It is Written in the Stars
By AiredaleLady
"Danny, hold still!"
Five year old Daniel Fenton squirmed with resistance as his mother attempted to put a sweater over his shirt. I have a special surprise waiting for you tonight, and I dont want you to catch a cold, so hold still while I put your sweater on.
Dannys eyes widened at the sound of his mothers words and he ceased squirming just long enough for Maddie to get the sweater over his head. "A surprise?" he shrieked, gleefully, his voiced tinged with all the enthusiasm of his five years. "Can you tell me what it is?"
Maddie stifled a giggle. "Come on, Danny. If I told you what it is, then it wouldnt be a surprise anymore now, would it?"
The boy paused to consider his mothers comment, settling down just long enough for her to work his arms into the sleeves of the sweater. "Is Jazz coming?"
"No, not this time--its just you and me tonight."
The boys face fell; he seemed somewhat disappointed that his big sister wouldn't be accompanying him and his mother to this special surprise.
"But that's what makes this surprise even more special," Maddie continued, "its just for you, Danny."
The boy's smile returned. The night just seemed to get better and better. First, it was finding out that he would be allowed to stay up past his usual bedtime of 8:00; then it was the announcement of a 'special surprise' and on top of that, now this special surprise was just for him! He squealed with glee at the thought. "Then hurry up, Mommy! Lets go! I want to find out what the surprise is!" He grabbed his mother by her arm and made a break down the stairs.
Behind him, Maddie struggled to maintain her footing and balance. "Slow down, Danny, she chided. The surprise will wait for us to get there."
* * * * * * * * *
Maddie Fenton steered the minivan past the entrance to the town and onto the winding road that led into the hills above the city, all the while listening as Danny tried to guess what his special surprise might be. "Is it a puppy?"
Maddie shook her head. "No."
"A new bike?"
"No."
"Uh...Cotton candy?"
"Keep guessing, sweetie. Keep guessing."
This must be some surprise, Danny thought to himself. He had already exhausted all the things he could possibly have wanted, and his mother had said no to all of them. What could possibly be better than a new bike, or cotton candy? He kept his face plastered against the window of the van, watching with fascination as the cityscape grew smaller and smaller until the buildings were no longer distinguishable from the lights that illuminated them and the city appeared as little more than tiny points of light at the foot of the hill. The van rounded a bend, passing the Amity Park Observatory at the crest of the hill; the parking lot was crowded with amateur star gazers setting up their telescopes and more than one teenage couple who saw the opportunity to make-out amidst a romantic setting. Maddie Fenton continued driving, stopping on the opposite side of the hill just above the Amity Park Country Club. The sky was darker here than on the observatory side, with the only light coming from the hanging lanterns that adorned the country clubs garden amphitheater. Maddie sat down on the grass and looked up at the thousands of stars that dotted the night sky. She draped her arm over Dannys shoulder, gently turning him in the direction of her gaze. "Well Danny, what do you think?"
Danny stared at the sky, puzzled. Surely this couldnt be the special surprise his mother had had in mind, and if it was, it was certainly the most anticlimactic surprise he had ever experienced. Disappointed, and slightly mad, he shifted his gaze to his mother. "Mommy," he whined, "you said there was going to be a special surprise for me here tonight, but I dont see it."
Maddie drew the boy in closer to her, motioning for him to sit down in the grass. "Be patient, Danny," she gently chided. With her free hand, she pointed at the sky. "Look up there. If you look carefully, sometimes you can see pictures in the stars."
Pictures in the stars? The idea seemed intriguing enough, and Danny shifted his gaze to the spot in the sky where his mother was pointing, but he saw nothing more than tiny specks of light amidst a blanket of darkness. "I don't see anything."
"That's because you have to use your imagination, Danny." Maddie pointed at a cluster of stars, tracing the outline with her finger, as if to make the picture more concrete for her son. "Do you see up there? It looks like a pot with a handle?"
Danny squinted, trying desperately to see the form that seemed so obvious to his mother, but much to his frustration, eluded him. Maybe these pictures in the stars were something only grown-ups could see, or maybe only his mother. Some surprise. But then why would she have brought him all the way up here to see something that he couldnt see at all? He stared long and hard at the spot in the sky, staring almost until tears came to his eyes, then slowly, an image began to coalesce. It looked kind of like...like a pot with a handle. Danny beamed. "I see it, Mommy! I see it! I see it!"
"I knew you would, sweetie." Maddie pointed at the skies again. "Do you see anything else?"
