Short Stories

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The Point of the Plan (Thanks, Lord!)

When I was a girl, I believed the stars were the lights that lit up heaven.
I’d wait for the very first star to come out in the sky, and then I’d make a wish on it.
I’d wish for simple things mostly… like Mom’s candy crackle cookies, or apple pie; I 'd wish for auburn hair (mine was mousy brown); I’d wish I was taller, like Cindy Crawford; I’d wish for perfect teeth (without having to have the braces!) But most of all, I’d wish for a sister.
If I had a sister, the things we would do together! We’d play dolls (of course!), and happy families; we’d play hospitals, and chefs and hairdressers – and we’d have nothing to do with boys (well, maybe!) We’d practice being singing stars and waitresses and actresses… we’d be famous, that was for sure! But even when we were famous, we’d still be the best of friends, and meet for lunch at fancy restaurants every day, and laugh about the good times that we had, when we were growing up.
When I was a girl, I believed the stars were the lights that lit up heaven, and that one star to the right? That was the wishing star.
But I never got a sister, no matter how much I visited my wishes on that burning beam of bliss.
Instead, God sent me down a brother. He didn’t look much at first. But as the years rolled by between us, my brother Jack and I, I often looked up into that sky at night, and thanked the wishing star.
That wishing star was listening not to me, but to the One above, who knew the secrets of my heart, but who also knew that somewhere down the path of life, I’d need a brother. Someone with a strong shoulder I could cry on; someone who knew how to fix a car, or re-plumb a leaking tub! Someone who didn’t mind having a sister, even when sometimes he might’ve secretly said to God –
“Hey Lord, how about a brother?”
But what I really want to say here God, is this: Thank-you for the wishing stars of childhood, they sing light across the magic skies of wonder, they tell the beauty of your heaven up above, but most of all they gleam and gently radiate the ever-shining wisdom of your love.
Amen.

© 2010 Laura Swindon-Ross

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