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A weak wind weaved through the grass, gently swaying it and brushing up against a boy sitting in his lonesome, tickling his nose. He was far away from the light pollution of towns in his patch of green a few ways from his home and his chickens and cows.
The boy looked up at the night sky. A meteor shower was supposed to start soon. His parents promised to watch it with him but they were too tired to stay up late, so he decided to watch it by himself.
Just then, a dash of light broke through the dark canvas. Then another, and another, until the sky was filled with strokes of color. Turning the navy blues and spots of white into a cascade of reds, blues, yellows, and oranges. The boy sat there, mesmerized, eyes reflecting the dance of lights playing up above. He almost forgot to make a wish.
He shut his eyes, dug deep into his heart and let it speak for him.
“I wish I had someone to spend time with.”
A shooting star flew by, it saw the boy's gaze filled with the wonder only a human could hold. Wishing for something only a human could have. The star thought about how wonderful such a fate was: to be human. And it too, wished: The wish to be human. Suddenly, it crashed down into the Earth. The boy, who was still plopped down against the soft but itchy grass, snapped his head over to look at the star that had suddenly changed trajectory, forgetting about the hundreds still in the air. He scrambled towards it, and once the boy finally reached the crash site, he noticed the green grass still vibrant. No debris, no crater, but instead, a person. Their features illuminated by a shimmering blanket that covered them. They had fiery, choppy hair like a burning meteor, skin the color of one, but a warmer brown. Their eyes shone the hue of the navy sky. They looked of similar age to the boy.
The star shifted, realizing they could look, and turn, and move. And they also noticed a boy, Blond hair almost as light as the white stars, skin that the biggest of them with yellow hue had tanned, and eyes a morning sky baby blue looking just as mesmerized as when they reflected the dancing lights.
The two stared. Not quite knowing what to do.
“Hello,” the boy spoke up, breaking the spell. “I’m Charlie. What’s your name?”
The star kid did not speak.
“Do… Do you have a name?” Charlie furrowed his brows.
The star kid shook their head.
“Well maybe we can find you one! My parents have an entire shelf of books that might have a neat name for you.”
“Okay…” the star kid croaked out, they never had a voice before. They wanted to keep talking, to share their own melody they can now create all on their own again and again.
Charlie extended out a hand to them to grab, and they took it.
The two ran toward Charlie’s home. The gentle wind being cut through and hitting their skin while blowing away their hair. It was the first time the star kid ran. The first time they felt the pieces of the soft yet itchy grass rub against his feet as they slammed into the ground. The first time they felt alive. Charlie felt the star kid’s warmth spread through his hand, both of them giggling as feet pressed against the lively grass. Meteor shower forgotten to the cosmos.
They finally reached Charlie’s residence, switching from loud, reckless running to ginger tip toeing up to his bedroom, where they picked out some clothes, the green sweater hung off the star kid who was smaller than Charlie. Charlie left for a couple moments to get some things, leaving the star kid to take in the new sights.
Charlie’s bedroom had a bed too big for one kid, half of it used as a place to pile clean clothes on. He had posters of some bands and an animated show. The room looked clean, though messy. Lived in. with yellow very clearly being Charlie’s favorite color. The room wasn’t as vast as the cosmos the star kid called home, but it felt comforting all the same.
The door behind the star kid closed, and out appeared Charlie holding a stack of books, struggling not to tip them over. The star kid took a second to process, but then realized that they should probably help and quickly lent a hand, setting the books down on the floor next to them as they sat down to find the star kid’s name.
The first book that was opened was called The Lone Astronaut. With a cover surrounded by blues and purples except for the Astronaut's white suit. And told the tale of a lonely little Astronaut having to find his way home from space. Her name was Hazel.
“You can be Hazel! You both came from space. But I've only seen girl Hazels. My name is for people who are boys and girls. My parents got it from Charlie’s Web, and she’s a girl.”
The star kid wondered who they were. Boy? Girl? Neither?
He wanted to be just a boy like Charlie.
The star boy shook his head, “No, I want a boy name.”
“Well, maybe this one!” Charlie picked up another book for them to open, they had to be careful with it because the book looked like it might fall apart at any moment. It was bent with a roughed up spine with bits of the edges missing and crinkled. The book was clearly for older people, but Charlie wanted to show it.
“My dad likes to read it a lot,” Charlie explained, “It’s his favorite book. He used to read it to me almost every night when I was little. Now he only reads it from time to time when I can’t sleep.”
The Land of Dreams, it was called. About a man stuck in the realm of dreams hopping through new ones trying to find a way out. He meets many figures and finds out people’s biggest desires and helps them find out it was within them all along.
“How about Maurice?" Charlie hummed then made a face, shaking his head. "Too old, you’re not an old man,” Charlie thought aloud, “This book is all about an old man, but his name’s Micah. But you don’t look like a Micah.”
They picked up another book, this one was for kids much younger than them. It had a hardcover with wider pages to fit the pictures inside. “I don’t know why we have a book for little kids. I’m already eight!” Charlie exclaimed, then grimaced and held his finger to his lips when he noticed how loud he got. “Sorry…” he whispered. Despite his complaints, he cracked the book open anyway.
The book, The Journey of a God, followed a God who turned himself human. The God had been lonely, but by the end of the pretty pictures, there came one last one that showed how the god found the people who accepted and loved him. His name was Akhil.
The star boy liked Akhil. So he said, “I want that name. I want Akhil.”
“Great! You’re Akhil now!” Charlie declared.
Akhil smiled, and they kept reading stories until dawn, when both fell asleep wrapped in a blanket neither knew which of them did it. But it was warm as they slept shoulder to shoulder.