Danny gazed at the sky again, thinking as deeply as his five-year-old brain would allow. "I see a puppy," he blurted, tracing the image in the sky with his finger the way his mother had done earlier. "See, there's his head, and his collar and his tail is wagging." He pointed to another group of stars. "And that looks like the swing set at the park." Danny seemed surprised by his own discovery. This was fun, certainly more fun than he had thought it would be only a few minutes earlier. "And that one looks kind of like..." His voice trailed off, distracted by something else, something more interesting than mere pictures in the sky. He shifted his gaze and was greeted with a bright streak of white light travelling across the night time sky then disappearing below the horizon. Danny grabbed his mother's arm eagerly. "Mommy, look! A falling star! Falling star!"
Maddie turned her head in the direction her son had indicated and noticed that he had indeed been right. Several smaller streaks followed, each one no less brilliant than the last. Maddie watched the shower pensively, wondering as a scientist if she should correct her sons incorrect assumption about what he was seeing. Should I tell him what they really are? she mused to herself, that the correct term is meteor shower and that what he sees arent actually stars but rocks? Quickly, she dismissed the idea. Nah. Let him enjoy the moment. He can learn the correct terminology when he is older.
Danny tugged at his mothers arm. "Mommy, is this the surprise?"
Maddie favored her son with a smile. She didnt know whether he would be disappointed at her interpretation of the word surprise, so she simply answered, "Yes, Danny. This is the surprise." She nudged him, enthusiastically. "Are you going to make a wish, Danny?"
The boy closed his eyes and spoke, "I wish I could fly up there so that I could see the pictures in the stars whenever I want. And I wish that I could do that during the day too and lie down on the clouds like in the grass."
The boys comments elicited another smile from Maddie. Those desires were so innocent and so pure, yet held within them the promise that one day her son might develop a greater interest in science, perhaps even the strange science in which she and her husband were involved. Mother and son sat wordlessly, watching both the meteor shower and the constellations simultaneously. Only when the intervals between the streaks became less and less frequent did she look over and notice that Danny had fallen asleep on her lap. Maddie smiled as she gazed at the sleeping child, wondering what carefree, innocent thoughts might be going through his mind as he slept, perhaps a vision of the wish he had voiced earlier that night.
The last of the meteors streaked across the sky and dropped below the horizon, leaving only the constellations to light the sky. Still, there was enough light that Maddie could see what she was doing. Pulling herself to a standing position, she scooped the boy up in her arms and carried him to the car, strapping him into the child seat carefully so as not to wake him, then driving down the road back home, lost in her own thoughts. She cherished mother-child bonding moments like this, knowing that as the years passed, such opportunities would grow less and less frequent until the day that Danny would want to avoid her completely. She shuddered at the thought as she eased the van into an empty parking spot on the street, then headed back to the house, balancing the sleeping child in one arm while manipulating the house keys with the other. She made her way up the stairs, stopping briefly in front of another door to check on her seven-year-old daughter. Maddie tip-toed into the bedroom as only a mother could do and leaned over the bed railing towards the sleeping girl. "'Night, Jazz," she whispered, planting a gentle kiss on her older childs cheek. She closed the door carefully behind her, then walked down the hall towards her sons bedroom. Danny was still sound asleep, his head resting gently on his mothers shoulders. Pulling back the bed sheets, she placed the sleeping child in his bed and carefully removed the sweater that she had struggled to put on him earlier that evening, replacing it with a nightshirt. "Sweet dreams, Danny," she whispered, tucking him in and kissing him gently on the cheek before slipping quietly out of the room and turning down the hall towards the master bedroom.
* * * * * * * * *
Nine years later, fourteen-year-old Danny Fenton found himself desperately trying to stave off boredom in Mr. Lancer's science class at Casper High. It seemed ironic that a boy who had expressed a desire to be an astronaut and whose parents were both scientists could not bring himself to be interested in the subject, yet alone pull off a grade any higher than a 'C.' Oh sure, it might have been easier to feign an interest if the teacher were somewhat engaging, but Lancer was one of the dullest at Casper and held Danny Fenton in about as much esteem as the boy held him.
"Thousands of meteors will be visible in the skies of Amity Park this Friday night..."
