CHAPTER FOURTEEN – QUIET AFTER THE FAIR
By the time we reached the cottage, the girls were half-asleep, warm and sticky from candy floss and running around all afternoon.
"Come on, little stars," I murmured as I helped them out of their shoes. Lila leaned against my leg, yawning so hard her eyes watered. Isla mumbled something about "more lanterns" before letting me scoop her up.
"You can see more next year," I whispered, kissing her soft curls.
Mama,story Lila said.
The Little Star Princess
Once upon a time, in a tiny village by the edge of a sparkling forest, there lived a sweet little girl named Amara. She was kind to everyone she met even the ants that marched across the kitchen floor!
But life was not always easy for Amara. She lived with her stepmother and two stepsisters, who were not very kind at all.
"Amara!" they would call. "Sweep the floor! Wash the pots! Clean our shoes!"
And Amara always did, without complaining. She loved helping, even though it meant she was always covered in dust. At night, when everyone was asleep, she would sit by the window and look up at the stars.
"Oh, twinkling stars," she would whisper, "I wish for a friend who will take me away, even just for one night, to somewhere beautiful."
One night, something magical happened. A star, the brightest star in the sky began to fall, slowly and gently, until it landed right in Amara's window!
It wasn't just a star. It was a tiny glowing fairy with wings made of light.
"Hello, Amara," the fairy said. "I am Lumi, the Star Fairy. I heard your wish."
Amara gasped. "You can talk!"
"Yes," said Lumi with a laugh. "And I can do something even better. I can take you to the Moon Palace tonight!"
"The Moon Palace?" Amara's eyes widened.
"Yes! Tonight the Moon Princess is having a grand ball, and everyone is invited even you!"
"But I can't go like this," Amara said sadly, looking at her dusty dress and bare feet.
Lumi clapped her tiny hands, and with a swirl of stardust, Amara's clothes began to sparkle. Her old dress turned into the most beautiful silver gown, soft and shining like moonlight. Her bare feet were now wearing glass slippers that twinkled like stars.
"Oh, Lumi!" Amara said, spinning around. "It's perfect!"
"Then let's go!" Lumi said. She sprinkled stardust on Amara, and whoosh! They flew right out of the window and up, up, up into the night sky.
The stars twinkled as they passed, and the moon grew bigger and bigger until at last, they landed in front of a palace made of crystal. It shone so brightly that Amara had to blink.
Inside the Moon Palace, there were guests from every corner of the sky — cloud dancers, star singers, even a friendly comet who zipped around the room making everyone laugh.
And there, at the top of the silver stairs, stood the Moon Princess herself. She was graceful and kind, with hair that flowed like silk.
"Welcome, little one," the princess said, smiling. "Would you like to dance?"
Amara nodded shyly, and the princess took her hand. Together they danced in circles under the moonlight, and everyone clapped.
"You are very special, Amara," said the princess. "Your heart is as bright as the stars."
But suddenly, Lumi flew down looking worried. "We must go back! The night is ending, and your stepmother will wake soon!"
Amara quickly thanked the princess, who gave her a tiny silver star as a gift.
"Whenever you feel lonely," said the princess, "hold this star, and you will remember tonight."
In a flash of light, Lumi carried Amara back home, and she landed softly on her bed just as the first rays of morning sunlight peeked through her window.
When her stepmother called her name, Amara got up and went about her chores,but this time, she was smiling.
Because she knew something no one else did: she had danced with the Moon Princess, made friends among the stars, and learned that even the smallest wish could come true if you believed.
And every night, when she finished her work, she would hold the little silver star in her hand, watch it glow softly, and remember the night she became the little star princess.
Liora was already clearing the kitchen table, humming softly.
Then tucked them under the blanket.
"Goodnight, Mama," Lila mumbled, already half gone.
"Night, my love." I kissed her cheek, then Isla's. "Sleep well, my island."
I stood there for a long moment after their breathing evened out, just watching them. The ribbons they'd gotten at the fair lay on the nightstand, bright against the small wooden table.
In the kitchen, Liora was waiting with two steaming mugs of tea. She passed one to me as I sank into the chair opposite her.
"Well?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.
I smiled softly. "It was… good. Better than I thought it would be. I didn't think I could do it being around so many people. But it didn't feel… wrong. It felt…"
"Normal?" she suggested.
I nodded, wrapping my hands around the mug. "Exactly. Normal."
Liora leaned back in her chair, looking satisfied. "You should be proud of yourself. Today was huge."
I laughed quietly. "It sounds so small when you say it like that. Just going to the fair. People do that every day."
"Not people who've been through what you've been through," she said gently.
I didn't answer right away. The memory of the night that changed everything still lived somewhere deep inside me, like a locked door I didn't open unless I had to.
But tonight, that door felt farther away than ever.
Later, after Liora had gone to bed, I lit the small candle on my desk and opened my journal.
Lila and Isla had their first fair today.
They laughed. They ran. They danced to the fiddler's music until they fell asleep on the walk home.
I tapped the pen against the page, searching for the right words.
And I laughed too. For the first time in a long time, I wasn't just surviving for them. I was living with them. Maybe Calderhallow really can be our home.
I closed the journal, blew out the candle, and sat there for a moment in the dark.
For once, the silence didn't feel heavy.
It felt safe.