Hiya, this is a stand-alone I wrote over a year ago and posted on AEB. Its an AU but please don't be deterred.
My shooting star
I used to think that if you saw a shooting star, you could make a wish and it would come true. So every time I saw a shooting star I would close my eyes and wish with every bit of me; I wished for loads of things but never got them. When I was seven I stopped wishing.
It's a bit like life really. You can wish and wish for things to go a certain way but in the end, things just happen the way they want. And some people are lucky and get what they want. And others, like me, seem to miss them completely.
I've been lying here for ages; I've seen 2 shooting stars. I made a wish on each of them but I think you really have to believe it'll work for the wish to come true, which makes me think I'm out of luck again.
So, I just lie here watching the window and hoping that I'll see my father walk through that gate and up the little windy path. I want to see him stop and knock at the door or ring the bell and then stand there, slightly nervous. I want to see him walk in and then listen for his footsteps along the corridor. I want to hear him open my door and whisper my name after all these years.
But that's just the problem, all these years. It's been nearly 7 years since he went. Something makes me think he doesn't remember me but I also wonder if he knows I'm here. And that worries me.
Now you might be thinking what a horrible man, to leave his family, to not know his child is waiting for his arrival, but in actual fact he thought we were dead after the bomb exploded. Well, he was right in two out of three cases. My mama and my brother were dead, crushed by debris. But I survived. My tata saved me, breathing for me for a while but when I didn't appear to breathe he gave up. But in my 8 year old soul I knew it wasn't worth giving up yet. I must have been breathing very softly or something because my tata presumed I was gone too. It was only 2 hours later, when the men came to clear the rubble that they found me, crushed but breathing.
I broke both legs, one arm, 6 ribs, my nose and 2 vertebrae in the explosion. I looked a mess; I wasn't a pretty girl anymore. I was sort of glad my tata couldn't see me like that but once I was cleaned up and my nose was reset I began watching for him to come and get me. It was only a few months later, after the news that I would never walk again, that he had moved to Chicago to live and work. I saw a photo of Chicago from one of the workers at the shelter and wondered why he would leave our beautiful Croatia to live in such a dark and rainy city.
I've waited 7 years for an answer. I'm guessing I'm not going to get one, since no one actually knows where my father vanished to.
They've found him.
He has a fiancée and a step-son.
She's expecting twins.
He wants to see me.
My wish came true.
Yes, I know its medically impossible and she would be a vegetable but be smooshy for once and let it flow :0)