Charlie’s parents soon came knocking, wondering what had caused their son to sleep in so late, and finding him with a mysterious child with an eerily glowing blanket engulfed him. They quickly shut left to whisper-shout about what to do about a strange child suddenly in their home.
“He’s never done this before!” Charlie’s mom’s arms moved frantically as she spoke, eyes wide with worry.
“Where did that kid come from?” Charlie’s dad frowned. “I’ve never seen him before. D’ya think they ran away from home?”
“Oh I hope not,” Charlie’s mom let out a hefty breath, “We have to contact their parents! They must be worried sick!”
With that, they steeled themselves to open Charlie’s door once again and were then met with the same sight. Two children sleeping on the floor surrounded by stories. They agreed to wake Charlie first, get his side of the story.
“Charlie.” His mom shook him. “Charlie, it’s time to get up.”
Charlie slowly opened his eyes, taking his sweet time. The day before came back to him. He realized he had no way of explaining this new ordeal to his parents.
“Please don’t wake Akhil, he’s had a long day,” Charlie implored in a whisper.
Charlie’s dad noticed with the shift of the blanket that the boy—Akhil—was wearing his son’s clothes.
Charlie’s plea was useless, as all the stirring woke Akhil up anyway. The parents both took a step back as Akhil’s eyelids opened, revealing actual glowing eyes. As if there were bright stars behind his irises. The parents both put on the best mask of calm they could fabricate, understanding the delicacy of this situation as Akhil stared intently at them.
“Hello,” the mom greeted. “I’m Michelle and that’s–” she pointed her head to her husband, “–Andrew. What’s your name?”
“Akhil,” he answered. Charlie furrowed his brows in confusion, wondering why his parents asked when he already told them Akhil’s name.
“Do you know your parents’ name?” Michelle gently prodded. Like Akhil might run away in the same way a wounded animal might.
Akhil didn’t answer her.
The parents glanced at each other, silently communicating their worry. “Do you know where you live?” Charlie’s dad asked.
Akhil did not answer.
“Akhil can live with us!” Charlie cut in. Charlie’s parents looked at Akhil’s eyes again and the glowing blanket draped over the two boys. They gave each other another look and nodded.
“I’ll get the spare mattress,” Charlie’s dad declared, and walked off to go get it.
His mom, meanwhile, looked back at the two boys, “Let’s get you some breakfast, hm?”.
At the dinner table, Akhil answered many questions with Charlie giving input every once in a while. He learned things about himself, then. He learned his favorite color, red, his favorite book, The Antics of Manny, something he liked to do for fun, he liked running.
There were also questions he didn’t answer. He stayed quiet when they asked about his parents, his home life, and his favorite food. He liked the eggs they were served though.
“Don’t forget Charlie,” his mom lovingly started, “it’s your job to feed the chickens.”
Charlie sunk in his chair and popped out his lower lip before a lightbulb went off in his head and he suddenly looked much more excited. “Can I show Akhil the chickens?” he pleaded.
“Only if Akhil is okay with it.”
Charlie turned to Akhil, telling him, “the chickens go to bed really early so I couldn’t show them to you yesterday. But I can show them now–” he gasped then turned back to his mom. “Mom, can I show him the cows, too?”
His mom nodded, “If Akhil is okay with it,” she lightly and lovingly chided.
Charlie looked at Akhil with a bright, hopeful look in his eyes, and Akhil nodded to him, “Okay,” Akhil answered. Charlie was bouncing in his seat. As if his face couldn’t glow any brighter, it did. It was like his were the eyes with little stars in them.
“You’re both dismissed from the table,” Charlie’s mom announced.
Charlie feverishly took off with Akhil before his mom yelled out, “Put your dirty dishes in the sink!” and they both meekly came back to do so.
The two were hit with a cool breeze of fresh air as they made their way to the animals. The crunch of gravel could be heard beneath their feet Akhil saw how excited Charlie was through the pep in his step.
They reached the chicken coup and Charlie excitedly began spouting off everything he knew, “This is Crackers!” He pointed. “She wakes up first every time, and she's also our fluffiest. Our neighbor has two dogs, but they’re never allowed near because they might eat the chickens. Oh! Let me show you how to feed them…”
By the time the two finished they were both covered in dirt and grass from playing around, chasing and tackling. And this became routine. The boys would care for the chickens, play around, staining their clothes in green and embedding the smell of grass and dirt within them. Charlie’s parents would have them sit down to eat together for every meal, and they’d learn something new together. Something about Charlie, something about Akhil, or about a wonders of the world they were now both living in.
Akhil learned so much about being human. Charlie’s dad took him shopping for his own clothes, where he also learned how he liked to express his humanity. His favorite color was red.
Eventually, Akhil went into their bedroom to find the mattress switched out for a bed. And their parents asked Akhil to call them Mom and Dad.
One day, Mom and Dad were reading them Dad’s favorite story when neither of the boys could sleep. The room was dim, their parents using a nightlight to read and Akhil’s blanket folded and glowing in the corner it was tucked away in. The two brothers liked to use it when they secretly stayed up past their bedtime.
Charlie looked over to Akhil’s bed and made eye contact with him. His brother’s eyes the third light source in the room. Even without them, Akhil made every day brighter. Charlie realized, in that moment, that he’ll never be alone again.
Akhil saw the pure human joy in Charlie’s eyes and his giddy smile, and realized just how human it felt, to giggle with his brother at nothing in particular while being lulled to sleep by his parents. Smelling of sweet shampoo and the grass found near the chickens and cows of his family. All the while loving and being loved.