By: Nina Huang

There was once an enchantress named Astra. She was a little, let’s say, different. She was able to live in Star Tower in Star Kingdom or in the human world. She loved to visit every realm, but she felt the need to be in the human domain sometimes. She lived in a beautiful white house with her dog, Sailor, and her star-unicorn Starfog.

OOPS! Did I tell you how she was mixed? I guess not. It all began when King Night, king of the Star Kingdom, wanted Astra’s parents to have a baby in the human world, so he could build a house for the family in the Kingdom. The human doctors found star symbols on her arms and legs, and she had a star-shaped print in her hair. Her mom realized the new baby was star-born! Her dad was just a normal person, but he was very grateful to have a star-born daughter. Star-borns are babies who are born under a full moon. At least one of a star-born baby’s parents must be from the Star Kingdom.

One year, Astra’s parents were called to the kingdom to fulfill an important mission for King Night.

“You are my most trusted citizens, so I’ll give you a task,” he had said.

Astra was very young at that time, and her parents would be gone for a long time. Astra’s parents, Astro and Celestica, did not want to put Astra up for adoption, but instead found a family willing to take her in until her parents returned. But they never came back.

Over the years, Astra grew up. She became a kind-hearted person who always cared about the stars.

Every summer, Astra would say to her classmates, “We are going to Florida for vacation!” because, of course, she couldn’t tell anyone about the secret Star Kingdom.

In the kingdom, there was a big star, the main star. Whenever someone did something bad, the star would crack a bit. Star-people believed that if the star didn’t heal before it was completely cracked, the Star Kingdom would disappear—forever. Fortunately, star-people are all kind-hearted people—all of them besides star-scouts, who are the worst kind of criminals in the universe.

Astra was able to use her star-spell, a sweet melody, to travel to the mysterious kingdom. A star- person who wants to go to the Star Kingdom must hold a small stone engraved with the Zodiac sign they were born under. A star-girl or star-boy receives their stone the first time the star-child visits the Star Kingdom. The star-person’s star-spell, or melody, causes the Zodiac stone to shine and teleport that person to the kingdom.

This summer, Astra’s guardians trusted Astra to travel by herself. They bid each other farewell and good luck as Astra held her stone, sang the melody, and vanished. She was approaching the star-castle, when….

“Aaaaah, here comes little Astra! She looks so, erm… different.” a guard shouted.

“Hi Astra!” another guard shouted as all the guards crowded around her. “Astra! Over here!” a third one shouted. “Astra, remember me?” another yelled. “Astra, we missed you!” Everyone hugged Astra. She felt as though she couldn’t breathe.

“HAAAAAAAAALT!” a loud, low voice shouted. “ALL GUARDS ARE TO GO TO BACK TO THEIR POSITIONS! WE WILL DISCUSS WHY YOU ARE ALL OUT OF YOUR POSITIONS LATER!” the voice commanded.

Astra recognized the man in front of her, and she curtsied deeply. “Stand up!” the man said quickly. “Ah, dear Astra, it seems as though you haven’t been here since you were a baby,” his low voice continued as he hugged Astra.

“King Night, it is my honor to see you. May I have the pleasure to go to the royal room?” Astra asked softly.

“Of course, follow me, Astra,” King Night said while walking.

“Astra, tell me, your guardians on Earth have not told you that you’re mixed?” King Night asked her.

“Oh, I am aware of that. They let me come by myself this year,” Astra smiled.

“Here is the throne room, and here is your throne,” King Night explained.

“I have a throne?” Astra was shocked.

“Of course you do. Our original princess wanted to live in the human world, so she asked you to take her place when she is not visiting the kingdom. So will you take her spot?” King Night asked.

“I accept this opportunity willingly, King Night,” Astra agreed.

“Brilliant. Then we will have an elegant princess!” King Night exclaimed.

Astra went to sit on her throne. She felt very cozy and decided to go to the royal library to pick out a book. “Astra, if you need anything, you are welcome to ask a guard—and make sure they don’t jump on you again. Just say, ‘Back off, guards!!’” King Night winked at Astra.

Astra chuckled and went to straighten out her throne cushion before she went to the royal library. She felt something hard below the cushion.

“What’s this?” Astra asked herself. “I must keep this a secret,” Astra thought as she hid the item in her silk pouch.

She casually strode her way to the library. She sat down on a very soft stool and began to examine the item.

“It’s an answer-star! It’s the rarest star there is! I must save it,” Astra told herself. She hid the answer-star in her silk pouch. The pouch matched her long, silky dress. In her star-bed that night, she heard voices outside her bedroom. She got out of bed and opened the door a crack.

“H-h-hello?” Astra whispered.

“Her parents, they were never found!” a voice shouted.

“Relax! Star-fairies found some traces of them going into the Star Tower,” said a voice Astra recognized as King Night’s. “I suggest you don’t inform Astra about this, because she will never forget it. We must protect her. I fear something—or someone—might be coming for her. Warn the star- shooters,” King Night ordered whoever the other man was—probably one of the guards.

