01 - Wished upon a star

(Hiraya POV)

“You’re fired,” the manager says.

I stare at him in dismay. I had only been working at the grocery shop for a week, and now I am suddenly unemployed once again. The weight of the situation hits me hard as I process the fact that I just lost another job - the third one in under a month. It isn't just the loss of future earnings that devastates me, but the knowledge that I won't receive any payment for the last five days of work that I had done is a really bitter pill to swallow. Unfortunately, due to the terms of my trial period agreement, I won't be compensated for my time at all. To make matters worse, I had already spent precious money on gas to travel to and from work as I live in a very remote and rural side of town, making this even harder to bear.

My mind races as I replay the events that led to my termination. I remember feeling overwhelmed during my shift that morning, trying to keep up with all the tasks that had to be done. With the rush and everything else that needed to be completed during my shift, I must have overlooked the expired cheese stock and failed to dispose of it as I was supposed to.

“Please, can’t you give me one more chance? I promise to try harder!” I ask, the sheer desperation quite obvious in my voice.

“I'm sorry, Hiraya, but it's out of my hands. Mrs. Pomray is one of our long-time patrons, and she threatened not to return unless we fired whoever was responsible. To be fair, if she had eaten the expired cheese and gotten sick, we would be in a much stickier situation. You should be grateful that she's not suing us or reporting us to the authorities for selling expired goods.”

As I drive home that evening, my thoughts turn to my current situation. Losing my job is a significant blow, particularly considering how difficult things have been since my parents passed away. My savings are dwindling, and with rent and other bills looming, I'm not sure how I'm going to make ends meet anymore.

Then, like a cruel bully that mercilessly pummels its already beaten victim, fate delivers one final blow on what is turning out to be one of the worst days of my life. Suddenly, my car starts making a strange sound that sends shivers down my spine as if someone has dumped a bucket of ice on my back.

I pull over to the side of the road as my car seems to breathe its last, my heart sinking as I know that I don't have the financial means to cover the cost of car repairs. Tears stream down my face, and I sob uncontrollably, consumed by the memories of all the difficulties I have faced in the past few years.

The loss of both my parents in a tragic accident had been devastating, and being an only child with no other relatives nearby means I have been struggling to make ends meet ever since. In the past year alone, I had been through multiple jobs, none of which lasted very long, and some of them even left me quite traumatised. I rarely cry, but I had hoped that this job would provide a fresh start for me. Now that I've been sacked again, and my car has broken down, I feel like I have hit rock bottom.

“It’s alright,” I can almost hear my mother say. “The thing about hitting rock bottom is that there is nowhere else to go but upward. Unless, of course, you want to stay down there.”

I lean back against my seat and remove my glasses, dropping them onto the passenger seat beside me so I can wipe my eyes properly. "Of course, I don't want to stay down here, Mum, but how the heck am I supposed to climb up when every time I try, someone from up top dumps something on me and buries me under a ton of shi—wait, is that a..?"

Suddenly, something flashes in the sky, and I gasp. I scramble out of the car and nearly fall face-down in my haste. Could it be a falling star? Cursing myself for not remembering to grab my glasses, as I have the worst kind of myopia, I squint up at the sky, trying to catch another glimpse of the star or hoping to see another one. It might be childish, but with my life spiralling downhill, I'm not going to shy away from making a desperate and heartfelt wish upon a star for a miracle, just in case it works.

Feeling disappointed that the opportunity to make a wish has passed, I sigh and look around. My eyes widen as I realise my not-so-smart decision of getting out of my broken-down car in the middle of nowhere. I find myself on a road that cuts through kilometres of grassy fields, with nothing else in sight. I'm about to go back inside my car when something flashes in the sky again. Another falling star!? It could be an aeroplane but at that point, I don't even care anymore. I'm throwing my wish out there, to whoever is listening. Maybe one of them will take pity on me and grant it.

I immediately begin chanting the words that I have known by heart since I was a child.

“Star light, star bright,

First star I see tonight;

I wish I may, I wish I might

Have my wish come true tonight.”

As I recite the ‘magic’ words, I put my hands together like a little girl and make my wish. "Dearest star, I'm not asking for much, just a little respite from all the bad luck. It seems like you've been testing me with one thing after another, and frankly, at this point, I'm exhausted just from trying to stay alive. It’s gotten so bad, I’d even be grateful for a month-long coma, just so I could get decent sleep for more than three hours, if you know what I mean… oh, dang it, don't take that literally! You know what I meant! I need a big break! The good kind of break, like winning the lottery or…landing a dream job or something. I promise to work really hard and to donate a small percentage of my earnings to the poor too if that will sweeten the pot…”

I keep rambling, lost in my thoughts until a sudden gust of cold wind makes me shiver, jolting me back to reality. I remember that I should go back inside my car to try and call for help using my phone, but before I could do that, a masculine voice suddenly shouts "Hey, lady, get out of the way!"