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Last time on Starry
Love Dream! Melanie, Hazel, and Justin’s narration: Melanie: “My name is Melanie!
I’m 9 years old and I’m already working to become a singer!” Hazel: “And I’m Hazel, her number
one fan!” Justin: “This is Justin, Melanie
and Hazel’s friend.” Hazel: “That’s still not exciting
enough, Justin! You should say
something like ‘I’m Justin, Melanie and Hazel’s loyal forever friend!’” Justin: “I’m totally lost…” Melanie: “Don’t worry about that.
Remember what happened last time?” Hazel: “Oh, yeah, that’s right!
You had your first ever recording session!
What was that like?” Melanie: “It was wonderful and
it was also a lot of fun! You
get to be inside this really quiet room in the recording studio and
you start singing and they record your singing with music.
I guess you can call it really high-tech, very advanced karaoke.” Hazel: “That sounds like so much
fun. I’d love to go singing karaoke
one of these days.” Justin: “That sounds like a fun
thing to do, but don’t expect me to sing.” Melanie: “We should do that one
day! It was really fun having
my singing recorded like that, especially since it’s for my debut song. They’re going to air it on the radio someday,
but they have to ask the radio stations to play it first.” Justin: “I’m sure you were nervous.
You didn’t do anything like that before.” Melanie: “I was really nervous.
But Mr. King, my producer, helped me and Christina was there,
too, and she helped me a lot.” Hazel: “I hope you get to do
that many, many more times, Melanie.” Justin: “I’m sure you will, Melanie.” Melanie: “It’s time for Starry
Love Dream! I wonder what’s going
to happen next! Stay tuned!” Opening theme song “Starry Love Dream”
by Starry~en~Luv (Happy dreamy love, wings like a dove) (To the starry night, in the starry light) A dream can’t just stay a dream in my mind It would just be a waste and I would be
in a bind No matter where and how far you have to
go You’ve got to chase your dream so much so Never ever lose sight of the love, of the
dream Let your dream flow like the never-ending
stream I know things are tough and it’s easy to
get sad But as long as we’re together, even if things
go bad I want to sing like a lovebird and touch
your heart (touch my heart) Please stay with me and stay close to my
heart (close to my heart) Starry love dream! I wanna be your
happy dreamy love I wanna spread
my wings like a dove Fly with me all the way to the starry night
Fly to the sky and bask in the starry light I wanna be your
happy dreamy love (happy dreamy love) I wanna spread
my wings like a dove (wings like a dove) Fly with me all the way to the starry night
(to the starry night) Fly to the sky and bask in the starry light
(in the starry light) Starry love dream Hold my hand tight and always stay by my
side Let’s hold onto the dream as we go along
the ride Stay with me, my love, and don’t try to
look back If we lose our way, we’ll always try get
back on track There are so many obstacles to fight your
way through But as long as you believe, your dream will
come true Oh, my love, even if things don’t always
go right We have our love, our dream, never lose
our sight I want to sing like a lovebird and touch
your heart (touch my heart) Please stay with me and stay close to my
heart (close to my heart) Starry love dream! I wanna be your
happy dreamy love I wanna spread
my wings like a dove Fly with me all the way to the starry night
Fly to the sky and bask in the starry light I wanna be your
happy dreamy love (happy dream love) I wanna spread
my wings like a dove (wings like a dove) Fly with me all the way to the starry night
(to the starry night) Fly to the sky and bask in the starry light
(in the starry light) Starry love dream (Happy dreamy love, wings like a dove) (To the starry night, in the starry light) Starry love dream, I love you! The Prologue On the next Saturday, Melanie, Justin, and
Hazel were walking together. Hazel
and Justin were waiting for Melanie because she was talking on her cell
phone. On the other end of the
line was Christina, who was sitting in her car. “You’re
always working. Are you working
7 days a week?” asked Melanie. “That’s
the life of a singer’s manager. That’s
also the life of someone who gets into showbiz.
You’re going to experience that, too, Melanie,” said Christina. But she was cheerful the whole time. “But
you don’t sound like you don’t like it.” “Oh,
no, I like my job.” Christina
laughed. “I don’t have a life
anyway so it’s not like I have anything to complain about. The pay is good. The company looks after me. I have everything that I ever wanted. At least, I hope I do. If I don’t, I’ll just figure it out along the
way.” Melanie
smiled. “If my life becomes like
that, I don’t think I would complain either.” “That’s
great. My job is a lot of fun,
especially because I get to work with someone as wonderful as you. Your life will become busier, but I think you’ll
like it anyway.” “I
think you’re right.” “Oh,
yeah, by the way, I heard that at Regal Records, they’re done with the
editing of your song, and we’re actively promoting you and your song
to several radio stations across the country.
We haven’t heard anything beyond that.
But I know a lot of radio stations will play your song, so don’t
worry.” Melanie
seemed excited about that. “Oh,
that’s so good!” “Anyways,
that’s all I wanted to pass along to you for today. There’s not going to be anything for us to do
for the next few days so just relax.
Well, actually, I have some things to do, but you don’t need
to do anything for now.” “Oh,
okay. I hope you don’t get too
tired or anything,” said Melanie. “Oh,
me, tired?” Christina laughed
again. “No way, that’s never
going to happen. Hey, I’ll give
you a call tomorrow and update you on any news that comes up, okay?” “Thank
you, Christina.” “No
problem. See you later!” “Bye,”
said both Melanie and Christina and both of them hung up. As Christina drove away in her car, Melanie
put away her cell phone in her pocket.