Danny moved his pencil aimlessly across his notebook page, feigning note taking, but really daydreaming. Lancers mention of meteor showers had awakened a long-dormant memory in the boys mind from a time that now seemed like ages ago. So much had happened since then--he had grown up and gained an extraordinary power--but the simple innocence of that moment had somehow stayed with him to the present day. His thoughts drifted back through the years, away from the present, away from Lancer's classroom and Casper High until an image began to appear in his mind, an image of a little boy and his mother watching the skies together on a special night. Mommy, look! A falling star! I wish I could fly up there so that I can see the pictures in the stars whenever I want. And that I could do that all day too.
How prophetic that wish had been. Ever since he had gained his powers, flying off into the sky was something that he did quite frequently as a way to relax, to let off steam or just to be alone with his own thoughts. There was something oddly liberating about darting through the clouds or somersaulting in midair among the stars; up there, all the troubles of human adolescence and the drama of his family life were left behind and there was no one to challenge his thoughts or question his emotions. Up there, it was freedom in its purest form.
"People tend to wish upon these 'falling stars'..." Lancer droned on, punctuating the words falling stars with air quotes, as if to emphasize the incorrect usage of the term, "...not realizing that at the rate they are falling, they could drill through your skulls like they were wet toilet paper!" The sudden increase in Lancers volume and his emphasis on the three final words jolted Danny from his stupor; he heaved an inaudible sigh as he turned his attention back to the doodles on his notebook page. Nice metaphor, Lancer, the boy thought to himself, nice image. Leave it to Lancer to ruin a perfectly good memory. Another involuntary sigh emerged from the boy, only this time, it was accompanied by a pale bluish wisp. Oh, great.
* * * * * * * * * *
For Danny, Friday brought with it not only a great anticipation of the meteor shower, but also a feeling of intense relief, not to mention a greater appreciation of his life and his friends. To say that the week had been eventful would have been a severe understatement. Not only had Desiree returned from the Ghost Zone, but she had granted a wish that almost irreparably altered Dannys life yet again. Oh sure, Sam had not intentionally wished to have never met Danny, it was simply a sarcastic phrase uttered in a fit of frustration, but clearly Desiree had not been aware of such subtleties and was merely doing what she had been condemned to do for all eternity--to grant peoples wishes. Thank goodness that Sam kept such a detailed record of every moment of her life, and, as it was turning out, of Dannys life as well. If she hadn't been able to recall exactly what had transpired on the day of the accident...well, Danny didn't want to think about that. It had been bad enough seeing a several hour glimpse of what his life would have been like without his ghost powers and without Sam; he couldn't fathom what it would have been like if he actually had to live out the rest of his life in that fashion. Flanked by his two best friends, Danny sat on the hillside and watched the celebration going on at the country club below. He had been invited to attend, which was not really surprising, considering that every other student at Casper, from the band geeks to the jocks, had received an invitation as well, and ordinarily, would have relished a chance to hang with the popular crowd, but somehow, the events of the last week had made that desire seem petty.
"Uh, werent we invited to that party?" Tucker commented, though there was not the slightest tinge of regret in his voice.
"Yeah. We were. And now that things are back to normal, Paulinas kind of expecting a visit from the ghost boy. You should probably keep your promise."
"Yeah," Danny replied absentmindedly, "I probably should." He glanced at his watch, then shifted his gaze back to the night sky. A part of him wanted to stay and watch the shower, but he had made a promise to his friends, and after the events of that week, there was no way he was going to break it. He thought for a moment, recalling how Lancer had mentioned that the best visibility for the meteor shower would be after midnight, when there would be little to no interference from the city lights. The movie was scheduled to end at 11:00; he would have just enough time to drop off Sam and Tucker, get back home, get into bed and then... Yes. The timing would be just perfect.
* * * * * * * * *
Several hours later, Danny found himself yet again on the same hillside, this time, minus Tucker, watching the celestial light show. The country club, that only hours earlier had been bustling with the celebratory sounds of Paulinas quinceanera, was silent and dark, and in the darkness, the streaks of light seemed even brighter, illuminating the sky like hundreds of roman candles. Danny sank down onto the grass and looked up at the thousands of stars that dotted the night sky. Acting on an impulse, he draped his arm over Sams shoulder and pulled her in closer to him. "So, what do you think?" he asked. "Impressive, isnt it?"
The goth girl nodded. "It certainly is, even though they can 'drill through our skulls like wet toilet paper,'" she added, mocking Lancer's tone from earlier in the week.
Danny stifled a laugh. Lancer definitely had his moments, now if only he could turn those moments into an entire school year.
"Are you going to make a wish?"
Sam flashed Danny her trademark smirk. "Uh, is it safe?"
