Minny tapped her finger against the window, feeling the cold glass beneath the pad of her index finger. The invisible force field kept her trapped within the confines of her bedroom. The night twinkled on the other side of the window, mocking her captivity with orange electric glows that almost obscured the tiny pinpricks of light higher up. The sidewalk stretched past her house and into oblivion, sections illuminated by orange cones of light. The world seemed to sigh, and the dark blotches of trees swayed. Her finger removed itself from the glass, marring its near perfect reflection with a slightly smudged print.

“This sucks.” The young girl muttered, hands cradling the slightly pointed chin. Pouty lips puffed out as she sighed with the rest of the world outside. She was grounded, forced to stay in her room when not in school for two whole weeks. It wasn’t like she didn’t deserve it. Sneaking out of her room was bad. Being caught was worse. When her bedroom light had flicked on just as she was setting foot onto her bright blue carpet, she cringed, feeling her mother’s anger from across the room where she sat on the bed. There was no yelling, only a simple statement about her being grounded, and a tearful head shake from a disappointed parent that had cut through Minny faster than any shouting could have.

So here she was, three nights into her two week sentence. She already felt her senshi power itching at the back of her mind, wanting to be released. She knew she couldn’t henshin up in her room. Senshi had power signatures that could be detected, and the last things she wanted was a bunch of negaverse agents storming her room like some twisted version of a knight saving a damsel. Ambrosia would simply have to wait out the punishment with her civilian counterpart.

Minny stared out of the window blankly, letting out a tiny groan. This was torture!

Her mother’s voice came from the other side of the door. “Minny, bed.” Minny nodded, forgetting that her mom couldn’t see her and crossed the room to her bed as the door opened and a hand flicked the light off. No other words were said. Minny stared at the dark door, nearly invisible in the gloom of her room, and felt tears returning. She wasn’t sure her mom would ever forgive her. They hadn’t made candles in ages! What if she wasn’t allowed to make them with her anymore. A choked sob came from the pillow Minny had stuffed her face into. A bright white light flashed form her window, but the depressed child had missed it. The second one caught her attention as she rose from her muffled crying. Something was going on outside.

She rose carefully, making sure her footsteps wouldn’t give her away downstairs. She returned to her window vigil, staring up at the sky, which seemed to be exploding. Streaks of light arced down, fading out after a second or two. Some seemed to pulsate before fading into nothingness or disappearing into the sky behind her neighbor’s rooftop. Her eyes widened, and a soft cooing sound came from within her. It was as if the night was attempting to create a rainbow of stars. Both of Minny’s hands pressed against the glass, and she almost squished her nose against the window as well in a desperate effort to see as much of the sky as possible. Her mind was strangely blank. She didn’t question the sky, or why it was doing what it was doing. She only knew that it was beautiful, and she never wanted it to end.

Her vigil lasted for an hour or more, until the falling stars started to slow, the time between appearances lengthening until some minutes went by before another one was spotted. Minny traced the route of the latest star, thinking of another wish to make. With so many opportunities to make wishes, she had quickly run out and had started reusing them. Perhaps if she wished for something more than once, it was more likely to come true.

I wish Mommy would stop being so angry at me.

I wish I could go out an patrol again.

I wish the Negaverse would go away.

I wish I was with Lenka right now.

Finally her eyes started to itch, and she rubbed them slowly. Itchy eyes meant it was time for bed. She turned away from the window, only to cast one more hopeful glance over her shoulder. Maybe one more would pass by her window….

But none did. It seemed as if the stars were finished with their acrobatics tonight, so the tired girl crawled back over her bedspread and pushed her way underneath it. In a few moments she was sleeping, dreaming about a sky full of falling stars.

Word Count: 811