Original Story: Untitled

​Follow the stars, just follow the stars and you’ll find me...”. Those were my moms last words to me as she hid me under the leaves behind some bins. Even in my deep sleep I could hear the distant shouts of the angry, drunk men that were chasing her. As she said this over and over she slipped a small star charm over my tiny, balled fist. Then she ran and left me at the wrath of the cold, cruel night. And although I was only a baby, I knew she wasn’t coming back. And now in my 13 year old self my question is, how can you follow the stars if you can’t see them? Ok, listen, let’s get one thing straight, right off the bat. No, I’m not blind, yes my vision is terrible, on the verge of being blind, but no, I’m not blind. Also, I’m not by myself. I’ve got Milo. Milo is the jack russel who “found” me that cold, dark night. He cuddled up to me and most likely kept me alive. He also stopped my crying and it’s been me and Milo ever since. By the way, I’m Ivy. I’m almost blind and an orphan since I was 1 and a half. Milo and I went into town in attempts to, “borrow”, some breakfast. Hey, I know what you're thinking, “Why can’t she buy her own breakfast like a normal person?” We’ll let’s get another thing straight; I’m not a “normal person.” We wandered around the streets for a while before some high end scones and tea caught our eyes. Well mostly Milo's but still. And no I’m not going for the people outsides food, way too obvious. But you see, if fancy and fine fellows are eating there I want in. Don’t worry, we do this almost everyday and it usually works, I mean yes sometimes it doesn’t work but I choose not to talk about it. Anyway, Milo basically just walks in, distracts the manager while I sneak around back. Then we run back to our beloved alleyway. We ate and made our way to the Italian restaurant around the corner. I always go there when I’ve got something on my mind. For some reason today I couldn’t stop thinking of my moms last words, follow the stars... What does that even mean? So I turned to the chubby man who runs La Familia. He claims to make the best Napolatena pasta in town which is pretty hard to disagree with once you’ve tried it. Whenever I go he always has a spare cannoli or a few meatballs for me and Milo. By the way, I’m a scrawny, small 13;year old with olive skin and dark features with green eyes. Mr Perez always says I look like a real Italian, whatever that means. I’ve always wanted to ask him about my family, he’s the only other person I’ve ever known, and although he named the restaurant he changes the subject or looks away when I ask him. But the other day, I was looking in the dumpster for food when I saw a small, cracked picture of a beautiful young woman holding a baby and a man, who I’m guessing was her husband. I took it with me back to the alleyway and as I kept looking I realised that the man looked just like Mr Perez. I decided right then and there that I would ask him about it. So we walked in and he waltzed right out in his dirty apron “Ahhh, it’s little Ivy and her little doggie, hello little doggie.” “Hello Mr Perez, I really need to talk to you about something.” I paused and then said, “In private.” His smile dropped and looked at me for a minute with his little eyes and then whisked me away into the back room which he likes to call his office. Well, Milo walked, I just kind of felt my way until he had to grab me and drop me into the chair. He sat me down with some hot chocolate and cookies while he looked at me very seriously. He steadied his stare on me for a while until I worked up the courage to talk, “So, um, I came to ask you about..” “I KNOW WHAT YOU CAME TO ASK ME ABOUT” he yelled at me. I was stunned. He’s never raised his voice at me let alone screamed. As soon as he did Milo started whimpering and burrowed his head in my grubby lap. He must have seen my stunned expression so he said, “Apologies little Ivy, I did not mean to lash out, I had just started hoping and eventually believing that this day would never come, but here I am..” “What was supposed to happen on this day..” I trailed off, I felt like I was about to find out something that I didn’t actually want to know. He didn't answer right away so after a minute I quietly asked, “Mr Perez..” He took my hand and looked me in the eye. “ I didn’t want this day to come because it was going to destroy everything you thought to be true.” “Mr Perez, what are you talking about..” I was so confused and slowly becoming scared of the truth. “Ivy, that man in the picture is me.” Yeah I figured, I thought to myself. On the outside I had no emotion but I was silently terrified. “That woman, is your mother.” That was when I showed some emotion. My body kind of stopped working for a second and it lurched forward. I caught myself and was steadied, Mr Perez got me some water and told me to take some deep breaths. After a minute or two of that, he told me something that was exactly how he said it. It destroyed everything I had known to be true. “Ivy, the baby, is you.” And that’s when my world plunged into darkness.