Chapter One

1.    Meet Howard(The No-Good Day)

  Howard would never forget the day that his father left him. It was set apart from other days, not because the birds didn’t sing when he awoke, not because his toast and jam didn’t taste right, or he couldn’t get any of his socks to match, but because Howard knew as soon as he awoke, and the timid sun peeked out over the hills, that something was wrong. It was exactly a year later on his eighth birthday that Howard lay in his bed, recalling with a deep sadness, the events that had taken place that day on April the twenty-eighth.

            It wasn’t until Howard returned home from school that fateful day, that the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach was confirmed. Upon entering the doorway of his home, Howard found his mother and father sitting in the living room, waiting for him in silence. Howard had taken one look at Alice and Jonathan Longley, and he had known something was dreadfully wrong. His mind raced as to what he could have done to upset them so, and he could come up with nothing. A tear finally broke through his mother’s resolve, and Howard understood. He looked down at his shoes, closed his eyes, and broke into tears. Though he did not know what was going on, he understood that something was gone, different, and would never be the same again. His father had then moved forward and cradled Howard in his arms, shushing him gently. After a moment, Jonathan Longley stood Howard up and knelt in front of him.

“I need to tell you something, Howard,” He had said softly, his twinkling eyes on his boy, “But I need you to be strong for me and your mother, can you do that?”

Howard sniffed, nodded, and then looked up at his father.

“I’m going away, Howard. For a long time. I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’m going far away, to help people that need me. Do you understand?”

Howard nodded silently, and his father continued, “I need you to stay strong for your mother, and take care of her, okay?”

Howard sniffed, answered with another nod, and asked his father quietly, “How?”

Jonathan Longley smiled, winked, and said, “You’ll find a way.”

He had then pulled Howard close, and said the words that Howard would always remember, for as long as he lived: “Look at the moon, Howard. If you ever miss me, look at the moon. I’ll look too, and I’ll be right there.”

He broke into fresh sobs again, and his father squeezed him one last time before placing a small object in his hand; a silver compass, with Howard’s name engraved on it.

“Happy birthday Howard. I’ll see you soon.”

With that, Jonathan Longley had walked out of the front door and out of little Howard’s life.

Exactly a year later, on his eighth birthday, Howard Longley sat up in his bed and waved the memories away. He yawned, peeled the blanket off of his body and looked at his stuffed lion, Tiger. He fingered the silver compass that he had tied to the stuffed animals’ neck, and then sighed.

“Get ready, Tiger. It’s going to be a long day.”

When Tiger didn’t reply, Howard slid off of the bed, trudged downstairs and into the kitchen, where Alice was making waffles, Howard’s favorite. She was singing softly to herself when Howard came up from behind her and hugged her tightly.

Alice lit up when she felt Howard around her waist, and kissed him on the cheek. “Birthday boy! Good morning, my love. How’d you sleep?” she asked him warmly as she sat him at the table.

He poked waffle into his mouth and swallowed, managing to squeeze out a small, “Okay” before he popped more in. There was little talk after that, seeing as Howard couldn’t keep the waffles out of his mouth long enough to say anything intelligible. He watched his mother as she cleaned the dishes and wondered how badly she missed making breakfast for three. He sighed and pushed his empty plate away. Alice smiled at him and took his plate before he stood, and kissed him on the head before he trudged upstairs, apparently embarrassed.

When he got to the bathroom, Howard stood and looked at himself in the mirror, before sighing once again, unimpressed. Howard had always felt as though he looked very dull, and he resented himself for it. He took pride in his imagination, and was only disappointed that his own appearance didn't quite match up. He was short for his age, and skinny, enough so that he didn’t couldn't do much about bigger boys bullying him. He wasn’t particularly ugly or striking either, so Howard felt that he was on the whole nothing interesting to behold.

Howard had only a few choice traits he liked. He liked his eyes. He liked his eyes not because of the color or shape alone, but because he had gotten his eyes from his mother, whom Howard thought, was the most beautiful woman that had ever walked the earth.  Her eyes were a deep blue in the middle, with small rings of light blue around the rim, a place where the ocean met the sky.  There was a spot in each eye that seemed to twinkle like a watchful star and grew in shine when she smiled. Howard looked into his own, and was grateful he had them. They moved up to the only other trait he liked, which he had gotten from his father. There was a spot on Howard’s head on the right side near his temple, where his brown hair grew in a curly cowlick. It made the brown lock touch his cheek, just like his father. Howard didn’t like to comb that one lock. He didn’t want to forget about it.