She looked up at Hazel and Justin. “Sorry
about that,” said Melanie, with a cheerful smile on her face. Hazel
smiled. “Hey, don’t worry about
it.” Justin
simply nodded. He didn’t need
to smile. “That’s no problem.” Starry Love Dream Episode 13: She
can write stories? And they’re
beautiful! Melanie, Hazel, and Justin walked past their
school, which was closed because the school year was over. They were just walking around the neighborhood
for now, and then they began to approach a park that was close to their
school but it was not the school park.
Melanie wore a short dress, Hazel wore pants and a t-shirt, and
Justin wore pants and an open dress shirt over a t-shirt. “Hey,
Melanie?” asked Hazel. “What
is it?” said Melanie. “You
didn’t have to wear a dress. We’re
just going to hang out at the park.
You’ll probably get it dirty if we start playing.” Melanie
shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s an old dress anyway.” “Oh,
I see. It’s an awfully nice dress
for something that you would call an ‘old dress’.
If I had something like that to wear, I’d be happy.” “Huh?” Melanie blinked a couple of times, looking a
little confused. Justin
began to explain. “I think she
means that your dress looks too pretty to be an old dress that you could
just wear at any time, like playing in the playground.” “Oh,
okay, I think I know what you mean,” said Melanie. Hazel
looked puzzled now. “Huh? Isn’t that exactly what I said?” “Not
really,” said Justin. “But close.” For saying that, Hazel slapped his arm. “Ouch.” “We’re
almost at the park. There it
is,” said Melanie. There
were few people in the park, much fewer than usual. Normally, on a day like this, there would be
more families hanging out at the park.
There would be children playing and adults socializing. For some reason, there were fewer people there,
and they were not playing or socializing. Melanie, Hazel, and Justin all stared at the
park from the sidewalk when they got there. “This
park is almost empty. Why is
that?’ asked Hazel. “Did something
happen?” “None
that I’ve heard about,” said Justin. Melanie
looked around the park. She took
hold of Hazel’s sleeve and Justin’s sleeve and gently pulled them and
she started walking into the park. They
followed her. “There
are only a few people here. On
Saturday, there’s supposed to be a lot of people here,” said Melanie. “Maybe there’s something that’s keeping them
away.” “Something?”
said Hazel. “Last time we were
here, there wasn’t anything that did that.” “Maybe
that something came a few days ago.
The last time we were here was last weekend.
That’s a lot more than just a few days ago,” said Justin. Melanie
stopped and Hazel and Justin noticed that so they stopped as well. Melanie was looking at someone and Hazel and
Justin looked as well. There
was an elderly lady sitting on a park bench that was near one of the
corners of the park area. She
was reading a newspaper. “What,
Melanie?” Hazel asked. The
lady was probably about 60 years old.
She wore a torn up blouse and torn up jeans that were faded. Her clothes were extremely worn out and very
old and a little dirty. There
was a worn out shopping cart behind the park bench and it contained
plastic bags of items that must belong to the lady. “Whoa. She looks pretty messed up,” said Hazel. “I
think she’s not from around here,” Justin said. Melanie
looked like she was feeling sorry for the old lady. “That’s so sad. I wonder what happened to her that made her
look like she’s messed up.” There
was a gentleman who was walking his dog, and he passed by Melanie, Hazel,
and Justin. Justin noticed him
and recognized him immediately, but Hazel and Melanie probably didn’t
know anything about him. He was
Samuel Dobson. To some people in the neighborhood, like Justin’s
family, Mr. Dobson and his wife were called the “Gossip Couple”. Justin
called out to Mr. Dobson. “Excuse
me, sir,” he said. Mr.
Dobson turned and glanced at Justin.
“Yes? What is it?” he
asked. Melanie
looked up at the man and was reminded a little of John Wilkins. But this man was older and he had a dog, not
a cat. “That
lady sitting over there,” asked Justin, pointing at the elderly lady. “We didn’t see her here before. Where did she come from?” Mr.
Dobson looked and saw the lady and sighed and shook his head. “That little old lady over there?” he asked. Justin
nodded. “Yes.” “Oh,
you mean that lady. A few days
ago, while I was walking my dog here, I noticed that little old lady
sitting over there all dirty in her ragged clothes.
I asked someone about her and they said that she came to the
park on Wednesday morning. She
just sat there and stayed like she owned the place.” “Do
you know where came from and why she’s there?” asked Hazel. “I
don’t know where she came from and I don’t know why either. But I was told that she was homeless. You’ll usually find them downtown, but not here.
Not in this neighborhood.” “Oh,
I see,” said Melanie. “Yeah,
she may be homeless, but you know what, she shouldn’t be here. This isn’t a place for homeless people to just
hang around,” said Mr. Dobson. “She
shouldn’t be here at all. She
should leave and go find some other place to hang out.
This is a nice neighborhood.
Her being here is just going to make this place look bad.” Melanie,
Hazel, and Justin looked at the elderly lady again for a moment. They were all speechless when they heard all
that. “Well,
I better go and walk my dog some more.
