Usagi pushed herself out of bed, her bare feet landing without a sound on the cool wooden boards. She walks past her mother's room on her tiptoes, her long silver hair dragging silently on the ground behind her. Though she is still young, she already knows this is something to be kept secret. Today was a special day for the little girl, her fifth birthday. Mother had made her favorite dinner and brought her new yellow paint made out what she called sunflower petals. Usagi had never seen a sunflower before, there were no pictures of them in her books and they didn't grow in the meadow that housed her tower. There were lots of things her mother told Usagi about that she saw out in the world that Usagi would never be able to see.
Usagi places her hand on the curved banister and walked down the stairs, placing both feet on one step before moving to the next. The main room of the tower was one big round room. The kitchen right on the base of the stairs where her mother teaches her how to cook. Next year Mother says it will start to be her responsibility to cook her food. Mother spent the last five years caring for Usagi, and soon it will be Usagi's turn to care for herself and her mother. To the right of the kitchen was her table, this was where she practiced her drawing and painting. To the left of the stairs are the bookcase, the armoire, a mirror, and Mother's chair in front of the fireplace. Directly across from the base of the stairs was the only window in her tower.
She grabs her stool from the kitchen and moves it to the window. Usagi's tower is in a meadow within a round mountain crevice. Mother told her that no one can see the tower from the forest that surrounds them, but from the tower, you can just see the sky above the mountain ledge that protects them. That is where her eyes are glued tonight. Last year on her birthday, Usagi had woken up from a bad dream, the same bad dream that she always seemed to have. She never remembered the details of the dream, but she always remembers waking up and feeling like she was missing something. Coming down to the kitchen to get a glass of water she saw them. It looked like the sky was raining diamonds, thousands upon thousands of diamonds. Entranced, Usagi stayed until the final light disappeared. The night after, Usagi stayed awake after her mother sent her to bed. When Mother finally retreated to her room, Usagi snuck down to watch the sky, but nothing happened. She checked the night after that, and again after that, but nothing. After a month, she gave up, promising she would try one more time again on her next birthday, tonight.
Looking out the window, Usagi sets her hands on her palms keeping her eyes kept on the sky. Maybe the lights were a dream, something conjured to give her something to look forward to when every day is the same. A sigh escapes her lips, ready to give up she sits up and her frown deepens. Right before giving up, she sees the first one. She steps her feet up onto the stool, lifting her heels and standing on her toes, craning her neck trying to see where they come from. She couldn't see the source of the light, but soon after the entire night sky filled with light. Add every year after that, on the night of her birthday, she would sneak down to the window after bed to look at the falling lights, wondering if maybe, just maybe, they were meant for her.