Danny laughed in response. Though the question was obviously facetious, he could still detect a tinge of uncertainty in the girls voice, as if she hadn't quite forgotten the effect of her words from earlier in the week. "Yeah. It's safe." He knew it was. He had safely deposited Desiree back into the Ghost Zone earlier that night, and until she found a reason to come back to the human realm, she was staying put. His eyes still trained on the sky, Danny let his mind drift back through the years and slowly, an image began to form, the same image he had evoked in his mind earlier that week in the middle of Lancers class--two figures, one an adult, the other, a child, watching a similar display in the night sky. The smaller one, the child, pointed eagerly at the sky.
Mommy, look! A falling star!
The older figure nodded.
Are you going to make a wish?
The child obliged.
A look of utter bliss crossed Dannys face as he recalled the innocence of his childhood wish. And although he would never admit it to his mother, that night he had spent with her nine years earlier on the same hillside would always hold a special place in his heart for the rest of his life. Not that this moment he was spending with Sam was any less special to him, but they were two different types of feelings, one, a mother's love for her child, and the other, a deep seeded bond of friendship between two souls who just happened to be of opposite genders.
Sam glanced at her companion, whose expression had remained virtually unchanged for almost the last hour. "Danny? Are you alright?" She spoke out of concern, for the boy had hardly said a word during the entire shower, but her query was colored by a tinge of guilt. Over the years, she had become an expert at reading Dannys emotions, and she could tell from the expression on his face that he was rather content and that her question had likely interrupted something very important to him.
The question caught Danny off guard. "Huh...oh, yeah. Im fine. I was just...uh...remembering something."
"Must have been a really nice memory."
"Yeah." His voice was distant and detached, as if a part of his mind were still clinging to the memory and the girl's question had not completely succeeded in rousing him from his reverie. And while the memory as a whole was very special to him, he had latched his mind onto a single moment, the innocent desire that he had voiced as a child.
I wish I could fly up there so that I can see the pictures in the stars whenever I want.
There was no way he could have known that one day, he would get his wish, though, perhaps not in the way that he had imagined it.
Gradually, the intervals between the streaks of light grew longer and longer until they subsided completely, leaving only the constellations dotting the nighttime sky. Danny glanced at the sky again, his gaze focused on a particular grouping of stars that he now recognized as the Big Dipper.
Do you see up there, Danny? It looks like a pot with a handle?
I see it, Mommy! And that looks like the swing set at the park!
He turned briefly towards Sam, who stifled a yawn, not out of boredom, but out of sleepiness; it was, after all, well after midnight and the events from earlier that day had taken their toll on both teens. "I think we'd better be heading home," suggested Danny, "but, before we do..." Two bright rings of white light encircled his body as he changed from his human into his spectral form. He extended a hand to his companion. "What do you say we go for a little ride?"
The girl's hand met his in a wordless reply. Taking her into his arms, as he had done so many times before, he took off into the night sky, pointing out the constellations whose forms and names he could identify.
Sam favored the boy with a smirk. "I'm impressed. I didn't think you paid that much attention in science class."
Danny shrugged. "Eh, I try. Makes it easier when it is something I actually care about." He paused for a moment, taking in the scene, noting how the moonlight seemed to bring out the natural highlights in Sam's dark hair, while at the same time, casting a soft light across her entire face. For a few moments, the pair said nothing, savoring the rare peaceful moment together. Danny was the first to break the silence. "I'd... better get you back home before your parents think someone snatched you from your bedroom for ransom."
* * * * * * * * * *
Danny slowly made his way back towards the Amity Park city limits and eventually, the Manson residence. Phasing effortlessly through the walls into her bedroom, he deposited Sam in front of the window, but to her surprise, he didn't remain; instead, he went back outside and hovered just in front of the window. Green eyes met violet through the frosted glass barrier. Sam raised her hand and pressed her palm against the window; the boy met her hand in a similar manner. "'Night, Danny," she whispered with a smile. "Thanks for everything. And I just want you to know, that, I'll never forget this night, ever." Slowly, she withdrew her hand and turned towards her bed.
Danny continued to watch her through the glass. He knew he wouldnt forget that evening any time soon either. He hovered outside for awhile, as if to make sure that she was safely in bed and that no rogue spirits were going to attack. His eyes trained towards her sleeping form, and he smiled contently. "'Night, Sam," he whispered to himself before flying off towards his own home. As he climbed silently into bed, he reflected on the events of the evening. It wasn't a date, but it was certainly just as special. Living out his most precious childhood wish accompanied by his best friend. It just didn't get any better than that.
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