You kids take care. And
don’t get near that lady, whatever happens.” After
that, Mr. Dobson started to walk away with his dog and Melanie and her
friends glanced at him as he walked away from them. “She
came to the park a few days ago. But
she’s homeless,” said Melanie, her hands going to her heart, feeling
a little sad about it. “That’s
so sad. I feel so sorry for her,”
said Hazel, looking a little sad. Justin
actually had a slightly bothered look on his face that may be interpreted
as a little bit of sadness. “That’s
really awful. Things haven’t
been going right for her.” “My
Papa…sometimes talked about the homeless but it was a political thing
for him. So I didn’t really understand
what he was saying,” Melanie said to Hazel and Justin. She looked sad as she looked up at them. “It’s so sad…that things like that happen to
people.” Hazel
was silent for a while thinking about what they should do. “Hey, you guys, let’s go play at the other side.
There’s a playground there too.” “Pardon?”
asked Melanie. “That
man earlier said we shouldn’t hang around near her, right? It’s probably a good idea.” Justin
looked a little confused. “What
do you mean by that?” “Listen. Let’s just go, okay?” she said, becoming quite
serious. Then she started to
walk away towards the other side of the park.
Justin hesitated and then he started following her as well. Melanie
took one more look at the elderly lady who was sitting on the park bench. The lady looked up from her newspaper and saw
Melanie, and Melanie gasped. She
looked away and began to follow Hazel and Justin. It was the very next day when Melanie needed
to go to the nearby convenience store, which was only 5 minutes walk
away from the house that she lived in with her Grandma Annabelle. Melanie came out of her room and she passed
by her Grandma’s room. The door
to her room was opened and she was folding some clothes that had been
washed and dried earlier. “Grandma?”
said Melanie. Grandma
looked up at her, her expression as strict as usual. “Yes, Melanie?” she said. “Can
I go to the store? I want to
buy some stationery.” “You
wish to buy some stationery? Why
don’t you use regular paper? We
have a lot of paper in this house that you can use.” Melanie
looked down. “Well…um, it’s just
that regular paper…doesn’t really look pretty.
I like writing letters on pretty paper.” Grandma
raised one eyebrow, totally puzzled.
“You are certainly one strange child, Melanie.” “I’m
sorry…if you don’t want me to, that’s okay---“ “You
go ahead and buy your stationery. Come
back home right away. This is
a very safe neighborhood so I can trust you with going out by yourself.” Melanie
looked up and she smiled. “Oh,
thank you so very much, Grandma.” Grandma
went back to folding laundry. Melanie
smiled again and she went downstairs and put on her shoes. She went out of the house, making sure the front
door was locked when she left. She
started to walk to a direction that was slightly different from the
path she would take if she was going to school.
The convenience store was located in a small plaza that was at
a major intersection. Melanie arrived at the convenience store.
She was looking at pretty stationery at the area where they sold
a small stock of school supplies. She didn’t notice the small girl who walked
to the same area that she did. The
little girl looked down and saw some pretty stationery as well and she
picked up a small pad. Both Melanie
and the little girl looked up and nearly walked into each other. “Oh! I’m so sorry!” said Melanie. Melanie
suddenly stopped, because the little girl in front of her looked very
familiar. The little girl looked
up at Melanie with a slightly serious face.
Melanie tried to remember who the girl was but she remembered
that she did not get her name. The
little girl stared at Melanie and Hazel was a little bit puzzled. Melanie hesitated, but then she smiled and knelt
down on the ground. “Hello. How are you?” Melanie said very softly and sweetly. The little girl looked a little bit worried
suddenly. “My big brother said
that I’m not allowed to talk to you,” she said, and she started walking
away quickly. “I’ve…seen
you before…” Melanie whispered very shyly. The
little girl stared at her for a few moments.
“My big brother said that I’m not allowed to talk to you,” she
said. Melanie
looked a little bit sad. “Oh…I’m
sorry…” she said sadly. “That’s
okay. I have to go now anyway. I just had to buy some stationery. Please excuse me.” Melanie was about to start to walk away to the
cashier. “But,
you know…I don’t understand why he said that…” said the little girl. Melanie
turned towards her again. “Huh?” “I
saw you singing to that boy Lawrence.
I know him because we’re in the same grade, but he goes to a
special class.” Melanie
still looked quite shy, despite the fact that the girl was significantly
younger than her. “Oh, I see,”
she said very softly. “You
sing really well,” said the little girl. Melanie
smiled slightly. “Thank you. I love to sing.” “What’s
your name?” “Melanie…” The
girl smiled brightly and sweetly, though she had a slightly mischievous
face. “My name is Rachel Flynn. I’m in Grade 1.” Melanie
smiled more brightly. “My name
is Melanie Thompson. I’m in Grade
4.” The
two of them shook hands. They
smiled very pleasantly as the two of them finally introduced themselves
to each other. “I
hope I can hear you sing again, but only if my big brother lets me. I hope he does.” “I
hope he does, too. I’d love to
sing for you,” said Melanie. Rachel
nodded to that and she smiled sweetly.
“Your singing was really good and I thought your voice was very
pretty, too. Where did you learn to sing?” “Oh,
um…I learned how to sing in “Huh? You mean she doesn’t teach you how to sing anymore?” “Yeah,
but it’s only because I live so far away from her now.” “Oh,
okay. Is it because she’s over
there and you’re over here? How
far is it from here to Melanie
thought about that for a moment and she smiled, thinking that this little
girl was so cute because of her curiosity.
“It’s a really long way. If
you were in a car, I think it would take 12 hours to go there. But I’m just guessing. I wasn’t in a car when I went from “Oh,
okay. When did you learn to start
singing?” “You
mean, when I started learning how to sing?” asked Melanie. Rachel
thought about that. “Yeah, I
guess so.” Melanie
giggled. “I think I’ve always
been singing. I love to sing. When I was very small, I was always singing
to people, like my parents. I
just loved to sing. I think I
learned how to sing by myself. All
I did was practice.” “That’s
really cool,” said Rachel. “Thank
you.” Melanie stopped suddenly
and looked tense and looked up slightly.