Howard brushed his teeth with his rocket ship toothbrush and cinnamon toothpaste before bolting back to his room and getting dressed. Before leaving his room, Howard gathered up his periwinkle blue blanket with Tiger, and stowed them quickly away into his backpack. He knew he was too old for such things, but sometimes he felt they were his only friends. He pulled a blue t-shirt on over his head and his jeans with the dark blue patch, before realizing his shirt was backwards. He scolded himself as he twisted it back around, embarrassed he would do such a thing.

Alice met Howard at the door, like she did every morning, but this time she was holding a rolled up piece of cloth. While he put on his backpack (which was almost bigger than he was, due to the fugitives inside), Alice pecked a kiss on his forehead and fixed his hair carefully. She held her pinky up in their every morning ritual and Howard locked his with it.

“Promise you’ll come back to me today?” Alice asked like she always did.

“Only if you promise to be here.” Howard said softly in return, completing the daily exchange. Alice nodded and Howard hugged her, promising to himself that he would never leave her. It seemed like a silly thing, since Howard was only going to school, but it was something they did every morning for a year, since Howard’s father left. If they stopped now, Howard felt like something terrible would happen, and he had a feeling his mother felt so too.

Alice pulled away, then grinned widely as she put the rolled up fabric in Howard’s hand. Howard unrolled it, and saw that it was a map of the backyard, painted beautifully onto what looked suspiciously like Alice’s favorite tablecloth.

Howard looked back at her, and asked, “What’s this for?”

            Alice laughed playfully and replied, “You can’t fool me Howard, I know you know what a treasure map is for! You have a birthday gift waiting for you; you just have to find it!”

            Howard hugged his mother, before she said dreamily, “I wish your father could see you. You look so handsome and strong, Mr. Eight-year-old.”

Howard stopped smiling and looked down at his shoes, which had just suddenly become very interesting.

Alice watched his reaction, and added quietly, “He misses you, Howard.”

Howard replied after a moment, “You think so?”

“I know so,” she declared as she stood, “Now start walking; you’ll be late for the bus if I keep you any longer.” Howard sighed quietly and walked out the door, saying goodbye to his Alice.

 

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The walk to the bus stop wasn’t very far, but Howard felt like it was a long and poorly used portion of the day. So as a result, the fifteen minute trek from Howard’s front porch to the isolated countryside bus stop right outside of town was a different, fifteen minute adventure everyday. Upon stepping onto the dirt road, Howard turned into someone else, whether it was a cowboy cleaning out a ghost town, a pirate hunting for treasure, or even a gladiator in some far away arena. That day, Howard was a knight in shining armor, defending the Holy Grail on its way to a foreign castle. He brandished his sword at invisible enemies, running between trees to hide from archers. Twice he was almost caught by his foes, but in the end, when he reached the fabled ‘safe ground’ that was the bus stop, Howard returned to being a little boy with a blanket cape around his neck.

Howard sat on the old, red wooden bench, and looked up at the sky. It was his favorite thing to look at, and he found himself doing so quite often. He usually found little things he liked about it, like a speck of white or a new plane that he had never seen before. That day, however, was different. Howard noticed something rather peculiar that day, on the bus-stop bench between O Street and 32^nd. On the 28^th of April, Howard’s eighth birthday, he gazed up into the sky and saw that every star that had he had ever seen was shining brightly in the morning sky. Howard rubbed his eyes, and gawked back up again. Sure enough, stars big and small glittered and twinkled in the bright blue sky above. Howard struggled in his mind for an explanation and found none.

The bus arrived, and Howard shoved the blanket back in his backpack before getting on. He sat down in the front seat behind the driver, and looked out the window. The stars were still there, and he smiled.

The bus driver saw Howard’s odd grin and glanced up out of the side window. The man took a double take, and almost swerved off of the road. The bus rocked to its side slightly, and Howard almost flew out of his seat. After he recovered, Howard’s eyes remained glued to the skyward spectacle, and soon after the other children joined him, eyes wide and jaws slack. The bus-driver was still gaping up into the sky when he pulled into the school parking lot.

