How I Met Lola, or The Girl Who Showed me the Stars.

A Story by Joseph

A young, business man has an uplifting supernatural experience with the help of a little girl.

Life. It throws you so many curve balls that even the greatest baseball player would be at a dead end if he tried to hit them all. For once, this was a good curve ball. My name is Jack, by the way. See, I was heading to meet up with my family in Florida after a long business trip had taken me out of town for the last week. My car broke down in some little unknown town. Thankfully, there was a little inn, nearby. Now this place wasn't just a hotel. This wasn't a Comfort Inn or anything like that. It was like an old fashioned inn. There was a main room where most of the patrons sat drinking and off of this main room, up a flight of stairs, were the rooms.

        I got my room and the old man who ran the place gave me a key and led me to my home sweet home, at least for the night. I went inside and the old man left me alone to think. I laid down on the hard bed and eventually drifted to sleep. I was soon awakened by a knock at my door. Walking to it slowly, pulling a shirt over my muscular form as I went, I reached the door and pulled it open. The most beautiful, young girl stood in the doorway. Not beautiful in the manner most men see beauty, no, rather...the girl had depth. She was young, but seemed to carry the world on her shoulders. She reminded me of my daughter. She had died around the same age the young girl in the doorway was now.

        She wore what seemed to be a forced smile as she looked at me. "My father...Step-father, actually...Er, the owner of this place....He wanted to see if you were okay. It is unusual to see a man around these parts go to sleep...sober." The girl seemed disgusted by the way the locals acted. I smiled at her. The girl had long red hair and visible freckles. It was hard to tell whether she was a young as 12 or as old as 18. Very young features, but too adult of a look to be too young. "You can tell your father that I am just a tired businessman who doesn't wish to partake of his liquor, but it was kind of him to ask. Actually...I don't even drink. Bad habit." The girl nodded and then corrected him "That's step-father, actually." She gave him a genuine smile before she left to tell her father the news.

        I went back to sleep and dreamed of the peculiar young woman. In the dream, I wandered outside of the inn and found a ladder reaching to the top of the building. Unable to satisfy my curiosity any other way, I climbed to the top and sat looking down on the small town. It was an odd place, but peacefully pastoral. It would have been a nice place to bring the wife, someday. My thoughts were soon interrupted by the girl's voice. "Hello. Mr. Allison." I turned to look up at her. "I didn't..."

"Tell me your name? Lucky guess." She came and sat down beside me.

"Tell me what you see from up here, Jack. Tell me what you feel."

        I was taken aback by the girl's demand. I stumbled around and answer, finally saying "I feel peaceful. The town is quiet and the people seem...nice-ish. Very small from up here. It's tranquil. Nice. Much better than the big city."

        "What else, Jack?" She laid her head on my shoulder as if we were best friends sharing a nice moment. "What is it that you haven't seen?"

        I looked up. "Where are the stars?" The sky was a blank canvas.

        "They are in you, Jack." Her eyes turned to the sky and a cavalcade of stars danced across the sky. "You have to learn to see them, Jack. You must learn to take nothing for granted so long that you lose it. Take life and live it to the fullest. Or you'll die unfulfilled." She stood and began to walk away.

        I called out "What's your name?" She kept walking...just disappearing into nothingness. That was when I was awakened by my alarm clock. I dressed sharp, hoping my car would be fixed. I got my things together and called a cab. When it pulled up, I walked out of the building only to hear a familiar voice say "Find your stars, Jack." I turned around to see the smiling red-head. She ran up to me and gave me a hug and as she let go whispered one word. "Lola." Then she did her familiar disappearing act and I never saw Lola again. She did help me find the stars. To live life to the fullest. That's how I met Lola, the girl who showed me the stars.