There was a boy standing some distance away and he looked very
serious. In fact, he looked almost
angry. The
little girl named Rachel was puzzled so she turned around and saw the
boy. She looked up at Melanie again. “Sorry. I have to go now. That’s my big brother. His name is Jeffrey. Bye now,” said Rachel, who looked slightly uneasy. Melanie
nodded. “Bye now…” she said softly. Rachel
quickly walked towards her big brother whose name was Jeffrey. Melanie overheard what they were saying. “Rachel,
I thought I told you to stay away from her,” said Jeffrey. “Sorry,”
said Rachel. Then Jeffrey took
her by the arm and took one last angry look at Melanie before he started
to walk away with little Rachel. Melanie
sighed, but she smiled soon afterwards.
It looks like she just made friends with the little first-grader
named Rachel Flynn. It was a
strange way of making friends but it seemed to be good enough for Melanie. She looked at other things in the store before
going to the cashier. Melanie had left the store and was walking
back the way she came. She carried
a small plastic bag that contained some stationery pads. She saw something in the distance that made
her puzzled. “She’s
here…” Melanie whispered. The
old lady that was in the park was standing at an intersection. She was pushing around her old shopping cart
that was full of plastic bags of items that belonged to her. Melanie continued to walk and it looked like
she was going to pass her by if she didn’t move. Then the lady was about to cross the street. Melanie watched. A
car went around the corner so fast that its tires screeched. Melanie’s eyes went wide. The elderly lady looked up and her eyes went
wide as well. The car’s horns
blared loudly and the lady had to pull her shopping cart back to the
sidewalk as quickly as she could as the car went past her. Even
though the car missed the shopping cart by a few inches, it still toppled
over and the lady toppled over with it, because she tried to move it
too fast. Melanie
gasped. The car sped away. She began to run towards the lady who was trying
to get up from the side of the street. “Miss,
are you hurt?” Melanie called out loudly with great concern. The
lady looked up and saw Melanie, who quickly went towards her and tried
to help her get back up. The
lady did not resist at all and was very gentle as she stood back up. Melanie pulled back and looked at her to see
if she was hurt. The
lady straightened up and looked around and she smiled. “Wow. That was really something, wasn’t it? I’ve never been hit by a car before, but I don’t
think I would like it very much if I did get hit by a car. That would probably hurt a lot,” the lady said
in a cheerful manner. Melanie
sighed with relief. “But you’re
not hurt anywhere, are you?” “Oh,
I’m fine. No problem here. Thanks for coming to my rescue.” She turned around and looked at her shopping
cart that was lying on its side. Some
of its contents had spilled onto the side of the road. “I better pick this up before some crazy driver
runs them over.” “I’ll
help you pick them up,” said Melanie. The
lady smiled at her. “Thank you
kindly, child.” Melanie
and the lady helped each other put the shopping cart back into its upright
position and they both started picking up the plastic bags that had
spilled out. There were also
some loose items on the ground that they had to pick up and put back
into the bags. “Thank
you very much, little girl. I’m
very grateful that you helped me today,” said the lady. Melanie
sighed with relief that she seemed to be okay.
“You’re welcome. I’m really
glad that you’re not hurt.” The
lady smiled again. “I have to
get back to the park. As you
probably already know, I’ve been there the last few days.
I have to go now. I was
going to cross the street here, but I guess that was not a good idea. I’ll cross the street at a safer place.” “Oh,
okay. That’s a good idea,” Melanie
said softly with a smile. “Thank
you again.” “You’re
welcome.” The
lady started to walk away, pushing her shopping cart in front of her. She seemed to be walking normally. She was definitely not hurt. Melanie was glad that she was not hurt. It was dinner time that night at the house
where Grandma Annabelle and Melanie stayed. Grandma and Melanie ate their dinner silently.
They rarely talked to each other as usual while they were having
dinner. But there was something
that Melanie wanted to talk about. “Grandma?”
said Melanie. “Yes,
Melanie?” said Grandma. Melanie
looked up at her grandmother. “Do
you know about that poor old lady who’s been hanging around the park
near our school lately?” Grandma
stopped for a second and looked at Melanie.
She remembered something from a few days ago. She did find out about that lady in the park
from someone when she was out one day.
At the time, she was coming from grocery shopping. About 2 days ago, Grandma Annabelle was
walking down the sidewalk and she was passing by a public park. The public park was rather large and it was
across the street from Melanie’s school, which was closed for the summer. She was carrying a couple of shopping bags that
contained some food items. She
had just come from the grocery store and was heading home. As
she walked, she saw something that really caught her attention. There was a woman in the distance and she was
pushing a run-down shopping cart. The
woman seemed to be dressed in clothes that were very old and ragged. She was walking in the opposite direction as
Grandma Annabelle, which meant that the two of them would eventually
meet each other. Grandma
kept on looking at the woman who was approaching. She could tell that she was slightly dirty and
her clothes were definitely unwashed.
