my story.

  Word of the Day:

  YOUTUBE

  A place where people put videos of cats. And other stuff. I don’t really understand why.

  Jonathan Hogan

  A novel by Egan Tucker

  Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived in a Forest

  Jonathan Hogan was a very special boy, although you wouldn’t know it to look at him. You really wouldn’t think that there was anything unusual, or odd, and especially not magical, about him if you saw him in the street. But you wouldn’t usually see him in the street, for Jonathan – Jon to his friends – did not live on a street, but deep in the dark, cool forests of New Zealand.

  On the day of the disaster, which also happens to be when our story starts, Jon was up in a very tall tree that overlooked the river, hoping to avoid Cookie, who was a fat pig.

  You might think that is a rude way to describe a person, but in this case you’d be wrong, because Cookie was in fact a pig, and he was quite fat.

  They say that a little knowledge can be dangerous and that is certainly true in the case of magic, and Cookie was a good example of what can happen when you use magic without really knowing how it works. Cookie wasn’t a very nice person when he was a person, and he wasn’t a very nice pig now that he was a pig.

  A pair of tui flew past Jon and landed on a branch not far from his head.

  “Have you seen him?” Jon whispered.

  Both tui shook their heads in unison.

  “I heard him grunting around up by the shingle slide,” one of them said.

  “But when I got there he was gone, and I haven’t been able to find him,” the other one said.

  Then the tui sang a pretty tune for a while, which is what tui do. Except these tui used to be a girl named Virginia and they could sing in harmony, which tui normally don’t.

  “Try and be a little quiet,” Jon said. “I really don’t want him to find me. You know what he’ll say.”

  Virginia nodded both her heads and sang very softly.

  Jon was able to fix most of the people he rescued, or they just got bett
er all by themselves. The only current exceptions were Cookie and Virginia.

  Jon had tried everything to turn Cookie back into a merchant banker, but nothing had worked and he showed no sign of reverting by himself. Jon could have fixed Virginia any time, but she had had a very difficult life in the real world and quite preferred being a pair of tui, flitting through the trees in the forest without a care. (Although she often said she was sick of eating nectar and insects, and would absolutely die for a hamburger.)

  Finally satisfied that Cookie wasn’t anywhere nearby, Jon climbed down from the tree. He could have flown down by turning himself into an owl, which was what he usually did when he wanted to get around the forest in a hurry. But it seemed a waste of energy just to get down from a tree, even if it was a very tall tree.

  After checking one more time to make sure Cookie was not near, Jon went to the London tree and carefully opened the door that was not a door.

  A blast of noise, petrol fumes and cold rain hit him and he quickly cast an umbrella spell (which was not like an umbrella at all, but rather like a bubble that surrounded him, keeping him dry and warm even in the worst thunderstorm).

  Then he stepped through the doorway onto Piccadilly Circus, closing the door behind him quickly, in case Cookie was lurking somewhere nearby.

  Cookie couldn’t open the doors by himself, not even the door in the Los Angeles tree which was low and small and very easy to open. Cookie would give anything to get back to the world, and wouldn’t listen when Jon told him that being a pig – and a large juicy one at that – would mean he’d probably end up as bacon and pork chops.

  London was cold, blustery and especially dreary this day, which in some ways was a portent of the unimaginable disaster that was only a few hours away.

  Jon did not know that, of course, and hummed as he turned towards Coventry Street, heading for the garden in Leicester Square