I was brought up by my father in a small house. My mother had passed after my birth, but daddy was alright raising me on his own. He would say I was a jolly child, and of course, how could I not be?

We had a small soccer field in our backyard that mother left us. Daddy always told me how good mommy was at soccer, and to my delight, I picked it up almost immediately. Daddy shook his head in disbelief every time he watched me play. He called me a soccer prodigy.

Of course, I had some difficulties growing up. With an odd name like Milky Way, I was always teased in schools whenever I went. But the strangest thing was when people would always compare me to my mother. Teachers, classmates, people I have never met before would always say something about my mother, and I had no idea why. Even dad would do it when he watched me play soccer.

"Must have gotten that from your mother," he said, a forlorn look in his eye.

I was curious, so I asked him about her.

"Tell me about my mother," I asked him.

For many years he hesitated on his response before giving me a generic answer such as how nice of a person she was, or something generic like that. This would only make me more curious, and I asked more frequently. I tried different question and got different answers. I asked some of my teachers, who looked surprised at my question, before telling me I should hear it from my dad. So I kept at it, trying to get to the bottom of all of it, before finally, he gave me what I was looking for.

I was somewhere between my middle school years when he called me down to living room to talk to him. He told me that there was some things he had kept from me about my mother, just as I had expected. He wasted no time telling me her story.

My mother was a famous idol, if you can believe that. Though famous may have been a bit of a stretch. She certainly was for a short period of time, skyrocketing to the top of the charts right after her debut. She performed in many concerts, sang many songs, and even appeared on TV once amazingly.

But just as quick as it started, it all faded away. While she was pregnant with me, something terrible happened. Dad explained it as a couple of muscular tissues broke inside of her, resulting in internal bleeding and the damage and blood loss were too severe to recover from.

Miraculously, I survived and they were able to deliver me. I...was the cost of my mom's life. It still shakes me to think of that, but Dad told me that it was my mother's proudest moment. She was determined to have me and lived just long enough to give me my name.

This wasn't really the most comforting thing a middle schooler could have told to her. Boy, I was upset that night. I know I had been asking for it, but never did I think the story of my mother was as depressing as that. I was bawling on the floor hysterically, snot running like water from my nose-

What's that? W-well yes, I did cry that night. I was young, okay? I hadn't realized the importance of smiling at that moment. But I'm getting there, okay? Just listen.

I was in a pretty terrible mood, I'll admit. But it must have been hard on my dad too. Not only did he have to relive that terrible experience, but now he also had a crying daughter to deal with.

He handed me a pair of headphones and told me to listen. And when I finally did, I heard the most beautiful sound in the world. It wasn't anything special, it was just a voice, in solitude, humming a song that mesmerized me in place.

That voice was my mother's. My father explained how it was a song she wrote but never named. She always sang this song when she wanted to cheer someone up. And she sang that song to me, right after I had been born.

Mom would have wanted me to cheer up. That's what he said to me.

She had this mysterious power, you see. It just seemed like no matter where she went, my mother would always bring smiles to anyone she met. You couldn't help but to smile back at her. She was the most wonderful person.

My dad brought me a picture of her, and though I had seen pictures of her before, this time I truly focused on her every detail. Her brown hair. Her bright eyes. But most importantly, her shining smile. And seeing her shine so bright while listening to her magical song, I could not help but to smile as well, if only just a bit.

My dad brightened up considerably seeing my smile. He told me I had one just like hers.

"You look so natural with a smile on your face," he said. "I promise I will do everything I can to keep it there."

Things weren't going as smoothly as he made it seem however. My dad and I were living completely off the money my mother made in her short-term career, and though it was enough for a while since we didn't go crazy, the money wasn't going to last forever.

My dad had been a manager for my mother during her idol career and he had tried to make use of that position to find other idols to manage. He would get sparse offers, but every time he went off to an interview, things just didn't seem to work out.

That all changed one day when my dad got a huge offer to become a manager for an aspiring idol. But it was across the country. He struggled with the decision for quite a period of time but in the end he realized that this was an opportunity he just couldn't miss.

Taking this job meant that we had to move. He asked if that was fine with me. Moving would mean I would have to say goodbye to my friends and teachers here, and the place we were going to likely would not have a soccer field in the backyard. But I knew just how important this was for us. I said yes, regardless of how I really felt.

Of course, the job was not locked down yet. My dad still had his interview to do, which was also across the country. So because he didn't want to just leave me in the house alone, he asked if I wanted to come with him to the new place. I quickly agreed. It would be a good chance to see what I was getting into.

Maybe if I was lucky, I could find a soccer field nearby.