Immediately, she thought that perhaps this person was homeless,
and if that was true, she started to wonder what she was doing in a
place like this. For Grandma,
it was more common to see the homeless in certain parts of the big city,
but they were outside the big city of The
woman was about to pass her by. She
looked up at Grandma and she nodded with a small smile. “Good morning,” she said politely as she passed
by Grandma. Grandma
nodded, too. “Good morning,”
she said, as the two of them passed each other. The
woman kept on walking, pushing her shopping cart in front of her. After several seconds, Grandma stopped and she
looked back at the woman again. Grandma
was very puzzled. She kept on
wondering what a homeless person was doing in a neighborhood like this.
Grandma watched as the homeless woman turned her shopping cart
onto a walkway that led into the public park.
The woman seemed to be headed somewhere in the park.
Grandma wondered where she was going. Grandma
turned around and she kept on walking home, but before she left the
area where the public park was located, she ran into a couple who were
well-known in the neighborhood. It
was the couple who were sometimes known as the “Gossip Couple”, Helena
and Samuel Dobson. The two of them were walking their dog. “Good
morning, Miss Hartford,” said Helena Dobson. “Hello,
Miss Hartford,” said Samuel Dobson. Grandma
stopped and she nodded to them. “Good
morning, Mr. and Mrs. Dobson. How
are you this fine late morning?” she asked. “We’re
doing well, thanks,” said Mrs. Dobson. “That’s
good,” said Grandma, looking rather emotionless and her voice sounded
almost strict, despite the fact that she was speaking to other adults. “So you’re walking the dog this morning, I see.” Mr.
Dobson smiled. “Yeah, he needs
his exercise every one or two days.
And it’s exercise for us, too.
It’s a good idea to be doing that once in a while.” “I
see, but I think it should be more than once in a while, don’t you think
so, Mr. Dobson?” “What
do you mean?” “If
you wish to keep healthy, exercise should be every single day ideally.” Mrs.
Dobson smiled at her husband. “You
know, that’s true. We should
actually be doing this every single day.
What do you think?” Mr.
Dobson laughed. “Yeah, I guess
you’re right about that.” Grandma
nodded and she turned her head and looked at the woman she had passed
by earlier. She was quite a distance
away by now, but she could still see her.
The woman seemed to be headed towards a park bench.
When she arrived at the park bench, she parked her shopping cart
behind it, and then she sat down on the bench. Mr.
and Mrs. Dobson both saw what Grandma Annabelle was looking at. “Ah, I see you’ve noticed that lady,” said Mrs.
Dobson. Grandma
glanced at Mrs. Dobson. “What
about that lady? She passed me
by earlier and I knew that I could smell something that seemed like
a very slight body odor.” “She’s
homeless,” said Mr. Dobson. “I
see. It’s just as I thought,”
said Grandma. “Why is she here?” Mr.
Dobson shrugged. “I have no idea. Nobody knows why she’s here. I tried asking around and nobody seems to know
anything.” “Where
did she come from?” Mrs.
Dobson was the one who answered. “I
don’t know, but I’m guess that she’s probably from downtown or something
like that. That’s where most
of the homeless people are, I believe.” “When
did she arrive?” “I’m
not sure when she arrived, but I think she’s been here for about a couple
of days now. That’s what I heard
anyway, when we asked around,” said Mr. Dobson. Grandma
sighed and shook her head. “I
see. That’s unfortunate. You don’t really know that much about her then.
Have you tried asking her?” “No,
forget that. I don’t want to
ask a homeless person what she’s doing here and where she came from
and why she’s here. I’d probably
sound like an insensitive fool. I
wouldn’t know what to say and she’ll probably say something very bad,
too,” said Mrs. Dobson, looking a little surprised.
“I think we can tell just by looking at her.” Grandma
raised an eyebrow and sighed. “In
some cases, you could. But you
could be right about all the answers you’ve given me so far.
It seems to make sense to me,” she said. Mr.
Dobson was shaking his head. “Yeah,
but you know, she shouldn’t be here.
Homeless people from the big city shouldn’t be coming to a nice
and beautiful neighborhood like this and messing it up. She’s probably been sleeping there for a couple
of days already.” “She’s
going to make this neighborhood look bad.
And by having her here, it means that maybe sooner or later,
more homeless people are going to come here and they’re going to start
sleeping all over the place. This
fine neighborhood will be like a dump later on, if that happens,” Said
Mrs. Dobson. “I
see. I suppose you could say
that she’s trespassing, because this is public property,” said Grandma
Annabelle. “Yeah,
that’s true. Do you think we
should call the police?” said Mr. Dobson. Mrs.
Dobson looked up at her husband and shook her head. “And what are you going to tell them? There’s a homeless woman in our public park
and we don’t want her here? Saying
something like that kind of makes us look like the bad guys, don’t you
think?” Mr.
Dobson thought about that for a while and he agreed. “Oh, yeah, you’re right. That does sound pretty insensitive. But, still, she doesn’t belong here. We have to say something about it.” Grandma
intervened. “Mr. and Mrs. Dobson,
please remember one thing when you’re thinking about this situation.” “What
is it?” asked Mrs. Dobson. “In
this kind of situation, there’s no such thing as the right thing to
do.” Mr.
