1 It all started as things so often do with the stars One clear perfect night Pete lay on his back on the trampoline in the middle of the back lawn and gazed up at the stars Some were big while others were so small they almost weren’t there Some twinkled just like in the song and some pulsed like tiny silver hearts beating in the night sky Then there were the ones that were just wincy points of light bright against the black All of them Pete thought were beautiful As he lay there gazing skywards his thoughts drifted to his birthday He was going to be ten 5
in a week Double digits at last He was hoping desperately hoping for a telescope so that he could see everything much more clearly He wanted to see which were really stars and which were planets to make out the clusters of stars which to the naked eye masqueraded as one and the thousands of tiny stars which for now appeared as big dusty smudges on the inky sky Pete had been poring over telescope catalogues for months and had finally set his hopes on the Moonstar 300 There were lots of bigger and maybe better telescopes but they cost hundreds even thousands of dollars and he knew Mum couldn’t afford that much Pete Time to come in Mum’s voice drifted across the yard from the open back door It was getting late Pete took one last lingering look then padded across the lawn Mum looked up from the kitchen table as he came in Whatcha been doing 6
Pete shrugged Not much Looking at the stars Mum smiled They’re beautiful aren’t they I used to love stargazing when I was your age I remember She stopped Pete saw her face flicker with some unknown memory then close down Typical Mum She didn’t like to talk about her childhood Pete didn’t know anything about when she was little Anyway Time for bed honey Mum smiled again but Pete could see the frown lurking on her forehead He wished he could reach out and rub it off Instead he wandered down the hall to brush his teeth Through the bathroom window Pete could see the night sky As he brushed he closed his eyes and imagined himself looking at the stars close up through a telescope When Mum came to tuck him in Pete wondered if he should remind her again about the telescope or show her the picture in the catalogue he kept under his pillow But he knew Mum wouldn’t forget He had told her at least a 7
