“When you wish upon a star,
Your dreams come true,” I sang every night
While dreaming of princes and true love with all my might.
I spun my life into fantasies and tales,
Waiting for my happily ever after to prevail.
And I kept waiting.
And waiting
And waiting
And waiting.
Do wishes on stars usually take this long?
As I was waiting, I began to write to pass the time.
It seemed like a fun way to keep the worries
Of unfulfilled dreams away from my mind.
So every morning,
The second sunlight came in through the door,
Fantasies flew out of my mind,
Beginning to soar.
They’d fly high into the sky,
To the farthest corners of the earth,
And with no other options left,
I saddled up Perth.
We flew out in pursuit,
My dragon and I,
Searching for the stories
Borne from my mind’s eye.
With a startle and a fright,
We’d find their hiding place,
Only for them to zoom away,
Forcing us to give chase.
But eventually, I’d catch them
With the help of my trusty steed.
I’d bring them back down to earth
Where I would proceed
To record them
In big books of leather
Where they could live in peace
Forever.
That was exhilarating, I thought,
Before going back out to catch more.
And every single time I thought I caught enough,
I’d glimpse another story flying out the door.
Perth would have a tired look in his eye as I’d say,
“There goes another plot!”
And he’d begrudgingly agree as I smiled and whispered
“One more story,”
Because why not?
At night, when the day of catching and writing was finally done,
I’d sink into bed and begin dreaming
Of princes and true love and of finding the one.
Except this time,
Pen and paper found their way into my fantasies,
Along with a big desk
And my very own library.
Then one day I heard of a contest of champions,
Of those who wielded the pen like a sword, warriors of words.
With a crazy thought in my head,
I entered.
The arena was large
And filled to the brim
With fighters of all races and ages
And all ready to win.
I took my place among the champions
Ready to start,
And with a thunder and clash,
The bells began ringing along with my beating heart.
There I was, all on my own,
As the warriors and fighters started to rush in.
The chaos engulfed me, and I became paralyzed
With goosebumps rising on my skin.
I took a deep breath
And forced myself to focus, to just look forward.
I unsheathed my pen
And used it as God had intended,
Like a mighty sword.
Of one thing I am sure:
I fought my absolute best.
But I was not the victor.
Not at this contest nor the next.
I was left confused and disappointed
And filled with regret.
So I trudged back home,
Begging my mind just to forget.
Feeling dejected, I fell fast asleep,
Determined to stay away
From the reality of dreams escaping my reach.
No prince has come
And I am no champion.
Dreaming is pointless.
But a funny thing happened in my dreams.
A wisp appeared, a tiny little thing,
A mix of blue and green,
Who, at once, flew into a forest unseen .
Determined to see where it would go,
I followed
Into the place where the wild things grow.
It set my heart aglow.
A new adventure was waiting for me.
I wanted to see how far it would take me
Into the mountains, into the oceans, into the trees,
Into places where I felt completely free.
We had our adventures, the wisp and I,
And I woke just in time to see another story
Begin to fly.
Maybe I’ll find my prince.
Or maybe I won’t.
Maybe I’ll become the champion.
Or maybe I won’t.
Maybe I’ll be the greatest writer in history.
Or maybe I’ll come face to face with my own mediocrity.
I just know one simple truth
That I discovered early on in my youth,
That somewhere in between
The wishing on stars
And the waiting,
I picked up a pen and a bottle of ink
And they became my greatest dream.
Jocelyn Segoviano is a writer in the United States with a passion for science fiction and fantasy who worked previously as a freelance writer and book reviewer. With a background in tech, math, and music, she brings a unique perspective to her stories. Jocelyn continues to create and discover new realms of imagination through her writings.