and Mrs. Dobson were taken aback what Grandma Annabelle Hartford just
said to them, and they fell quiet. They
did not know what else to say, because it seemed to make very much sense
what she had just said to them. “Then
what are we going to do?” asked Mr. Dobson. Grandma
did not say anything, for she did not know what to do about this kind
of situation either. Grandma nodded to Melanie at the dinner
table. “Some of the neighbors
have mentioned her to me. I also
saw her when I went to buy groceries the other day at the plaza. I could see that she was quite poor. In fact, I was told that she was homeless.” “Oh,
okay.” “Why
do you ask?” asked Grandma. “I
was just wondering. I saw her
at the park. I also saw her trying
to cross the street and she was almost hit by a car.” Grandma
looked slightly surprised. “Oh. That would be pretty bad if she got hit by a
car. Was she hurt in any way?” “No,
she wasn’t hurt. She was okay.” “Well,
that’s good. However…” Melanie
looked puzzled. “However?” she
said. “That
old lady shouldn’t be in this neighborhood in the first place. I’m sure that she is not dangerous. But this is a lovely, peaceful, and quiet neighborhood,
and someone like her should not be hanging around this neighborhood.” “Someone…like
her?” Melanie said. She could
tell there was something not quite right about what Grandma just said. Grandma
sighed softly. “Okay. The point that I’m trying to make is that the
park is property of the city. It
can be used by the public for recreational purposes.
That’s why you see families hanging around there having a good
time. Children play there and elderly walk their dogs.
It is not for anyone to just stay there overnight for several
days in a row. It’s called loitering
and that is against the law. People sometimes get arrested for that.” “Oh,
I see.” Melanie seemed disappointed.
“Does that mean that someone is going to force her to get out
of the park?” “That’s
possible. But only if someone
complains about it. The police
can do it, but someone has to tell them to do that,” said Grandma. She sighed again and closed her eyes for a moment
and shook her head. She tried
to think of what else she should be saying in this situation. Melanie
watched her. “Grandma?” she asked. “Also…she
is making the neighborhood look bad and loitering at the park. I wish someone would call the police and ask
her to leave. But no one seems
to have the courage to do that.” Melanie
thought what Grandma was saying was quite insensitive, and she felt
sad about it. She felt sad that
the law can be used to do something like that.
It was not like the lady was doing any harm.
If it was wrong for her to stay in the park, maybe someone can
help her stay somewhere else. “Grandma?”
said Melanie. “What
is it?” asked Grandma. “I…don’t
think it would be right…if someone just called the police to ask her
to leave. That just doesn’t sound
like the right thing to do.” Grandma
paused for several seconds. The
two of them stared at each other for a long time.
Grandma’s face did not look so strict this time. Melanie wondered what she was going to say. “Melanie…in
this kind of situation, there is no such thing as the right thing to
do. Any solution that you can come up with will
probably do some kind of harm one way or another. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?” Melanie
nodded. She did not say anything
about it anymore because she did not know what else to say. She and Grandma continued to eat their dinner. Melanie decided to pass by the park when
she was on her way to Hazel’s house the next day. Sure enough, the old lady was there in the park
at the corner where Melanie, Hazel, and Justin had first seen her. Melanie went into the park and began to walk
slowly towards her. The
lady was writing something in a binder.
When she sensed someone coming closer to her, she looked up and
saw Melanie. Melanie stopped
and stood there for a while. The
lady smiled at her. “I see you’re
here again,” she said. Melanie
was puzzled and she walked a little closer to her. “Sometimes my friends and I visit the park,”
she said softly. “That’s
good. But are you afraid of me
now?” Melanie
was gasped and looked a little serious.
“No, of course I’m not afraid of you.
Did someone say that?” “No,
no one said anything like that.” Melanie
stood next to the park bench that the lady was sitting on. “I was just curious. I hope…I hope I’m not bothering you or anything.” The
lady smiled at Melanie again. “No,
you’re not bothering me. I always
welcome company.” Melanie
smiled at her, too. “Oh, that’s
good.” “Thank
you again for helping me yesterday.
That was very kind of you.” “Oh,
you’re welcome.” Melanie
hesitated before she said anything else.
She wanted to make sure that she was not prying into someone
else’s business. “Can I ask you
something?” “Sure,
go ahead.” “What
are you doing?” Melanie asked. “I’m
writing a story.” Melanie
gasped, and then she seemed delighted.
“Oh, wow. That’s wonderful. You’re a story writer? You like to write stories?” The
lady was amused by Melanie’s reaction and laughed. “That’s right. I’m a story writer. I’ve been writing stories for a long time. I’ve been writing since I was your age.” “That’s
so nice. I can write some stories,
too, but it’s usually for school.” “That’s
good enough. As long as you can
write a story, you’re a story writer.” Melanie
smiled sweetly. “My name is Melanie.
What’s your name?” “My
name is Alison. I’m very pleased
to meet you, Melanie.” Melanie
extended a hand towards her for a hand shake.
Alison hesitated for a second and then she smiled and shook Melanie’s
little hand. Alison’s hands were
dry and callused, as if they had been doing all kinds of work for a
very long time. “I’m
pleased to meet you, too. I just
wanted to check up on you after yesterday, so I came here. I was going to a friend’s house.” “Oh,
is that so? That’s very kind
of you. You’re a very kind little
girl. It would be nice if everyone
in the world were like you,” said Alison.
She spoke in a rather cheerful way that made Melanie feel good
about talking to her. She was
very inviting. Melanie thought she was similar to a nice version
of Grandma Annabelle. Melanie
smiled at her but her shyness was starting to take over again and was
wondering what she should say next. It
seemed that Alison noticed the shyness that was taking over Melanie
and she smiled at that. “Melanie,
why don’t you visit your friend? She
might be waiting for you by now.” Melanie
suddenly realized that she was supposed to visit Hazel. She looked at her wrist watch. “Oh, right.
