Chapter 1
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?
*****
There was something really nasty living inside me.
Mom called it the "little monster."
I couldn't see what it looked like, but I could totally feel it.
Whenever it got angry, my tummy started hurting again and again.
It was like a bunch of tiny needles poking me all at once, and I had to curl up into a little ball because it hurt so much.
When I first got sick, I was really, really scared.
The nurses in white coats scared me the most.
Every time they came, they'd be holding this long, thin thing, and they'd say it was to help chase away the little monster inside me.
But when that thing went into my arm, it hurt really, really bad.
One time, I cried so hard I couldn't make a sound anymore.
I gripped Mom's sleeve, crying and begging her, "Mom, let's just leave. I don't want to deal with the monster anymore. I don't want this..."
Mom didn't say anything.
She kept her head down, and her tears landed on the back of my hand, warm and stinging.
She hugged me so tightly, as if she could keep me safe forever.
Then Mom leaned in and whispered something right into my ear—a secret just between us.
"Daisy, listen to Mom," she whispered. "You're not just any kid. You're a little angel sent from the stars."
My sobs paused, but my face was still wet with tears.
"You have a special mission here on Earth," she told me.
She wiped my face with her sleeve, her voice trembling but so serious.
She said, "Your mission is to collect a hundred brave stars. Every time you face the little monster and don't cry, you earn a star."
I just stared at her, confused.
"When you collect all one hundred, you'll grow wings and fly back to the stars—back home, where you truly belong," she said.
"R...really?" I sniffled, a big tear still clinging to my her lashes.
"Really," Mom said, nodding hard.
Her eyes and nose were all red, but she still gave me a warm smile.
She reached into her bag and pulled out something special.
It was a blue notebook.
The cover had a moon and clouds drawn on it. It looked magical.
She opened it up, and the first page was lined with empty little boxes, row after row, tons of them.
Then, as if by magic, she produced a shiny star sticker from her pocket.
It was gold, and it was the shiniest thing I'd ever seen.
"Look, this is your star quest notebook," Mom said.
She put the golden star sticker right in my palm.
"If you can be brave today and not cry, you get this first star," she told me.
The star sticker sat in my hand, so small and so pretty.
This was the coolest thing ever, even better than any toy I'd ever seen in the shop window.
I couldn't take my eyes off it.
Home—that was all I wanted.
Mom said if I collected them all, I could finally go home.
Thinking about going home made all my fears disappear, like they were hiding in a corner somewhere.
I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand and raised my head from Mom's embrace.
The nurse was standing nearby, holding the syringe and waiting for me.
I looked at her, then glanced down at the golden star sticker in my palm.
Taking a deep breath, I told the nurse, "I'm ready. You can do it."
The moment the needle went into my skin, I buried my face in Mom's clothes.
It hurt.
It really, really hurt.
It was like something took a big bite out of me.
I clenched my lips, imagining myself as a little angel with white wings, fighting a big, shadowy monster.
I couldn't cry.
If I cried, no star for me.
No star meant I couldn't go home.
I squeezed my fists tight, holding on until the nurse said, "All done, needle's out."
I didn't cry.
Not a single tear fell.
Even though Mom's hands were trembling, the very first thing she did was press that golden star sticker firmly into the first box on the first page of my blue notebook.
She pressed it down with extra care, like she was completing a sacred little ceremony.
"Daisy, you're amazing." Her voice was hoarse and thick with emotion. "You're the bravest little angel I have ever known."