 

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The entire school had eventually clued into the aerial phenomenon. Teachers left their classrooms, to gaze upwards, stand there stupidly for a moment, only to return with a puzzled expression on their faces. Children pestered their teachers to go to the bathroom, and eventually they caught on and denied them. Despite their efforts to capture their students’ attention, the children kept losing focus, and Howard caught himself unable to read about “The Lost Dog” and began to draw pictures. He drew rockets chasing shooting stars in crayon space until finally the bell for lunch recess rang, and he bolted outside to see if the stars were still out.

He found that they were, and they were even brighter than they were when he had first seen them. Howard bought his lunch and sat under a tree, drawing more pictures of stars and how he saw them. He had just finished his best coloring yet, when dirt flew up from the ground and onto his notepad. Howard looked up in shock and frustration.

Kirby Keller, a boy that was Howard’s age but twice his size, sauntered up to Howard, who was wiping the dirt off of his now filthy drawing. Kirby was laughing, which Howard always thought sounded like a donkey braying more than it sounded like a boy.

“Hey Howie, what’s the deal? Hard to draw with dirt in your eyes, huh?” Kirby sneered as he kicked more dirt onto Howard’s lap.

Howard stood, frustrated. “Why’d you have to go and do that, Kirby? I didn’t do anything to you!” Kirby ignored him and brayed more. He gathered up his pictures, only to have Kirby slap them out of his hand. More of Kirby’s friends approached the scene, grinning and guffawing at Howard’s apparent misery. Howard looked up at the red-headed braying bully and tried his best to think of something witty to say. Nothing came to mind, and he was about to gather his things and leave when Kirby moved on to Howard’s backpack.

“What’s in here, momma’s boy?” Kirby taunted, as he reached his hand inside.

Howard’s eyes widened and his heart jumped in his chest. “No! Leave it alone!”

Kirby took out Howard’s blanket, his stuffed lion, and the treasure map he had gotten from his mother. He brayed at full volume when he saw the stuffed animal, and he held it up into the sky.

“Look what I found, guys!” He roared with laughter as he threw it onto the dirt.

 Howard watched in misery, and looked at Tiger. As Kirby Keller threw his blanket onto a branch, and ripped his treasure map to pieces, tears welled up into Howard’s eyes. Right then, he wished that more than anything, his stuffed lion would come to life, roaring and growling, and scare Kirby Keller away. Tiger didn’t come to life, though, he laid there in the dirt, while Howard’s birthday was ruined in one fell swoop by a red-headed boy that laughed like a donkey. Kirby pushed Howard onto the ground, and he began to cry. The older boys walked away, towards their backpacks and their classes, and most of all, their friends.

Howard sobbed silently under the tree for some time, until the bell rang. He gathered up the bits of his treasure map and put them delicately into his backpack. He fished his blanket out of the tree and dusted Tiger off before he trudged back to class, nose stuffy and eyes tired.

 

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When the bell rang and the children were free, Howard made a beeline straight to the bus. His head was down in determination, and fear. Having his head down made it hard to see, but he did notice that everyone around him seemed to be so very excited about something; he did not know what. He also noticed that no one was following him; Kirby Keller and his minions were nowhere in peripheral sight. Howard furthermore noticed that he seemed to be the only one walking toward the bus, and not in the opposite direction. What Howard didn’t notice, was that the stars in the cyan sky had grown three times in size and shine, and the rest of Maple Park Elementary School was frozen in awe of the mid-day star show.

The dazzled bus-driver pulled away from the school parking lot after a precarious swerve, and a rather frightened and irritated cat dove out of the way, before looking up into the sky.

 

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When Alice heard of Kirby Keller’s lunchtime bullying, it took all of Howard’s begging and pleading to keep her from “marching straight over to the Kellers and teaching that monster of a boy a lesson or two!” Howard showed her the tattered strips of cloth that was his treasure map, and her anger turned to softness. She put her hands behind his ears, and the humiliation washed away, leaving behind a kind of warmth and love for his mother. He mumbled a stifled “Sorry…” and she shushed him gently before leading him out to the backyard.  

Alice led Howard to a spot by his sandbox and behind his slide.