I almost forgot. I’m supposed
to visit my friend.” Alison
laughed at that. “Don’t forget
your friends, Melanie.” Melanie
nodded and smiled. “I have to
go now. Please take care while
you’re here.” “I’ll
be fine. You take care, too,”
said Alison. Melanie
turned around and started to walk away, but there was something that
she thought about. She turned
around and faced Alison again. “Miss
Alison?” she said. Alison
looked up at her. “Yes?” “If
it is okay with you…can I visit you again tomorrow?” asked Melanie. Alison
was taken aback slightly by that request.
“Sure…if you want. I don’t
usually get much company anyway. But
I wonder why you would. No offense. I’m just wondering. That’s all.” “Because…because
you seem like an interesting person.” Alison
was surprised again. It was also
amusing and she smiled. “Okay. You can visit me.” Melanie
smiled at her and she nodded. “Thank
you. See you tomorrow,” she said
and she started to walk away. Alison
went back to her story writing, but she stopped after a minute. She looked up and watched Melanie in the distance,
walking on the sidewalk towards where her friend was living. She smiled. “I’m
an interesting person, huh?” Alison whispered.
“What a sweet thing to say.” For the next few days, Melanie went to Hazel’s
house every single day, but she also visited Alison at the park either
before she went to Hazel’s house or as she was coming home. Melanie would sit with Alison on the park bench
and they would talk. Melanie
learned that Alison had a huge number of stories with her. Some of the plastic bags that were in her shopping
cart contained binders and folders of stories that Alison had been writing
for years. Alison let her read
the story that she was writing the first time they met. Melanie read that unfinished story while sitting
with Alison one day. “You
know, Alison is a really nice lady.
She doesn’t do anything to hurt anyone.
I don’t mind if she’s hanging around at the park every day. I think it’s awful that people don’t want her
there. They’re only looking at
how she looks on the outside. They
have no idea what kind of person she really is.
Are appearances really that important to people?
I just can’t agree with that.” It was a different story with Rachel and
Jeffrey Flynn. While Alison was
pushing her shopping cart across the park towards her favorite spot
where she was always at, a ball rolled towards Alison and stopped next
to her feet. “Oh,
no, come back!” a little girl called out to her ball. It was Rachel Flynn. Rachel saw that the ball was at Alison’s feet
and she stopped and was puzzled. Alison
picked up the ball and looked up at Rachel and smiled. She extended the ball towards Rachel. “Here you go, little girl,” she said. Rachel
went over to her and took the ball and she smiled. “Thanks.” “You’re
welcome, dear,” said Alison with a cheerful smile. “Rachel!”
a boy shouted. Rachel
turned around and Alison looked up.
It was Jeffrey, her big brother. “Get
over here! Stay away from that
lady! Mom and Dad told us not
to go anywhere near her, so stay away from her, okay?” Rachel
was speechless for a while. She
looked up at Alison without saying a word.
She did not know what to say.
Rachel began to run towards Jeffrey, and the two of them began
to walk away quickly. “Rachel,
don’t go anywhere near that lady. I
heard she’s trouble. Just look
at her. Her clothes are all raggedy
and torn up and dirty. I don’t
want you going anywhere near her. Mom
and Dad told us that. Listen
to me, okay?” said Jeffrey. “Okay,”
said Rachel, but she looked puzzled, as if she found something not quite
right about what Jeffrey was saying.
But since their Mom and Dad had told them not to go anywhere
near her, it’s probably okay to do what Jeffrey was asking. Alison
stood there for a moment. She
thought the little girl was very nice but seemed to be dominated by
a strict older brother. But that
was not what bothered her the most.
What bothered her was the fact that people are so judgmental. “The
world sure is a screwed up place,” Alison said softly and she continued
pushing her shopping cart towards the park bench that she was always
found at. Alison was a little surprised because she saw
Melanie sitting on the bench, looking at her with a concerned expression. Alison
sat down on the bench after parking her shopping cart behind it. “I guess you saw what happened,” she said to
Melanie. Melanie
nodded. “I was on my way and
I saw Rachel near you and you gave the ball to her.
Then I saw Jeffrey and I heard him yelling.” “Oh,
those are their names, huh?” “I
just met Rachel a few days ago. She’s
a nice girl. Her big brother
is Jeffrey. He’s very strict. I think he’s one grade higher than me.” “I
see.” Alison looked a little
surprised. “For a young boy to
be that strict, it might not be a good idea.
He’ll die of a heart attack before he’s 20 years old.” “I
think he just cares a lot about Rachel,” said Melanie. “He…doesn’t like it if Rachel is near me either.” Alison
was puzzled by that. “Why is
that?” “Because…because
he said that I’m trouble. He
said that I’m trouble because he said that my father is nothing but
trouble. Something like that,” said Melanie. She looked sad about it and she spoke very softly
about it. “I
see. Is your father Mark Thompson?” Melanie
looked up suddenly and she was surprised, but she calmed herself down
quickly. “Yes. I’m the daughter of the Premiere of Ontario.” “I
thought so.” “You
already knew who I was when I first saw you?” “Not
at first. When I first saw you,
you were with your friends and I was reading a newspaper. Your father’s picture was in it and in the picture
were his wife and you when you were a little younger. I wasn’t sure at first if it was really you.
But after talking to you for the last few days, I was really
sure it really was you.” But
Melanie looked a little worried. Melanie
kept quiet, not really knowing what to say about that. She looked a little sad, too. Alison
looked concerned now. “I’m sorry
about the troubles that are following your father around. It’s a shame that people are saying bad things
like those about him when they don’t even know the full story. Nobody really knows anything.” Melanie
looked down and seemed sad. She
was still worried about her father.
