Author: GW LeCroy
Tokyo lay far below, smothered in a century-old, neon-streaked smog. A constant wail rose into Asami’s room from somewhere in the haze, sharp and setting her on edge. But above, a thousand shooting stars blazed orange-yellow trails across the navy sky. Asami’s eyes gleamed with awe, a thousand wishes flooded her heart.
Her father’s heavy footsteps, muffled by their high-rise’s thick, insulated walls, shook her bedroom door as he passed. Asami tensed, poised to leap back in bed, yet she couldn’t tear herself away from her window and miss this. Her throat went dry. What would he say as he loomed over her? The shooting stars hardened her resolve.
He would simply have to find her awake.
The wail ripped at her nerves, and Asami covered her ears as it peaked, shrill and desperate. She searched through the smog below for the source of the noise, her forehead smudging the glass, black hair framing her face. Something unsettled her about the
sound—familiar, but distant, like an old nightmare she couldn’t quite recall.
“Where are the damn keys, Emi?” Her father’s frantic voice boomed, cutting through her thoughts. A knot tightened in Asami’s stomach as she glanced at the door.
“Near the respirators!” Her mother raced down the hall, voice sharp with panic. “I’ll find them, just get Asami!”
The twins screamed from their nursery, and a shiver clawed up Asami’s spine. She turned back to the window as an orange glow glazed her room. Her breath caught in her throat as the wails bled through the city. Asami’s eyes glistened, wide.
Those weren’t shooting stars at all.