“Since we don’t have a map, I guess we’ll just have to settle for me spoiling the hiding place,” She said with a grin. Howard allowed himself the smallest of a smile at her little joke, and then remembered that he was ashamed.

Alice knelt in her sundress and marked a large “X” on the ground in front of her. Howard began to dig with his hands slowly, and what he unearthed was smaller and deeper than he imagined. His hands found a wooden box, smooth and warm from the surrounding earth. He lifted it out of the hole, and set it on the ground before opening the golden latch.

What Howard found was not at all what he expected; a rolled-up piece of paper marked with a silver seal sat in the chest, and Howard gingerly plucked it out and looked up at his mother before opening. She nodded to him encouragingly, and he broke the seal. He could read the small printed words, in their official font, but he did not understand them.

Alice knelt down next to him and said, “Her name is Amie.”

Howard looked up at her. “Amie who?”

Alice grinned widely. “Your star.”

His eyes widened as he read the paper again. “You got me a star!?” His little body trembled with excitement, and he attempted to stutter out a spluttering,”Th-th-ank You!” before giving up and throwing his arms around his mothers legs, which in turn knocked his unprepared mother over, sending them both into the sandbox. The both of them laughed, covered in sand, and Howard forgot about Kirby Keller, and the day was restored to its former glory. He looked down at the paper, and marveled at the thought of his own star, before going inside, and enduring a very thorough shampooing.

 

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Dinner was like every other night at the Longley house. Alice put on French music in the other room, to fill the silence, and they both tried not to look at the empty third seat at the head of the table. Howard thought about the stars, and how big and beautiful they were that day. Even as he ate he longed to look out the window, and see if they were still waiting for him. He wondered if they were as bright where his father was, off in that distant world, where Howard and his mother weren’t. He wondered if he was thinking of them as well, if he missed them as much as they missed him. He looked up at his mother, who seemed to be wondering the same thing, as she played absently with the food on her plate. She would glance every now and then towards the empty chair, and Howard had to tap her on the shoulder before he hugged her goodnight. She kissed his cheek with a “Happy birthday, handsome”, and he tried to ignore the tears welling up in her eyes.

He trudged upstairs and began to “get ready for bed”. “Getting ready for bed” was different for Howard than it was for other boys. While other boys would brush their teeth and simply pass out on the bed, Howard’s routine was a little bit more unique. He did brush his teeth, but instead of heading straight to the bed, he sat by the windowsill, looked up at the moon, and talked. He talked and talked, not because he felt like the moon herself was listening, but because he believed that his father was. He believed that his father looked up at that same moon, thousands of miles away, and listened. So Howard talked, set up a checkerboard (made his father’s moves for him), read a short story out loud, anything he wanted his father to hear. Tonight he talked about his day, how the stars seemed to follow him (and how still they shone bright even in that instant), about Kirby Keller and his antics. He talked about how his mother had somehow gotten him a star, and that her name was Amie.

The stars twinkled in the navy blue sky, and he felt someone listen intensely, holding on to every word. Howard usually said a quick “Good night” and “I love and miss you”, before he scampered off to his bed, but tonight was different. That night, on Howard’s eighth birthday of April the twenty-eighth, Howard made a decision.

He cleared his throat, and spoke slowly: “I miss you. And I wish you would come home. Please. You said if I looked up at the moon, you would be here… and it’s not working.”

He sniffed and his voice broke softly before he continued, “So please come home. If this doesn’t work, I don’t think I believe in magic or make-believe anymore. Please daddy. I just want to see you again.” Howard repeated this until he fell asleep at the sill, stars still twinkling and moon still shining, a breeze moving the trees over the hillside.

Far and away, atop a mountain of pearl white, a plan was set into a motion.

