Ninety-Nine Stars

Synopsis

I had a secret that only my mom knew. I wasn't an ordinary child. I was a little angel who had come down from the stars, sent to Earth on a mission. The mission was very simple: collect one hundred "brave stars," and I could go home. If I didn't cry when I got an injection, I got one star. If I took bitter medicine without spitting it out, I got one star. If I stayed still during medical tests, I also got one star. In my little blue notebook, I had already collected ninety-nine stickers. The nurses called me the "Little Star Champion." I was very proud of that. I just didn't understand why, the happier I became, the quieter Mom and Dad got. Grown-ups were so strange. But it didn't matter. When I went back up to the sky, I would drop candies under the clouds every day for them to eat. They would smile then, right?