The star that was not a star...

She came out from the shower, feeling rejuvenated after a long day at work. After drying her hair, which had grown to shoulder length, she noticed that there was a missed call on her mobile phone. It was from him.

The monotonous voice droned, "You have one unheard message."

Beep...Time 0000am,
Message 1:"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear , Happy Birthday to you!!! Hope you still remember my voice, and may you be as pretty and adorable as always, like that star that is not a star. :) "

She was pleasantly surprised when he left a message in the form of a Happy Birthday song for her on her birthday at the stroke of midnight. She could almost hear his smile.
It was like old times, almost.

She drew the curtains, and gazed out at the night skies. Faint, flickering stars could be seen here and there, and somehow, she knew that somewhere out there, in the middle of nowhere, he would be looking up at the sky, maybe even at the same star too.
A memory came to her mind, unbidden but not unwelcome.

"See that reddish star? It's not really a star; it's the planet Mars", so he would take her hand in his and point up at the sky. It seemed so natural then, the way their hands touched. Even now, whenever she looked at the stars, she would look for that reddish star that was not really a star at all.

She thought of calling him back, to ask how he was doing, but some invisible wall blocked her fingers from pressing the buttons on her phone; she still remembered his number by heart. Even now.

They were very close in those days, when the world was simpler, and somehow, though both of them knew it probably wouldn't last, they enjoyed every moment that they spent together.

Till one day, when both of them realized it was time to wake up. She knew that he still liked her, and he knew that she still liked him, and they both knew that they knew, but their paths were meant to diverge at that point in time. And so they parted as friends, each holding a special place in the other's heart.

"Dream of me sometimes", she told him.

"Don't miss me too much", he retorted half-jokingly.

Even now, she still remembered the way he kissed her on the forehead when they said goodbye.

He vanished from her sight after that day, but somehow she knew that he was always watching over her, like a guardian star.

You don't call your guardian angel to chat, do you?

And so, she chose to close her eyes and went to bed, dreaming about the star that was not a star.

Sometimes, the best dreamers are the ones who close their eyes all the time, because they see not with their eyes, but with their hearts.