Astra quietly tip-toed back to bed and thought about what she had heard. She felt caught between a rock and a hard place.

“But this is the opportunity to finally get my parents back!” she thought to herself.

She went to a drawer and found her pink cat stuffed animal, Whiskers. She had had the toy ever since she was a little girl. Whenever she had Whiskers beside her, Astra always came up with good ideas.

“Come on, Astra, think!” Astra told herself. “Ughhhh. This is hopeless,” Astra continued talking to herself as she flopped onto her star-bed.

“Wait…” Astra shot back up. “The answer-star! I have the answer star! Thank you, Whiskers,” she smiled.

Astra pulled out her answer-star, and held it tightly. “Too bad this is a one-use-only answer-star,” she complained. Astra closed her eyes while holding the answer star. “Where are my parents? Tell me please! Are they okay?” Astra asked.

“The Star Tower. Alive, but the Star Tower has a great hypnotic effect. Someone has to save them in time unless you want to them to suffer,” the star answered. The answer-star gave her a map of the entire Star Kingdom. With no hesitation at all, Astra jumped up and changed into her silk dress.

Astra snuck out of the castle, being especially careful when there were guards around. She followed the path to the entrance. Using the map, she sang a melody and the map showed her the way. With no hesitation she turned left and continued down the path.

Astra reached a clearing and she shivered as her dress swished in the cold wind. She thought to just go back because it was hopeless. “No, I will do this for my parents,” Astra reminded herself. She kept on going. Walking in the cold, she reached a lake full of stars, and across the lake she saw a tower. “The Star Tower!” Astra gasped.

She hesitated a bit, and took a few steps back. She tried to find a boat. She saw one across the lake, but didn’t know how to get to it. She couldn’t fly, and she didn’t know how to make stars float.

She recognized this boat, she realized. “A melody boat,” Astra whispered. She sang a beautiful melody and the boat swished across the waves to her. Astra carefully climbed in, and she sang another melody to make the boat go. She looked up at the sky and panicked because everyone in the castle would have to show up for breakfast in an hour. She gazed at the tower. “I’m coming, don’t worry,” Astra told her parents.

She stepped out of the boat and went to find an entrance. She didn’t stop. She climbed some stairs, and felt tired. “Mom, Dad, where are you?” Astra called frantically. She reached the last stair, and saw two people pacing around. “MOM! DAD!” Astra cried.

Her parents slowly turned their heads, but they didn’t say a single “Hello.” Astra backed away, and both parents started to grab her arms.

As strong and flexible as she was, Astra slipped through their hands. “Mom, Dad, what are you doing?” Astra demanded. She remembered what the answer-star had told her. “The hypnotic effect!” Astra realized. She didn’t know how to reverse it. “How do I reverse the curse?” Astra asked herself desperately.

Astra thought hard. “Wait, I had to sing the same melody many times to get here. I think the melody might be the way to reverse the curse.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her parents stand up. She turned toward them and sang the melody.

Her parents’ heads started to ache; in terrible pain, they fell down. “Mom? Dad?” Astra asked in concern.

“Astra! It’s been so long since we’ve seen you!” her mom exclaimed.

“How did you get caught?” Astra asked.

“Star-scouts, they’re the worst,” Astra’s dad said angrily.

“Now, Astro, no need to get fired up, we are safe now,” Astra’s mom said soothingly.

They made their way out of the tower and started back. They ran to the castle, where King Night greeted the three of them.

“Your Royal Highness,” Astra’s parents replied, bowing.

“Ah, Astro and Celestica, good to see you!” King Night smiled. Astra’s parents left to greet the guests in the throne room.

Astra looked down, scared that King Night would punish her for breaking the law. “Astra,” he said, “even though you cracked a bit of the star by sneaking out of the castle, you still saved three innocent lives.”

“Three? But I only saved two,” Astra said, bewildered.

“You also saved yourself, Astra,” King Night explained.

“Thanks,” Astra smiled.

“Pack your stuff, it’s time to go back to the human world,” King Night told her.

“Of course,” Astra agreed, though she was sad to go back so soon after rejoining her parents.

“We will reverse the hypnotic curse so you can live in the Tower,” King Night offered.

“I would be delighted to live there,” Astra curtsied deeply.

“Astra, people with bravery, intelligence, and smiles like yours always succeed in life,” King Night beamed at Astra. King Night waved as Astra rode the Floating Star Carriage back to the human world.

She sat in her seat and gazed at the floating stars. As she passed by a small star, she touched it and held it as if it were made out of glass. She saw the Star Tower, and smiled because it would be her own someday. As she traveled through the night, she looked back at the Star Kingdom, gazing longingly, wishing to be back there again.

And that, my friend, is the story of how Astra came to be so different.