THE NIGHT THE STARS FELL

I'm super excited to participate in the 1st Annual Kids' Choice Kidlit Writing Contest, organized an hosted by the awesome author Kailei Pew.

Details and rules for the contest can be found here. 

​The short version is that we have 200 words to create a PB, MG, or YA (picture book, middle grade, or young adult) story that will hook a kid judge's attention. THAT'S RIGHT--this contest will be decided by our actual readers---KIDS! 

My piece is MG historical fiction, sparked by an unusual event which occurred in the early 1800s, and comes in at 200 words on the dot.

​Hope you enjoy reading! Leave a comment to let me know what you think. And remember to check out all the other entries on Kailei's blog (linked above). 
​


THE NIGHT THE STARS FELL
by Carrie S. Fannin

On the night the stars fell, a girl was born.  
 
Fearing the world's end, people dropped to their knees under fire-streaked skies and prayed. The baby cried bitterly, but the mother who would've comforted her was gone. The girl was handed to a wet nurse, and no one thought to name her.  
 
The world kept turning. Soon people stood, putting the stars in their pockets. 
 
After three days, an exhausted preacher came to the cabin. The family's dusty Bible crackled as he pried it open. "What is she called?"  
 
No answer.  
 
"Did Mary ever mention..." A pause. "What about Mary? It's a fine—."
 
The father shrugged and swigged his moonshine.
 
"Esther."
 
The preacher turned to the woman who nursed the child alongside her own. Though born the same night, there wasn't a place for the wet nurse's daughter in any holy book. The plantation master would add her alongside her mother to his accounts.  
 
"Esther," the woman whispered again.
 
It's a good name, the preacher mused. But he wasn't comfortable with a slave choosing, even for only an overseer's half-orphan. But it sparked an idea. 
 
He dipped his pen.  
 
"Astra," the preacher wrote in his steady hand. "November 9, 1833."
 

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