Author's Note

I know it needs editing. Very rough. Be gentle with me, haha. I know I say "Howard" a lot. Try to ignore the paragraphing, I know it needs tons of work. I'm more worried about story elements, how likeable the characters are, if it holds your interest. :)

Reviews

[Albatross]

This. Write. Is. Amazing.
Things I liked: I love, love, love the scene in which Kirby is bullying Howard. I felt as though I was reading the drama through the mind of a child. The scene was so charged and alive. It felt real, almost as if I had experienced it myself. I wanted to cry with Howard by the end of it. I thought it was interesting that, while Howard and the rest of the school were taking in the "aerial phenomena," Kirby was still a bully, still so involved in his own little world that he failed to see the miracle happening around him.
I did like Alice. Her character felt real. Unfortunately, her role as mother didn't QUITE convince me. I think this was in part due to the fact that Howard referred to her in his mind as "Alice," or, "his Alice." This kind of possession isn't something I really see coming from a boy his age. Otherwise, their relationship was treasurable and unique.
I love tiger. Perfect touch. Slightly sad in that he seemed like Howards only friend. But that's part of the beauty of it.
Howards father had an air of mystery about him. His role in the story is almost godlike. I would like to see where that goes.
The only thing I see that needs some work are some inconsistencies and poorly constructed spots in the beginning and a TINY bit in the middle.
All in all, fantastic write. Can't wait for more:)

[Rory CJ Frankson]

************************************************************** All Stars ******************************
~ I liked your opening, and the string of the second line is the gripper. I knew as soon as I reach [ that something was wrong. ] at the end of really, a great string of comma extention without stagger, or lag with pertinent context. This, would be a good read!
````** Nice when only the second sentence, sells your novel Tad ** ;)````

Buddy... I'm jealous, already. :) And, the short with talking to his stuffed Tiger and, not getting a reply... masterful, in it scenes brevity. A very good light touch witha smooth impact touch. Jeez man, go get your Jaguar NOW!

$$$```` Her eyes were a deep blue in the middle, with small rings of light blue around the rim, a place where the ocean met the sky. ````$$$
Ka Ching!
~ I was very impressed with this discriptive, and the context in the manner of its relayed expression. Most of what I'm reading is very endearing in the picture it paints, the emotional qualities expressed are exceptional. This and I am as yet only to this segment of a valuable experience.
I'll go back to the read.
~~~~ For not taking up this whole page Tad, I'm submitting here and I'll post you, the rest of my glowing tribute... seriously.
What I've read so far, is very impressive.
**************************************************************** Very Cool **************************

Write On / Right On! Romon in Review, of a sure winner! Peace TadKent

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good story. You left a lot of open questions. I like the feel of this story. The emotion of missing his father is strong in the words. I like the simple details as the checker board left by his father. A very good chapter. You brought me into the story and made me want to read more.
Coyote

[Cassie316]

Howard is a very likeable character! this story kept my interest. One element of it that I did not understand was the Arial phenomenon as you called it, you never explained why there were stars in the sky in the day, and I felt like this part made it seem some what fake. Somewhere you should just find a way to explain this in your story. I like the way you wrote this story narration, it works good for this peice. One other thing that is really minor would be the bullys name, who names their kid Kirby? that seemed a bit bizarre, though it doesn't really make much a difference I supposse. Also it wasn't clear to me whether kirby was older or the same age as Howard, and why he chose to bully Howard. You should make this more apparent.
Something else was that I wanted to know where the dad left to. Are you saving that for later, to create a sense of mystery? if not maybe clarify, or give us some hints somewhere.
Also I disagree with Briley who commented before me, I like the part with the mirror, b/c I feel like Howard's childhood is fading, and he is really stressed out because his father isn't home, it can force a child to grow up faster. Also in these days kids care about their appearances at a younger age. I have a 3rd grade cousin who cried for a week until her mom let her shave her legs because she thought she looked manly. So i don't think you should change that.
Good work! I really wanna know why his father isn't there though!!

[Briley]

This is a really great story. Howard is such a unique character and is developed really well. The part about the bully actually almost brought me to tears because this story captures me so much.
The only advice I have is to change the part where he is looking at himself in the mirror and it's talking about how he never like the way he looked, eight year old boys don't really think about that stuff. And maybe make the toothpaste different, kids usually don't like cinnamon toothpaste! :)

[Jonathan De Elvira]

You have a wonderful story mate, my advice for you is simple, just use more paragraphing for your work because at times I can be confuse and repeating the same exact line...you edit that one and this can be consider as ace from you..

[Goodbye]

Tad - this is amazing. You kept me engaged and wanting more. Also, your descriptions are just so lovable. I'm thinking especially about the description of Howard's Mother's eyes. Also, you were very, very consistent telling the story from Howard's point of view.

As you say, there's a just a little bit of cleaning up needing, but beyond that...
Excellent, excellent piece!