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Shooting Stars When Maia arrived at her new home near the coast, the wind rattled the windows and the sea sounded louder than she expected. She missed her old friends and kept her unpacked schoolbag beside the door, as if she might leave again. On Saturday evening, Maia’s cousin Anahera invited her to a hill above the beach. He carried a red blanket and a small notebook. “We may see dozens of meteors tonight,” he said. They lay on the blanket and watched the sky darken. Anahera showed Maia how to find a constellation shaped like a kite. At first, she could see only a scatter of stars. Then a brilliant streak flashed across the sky and vanished beyond the horizon. “Did you make a wish?” Anahera asked. Maia thought of wishing to go back to her old town. Instead, she wished she would find one good thing about her new home. The next morning, she and Anahera walked along the beach, collecting smooth stones and laughing when a wave soaked their shoes. Maia tucked one silver-grey stone into her pocket. Her new place still felt strange, but it no longer felt quite so lonely.

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