To the students of Canderras, this is my message. My name is Casen Cavoray. I’m from the Kingdom of Devonmay, City of Heyvas Ivydames. We are called the star gazers. We have a seven-tiered city of dark towers that have a kind of gold dust all over them so they glow at night. We sit up high on the rooftops under the bright coloured palms where sharp coloured birds sing, and study the stars. The stars can show the way. (That’s because they dance in the dark) They shine deep in the dark sky, yet from a great distance we see them. We like studying the stars and planets, especially now, you know? I wonder where they came from, what disgusting planet they call home. It has to be somewhere up there. It probably has tons of creepy bugs all over it. What I really wonder is why did they come here? What do they really want?
I get in trouble in school a lot. We have these teachers called Carmores. They’re supposed to be the elite teachers and they demand that we excel in the high subjects. They wear these stupid blue robes and funny square hats. They’re also as boring as grass. They demand that we sit still and listen quietly. I hate quiet. I hate silence. Sometimes, when it’s way too quiet, I just burst out singing really loud, usually a song about farm animals. But that’s not why I get in trouble. Well, I do sometimes get in trouble for that too, but that’s not the big reason. I get in trouble because I care.
The aliens say I’m stupid because of how I act. That’s why they rank me BlackStar. When I get upset, sometimes I just lose it. I just feel this like exploding inside and it’s really hard to contain. They say I’m stupid because I yell out and hit things, because they say that doesn’t solve anything. I’m not trying to solve it, just trying to somehow deal with the pain inside…
Yesterday, I got in trouble again, but it wasn’t for getting mad. I didn’t turn any tables over or break any mirrors, or a throw a shoe at the chandelier knocking it down to the ground and shattering (I only did that once). Yesterday, I got in trouble because I couldn’t stop crying…
Yesterday, the teacher was teaching a really boring lesson. I almost fell asleep several times. I don’t know if she was teaching about math or gardening, she kept talking about square roots. I don’t know. It’s another mystery I guess, but we can solve that one another time. During the lesson, my classmate Maddie was drawing a picture. The alien saw it, stood up, and just pointed directly at her. The teacher found it. She had drawn a really colourful picture of Casenmay Candy Shop. It showed the small shop with all the rows of candy. There was dust on the floor and on all the candy jars. Dark shadows stretched from the dark blue glass windows, down the rows. The small, square pool in the center of the room was completely still, no ripples, and the front desk was empty. The teacher took the picture, barely looked at it, and without saying anything, burned it.
Maddie left the room after that, and I followed. I sat with her for awhile. They told me to go back to class, but I wouldn’t. I stayed with her, crying with her. That’s when they pulled me into the office, but I wouldn’t stop crying. They lectured me about the importance of the subjects and getting high grades. They lectured me about the importance of listening and paying attention to the teachers in class, not getting distracted drawing pictures. But they didn’t understand. They just didn’t get it. Maybe you do.
I knew her grandma had just died. She didn’t tell me. I knew it from her picture. Her grandma owned Casenmay Candy Shop. I went there all the time, a lot of us did. I did the same thing every time. I would go through every row, lift up a lid, look at the candy, then put it down. After about an hour I would finally pick one, the same one I always did. Anyway, we joked about how clean it was. She was always dusting, cleaning every chance she got. She also sang. You could hear her singing when you came up the channel toward the shop. I saw Maddie’s picture, and I knew what must have happened, and it broke my heart.
There’s something the aliens want from us, but they seem to be afraid of something, something we’re capable of. So they keep trying to shut us down. But there’s a way we can all be free, a way we can fly. You have to really look, really listen, not follow some already written plan. What you really care about will show the way for all the students. Then when the aliens see them, they’ll see who we really are. But they seem more afraid of us finding out who they are…
The climber must be determined to see
By flying to find your way is the key
Sometimes dance your way to be free
The way up, you will go step by step
Let your heart lead, blind you to prep
What you feel deep shows them how to rep
