It was a warm summer night in the green woods of the Sierra Nevadas. Twelve-year old Jack Bech was living with his aunt and uncle in a small wood cabin where they were spending their every summer. His parents had been badly injured in a car crash a month ago and were recovering in a hospital in New York. There was no one to look after Jack there, so his parents sent him to live with his aunt and uncle until they recovered.
Jack had a very good reason to not want Aunt Julia and Uncle Bob to wake up. Jack had been reading the Harry Potter series and whenever he saw his uncle, Jack was reminded of the fat, purple-faced Uncle Vernon. Uncle Bob also has those same piggy eyes and barely any neck. And coincidentally, Aunt Julia was almost identical to Aunt Petunia. She had the same mean and bossy face, and an unusually long neck. But they both loved pets. And the pets they got seemed almost as mean as their owners.
Fortunately, his aunt and uncle had a daughter, Emily, who was eleven years old. Unlike Uncle Bob and Aunt Julia, she was kind and very gentle. She had a good temper and had lots of friends at school.
Jack crept down to the last step without making a sound. He knew that the last step squeaked. So, as lightly and carefully as he could, Jack stepped on it. Good, he thought, it only made a slight sound. The temptation of running out of the cabin to see the glittering stars was getting stronger with each stride. Finally, he reached the side door leading to the clearing by the side of the house. As he sprinted there, he noticed he was not alone. For a while, he was worried that it might be his aunt or uncle. But as Jack got closer, he saw that it was only Emily.When he silently joined her, she didn’t seem to notice. She was totally absorbed by the brilliantly shining stars dangling from the pitch black sky.
When Emily finally noticed that Jack was next to her, he was almost as absorbed as she had been before. She asked Jack, “Is this your first time seeing stars this clear?” He nodded, unable to say a thing. They lay on their backs and watched the twinkling stars in silence. Emily broke the silence and asked Jack, “You know what constellations are, right?” He nodded. Jack suggested, “ Let’s try and find some if we can.” She agreed and immediately started to scan the sky. “Hey, look, Jack! I think I found the Little Dipper!” she pointed up at the sky to show Jack where it was. They continued well past midnight. Finally, they drifted off to sleep right in the clearing.
Jack had many good dreams through the night. He wished it could continue forever. But he was roughly shaken back to reality. When he lazily opened his eyes, his gaze met Uncle Bob’s and Aunt Julia’s angry glares.
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