A Star in the Sky

Hi, my name is Ryland. I am a 10-year-old girl. I live in Cincinnati, OH with my mom, dad, and two brothers. Growing up as the only girl in the family is different from what most would expect. Forcible tea parties, my brothers pretending to play dress up, but are really cosplaying, and my mom and dad not treating me like the princess that I feel I really am are just a few differences from the norm. Ryan and Rick are older than me and the only twins, so their special attention always outshines mine. They are always the focal point of every holiday, picture, and special occasion. There was nothing extraordinary about little old me.

Our house sat on the edge of the Ohio River and we were nestled snugly between Kentucky and Ohio. We all loved it here and my mom and dad had even said once that they couldn't have picked a better place to settle down and raise kids. In my 10 years of life, I have seen a lot of wonderful things! I had just comfortably reached the age where I was beginning to lose the initial starstruck perspective of a small child. My imagination had diminished just a bit as some of the spectacular wonders no longer made me wonder at their spectacle.

For the past few weeks, this new feeling uneasily set in. I was a bit bothered by it, but it was one of those things that you really don't know what to do about it. That is until one day that seemed ordinary enough to be just like any other day. My brothers rushed out into the front yard, as I was sitting in the grass playfully voicing my dollies' reality TV show as the producer and director. The sun beamed brightly in the early afternoon light, reflecting on each car parked on the street. It was the perfect temperature and just a hint of a cool breeze that gingerly pecked my mother's yellow, pink and red tulips on the way by never missing a beat.

I looked up and they didn't seem to notice me, just as I didn't notice my Uncle Dre's red Tahoe truck pulling up in front of our house. He jumped out with his undeniably handsome smile already plastered to welcome his nephews and niece. He had no kids of his own.

"Boys! Are you ready?" Uncle Dre called out.

They both screamed and nodded yes in unison to overcompensate for their overwhelming enthusiasm. He hugged them both tightly lifting them several feet into their air with their matching outfits and it would have made the perfect picture. What was going on? I thought. Was it their birthday? No... Mom would be busy as a bee if it was.

"Well, hello there, sweetheart!" Uncle Dre looked over and waved his large hand at me.

It was if I were frozen in time and had just been lifted from a petrifying spell. I planted a warm smile and waved sweetly. I didn't even notice that I had dropped both of my dollies.

"Tell your mom that we are headed over to the SkyStar Wheel before it gets too late! All aboard!"

Uncle Dre waved once more before scooping them both into the back seat of his truck and making sure they were strapped in tightly. He glided over to his driver's door and they were gone. I couldn't move. The beautiful illuminating rings of the SkyStar Wheel. How could I have forgotten this mystical memory? I've always wanted to ride it! Every time I begged to go with Rick and Ryan, my parents would mutually agree that I was too short or too young or that I'd be scared. To be brutally honest, Ryan and Rick would never want to be caught dead with me on a ride by their friends or anyone they knew. Therefore, my family just stopped taking me so that maybe I'd forget? I'm not really sure. I had to break from this cage of obstruction of not feeling the magic anymore. If I don't, I'm sure I will explode!