She wondered how he was doing when he was so far away. She wondered what he was doing right now.
She thought the same thing about her mother. “It’s
an even greater shame that it happens all the time,” said Alison. Melanie
looked up at her. “Just like
earlier with Rachel and Jeffrey?” “That’s
right. At school, Rachel and
Jeffrey don’t know the real you. Well,
Jeffrey for sure doesn’t know anything about you, but he has already
judged you.” “Just
like he judged you earlier even though he doesn’t know anything about
you?” “That’s
right, Melanie.” “Why
do people do that?” Melanie asked. Alison
shrugged and smiled and shook her head.
“The reasons could be anything.
When you get older, you’ll find out that life is even more complicated
than you think it already is now. Did
you see me get upset when those two kids just left me like that while
saying those things?” Melanie
shook her head. “You weren’t
upset.” “That’s
right. After a while, you get
used to that kind of stuff. It’s
bad that they do that, it really is.
But I have to shrug it off like it was nothing because if I started
worrying about it all the time, I would just get depressed.
I don’t want to spend my life being depressed.
I’d rather be happy that I’m alive and things like that.” Melanie
smiled at Alison. “I hope I can
be like that. I hope I can always
find something to be glad about no matter what bad things happen around
me.” Alison
smiled, too. “Oh, don’t worry,
you will. It just takes a lot
of practice. That’s all.” After a few minutes, Melanie was reading
through a binder that contained one of Alison’s stories. Melanie glanced up at her Alison and she smiled
cheerfully. “You
write such great stories. I think
you should have them published,” said Melanie. “That
would be nice, wouldn’t it?” said Alison. Melanie
nodded with a bright smile. “Oh,
yes!” “I’m
glad you think so. But the trouble
is that no publishing company would want a story from a homeless old
lady. It would just, you know, make them look bad.” Melanie
lost her smile. “Oh, I see.” Alison
brushed it off like it was nothing and smiled cheerfully. “But stuff like that doesn’t worry me. I don’t need to have my stories published to
make me into an author. I’m already
an author, because of the simple fact that I like to write stories. I don’t need to get paid or get recognition
for it.” “I
like your stories,” said Melanie. Alison
looked down at the little girl and she smiled.
“Is that so?” “Oh,
yes, they’re very interesting. I
can tell you put a lot of thought into it and everything came from the
heart. I can feel the emotion of the characters. It’s like I’m feeling what they’re feeling.
It’s really wonderful.” “Thank
you, Melanie. That’s very kind
of you.” Melanie
continued to read one of the stories.
It was a drama story and the things that the main character did
touched her heart so much that her eyes became slightly misty.
It reminded her of how she wrote her songs. Melanie wrote her songs in such a way that would
touch people’s hearts, and that’s what she wanted to do with her songs.
She wanted people to feel what she was feeling as if they were
experiencing what she was experiencing. As
Melanie read the story, she felt like she was the character herself. It was almost as if she had experienced what
the character had experienced. She
felt the same things that the character felt. Melanie
wiped her eyes a little with her handkerchief.
“It’s wonderful…” she said softly. Alison
smiled. “I’m glad that it touched
your heart.” “It’s
like how I write songs…” she whispered. “What
was that?” Alison did not clearly
hear what she said. Melanie
was a little startled and she smiled as she looked up at Alison. “Oh, it’s nothing.” She forgot for a second that no one is supposed
to know that she is a professional singer, or at least, is working to
become a professional singer. “Melanie,
why don’t you bring some stories home with you?” Melanie
gasped. “You want me to bring
some home with me?” “Yes. That way, you can concentrate on reading a whole
story and enjoy it fully,” said Alison. “Oh,
if it’s alright with you, I’d love to read more of them.” “It’s
not a problem. That story that
you’re holding right now, take it home and read the whole thing, and
I hope that you’ll like it even more.”
Alison took another binder and she opened it and looked at the
title that was inside. “Here’s another one. This is a really good one, I think. I’d like you to look at this one. I can tell you love stories and you love reading.” Melanie
smiled. “I love to read.” Alison gave her the binder and Melanie took
it. “Great,”
said Alison with a cheerful smile. “Take
them home and enjoy them to the fullest.” Melanie
looked at her wrist watch and saw that it was time for her to go home. She stood up while holding the two stories that
Alison had just given her. “Thank
you so very much, Miss Alison. I’ll
read them tonight.” Alison
nodded. “Make sure you don’t
read in the dark. It’ll hurt
your eyes.” Melanie
giggled at that. “I’ll make sure. I have to go home now. Grandma wants me to go home soon. I’ll bring the stories back to you tomorrow
when I finish reading them. Is
that okay?” “That’s
perfect. Thanks, Melanie,” said
Alison. She smiled and nodded. Melanie
smiled sweetly. “Well…see you
tomorrow.” “See
you tomorrow.” After
that, Melanie began to walk off the park.
She eventually reached the sidewalk and began to walk in the
direction of her house. She stopped
for a few moments and stood on the sidewalk and held the two binders
against her chest. She closed
her eyes and she smiled. She
felt all warm inside. Alison really was a very good person. Melanie
continued to walk home. The End (to be
continued) Ending theme song “Dream” by Starry~en~Luv Dream… Oh, make a wish upon a star (wish upon a
star) Oh, make your dream come true (your dream
come true) Dreaming a dream The quest for a wish might make you happy,
make you sad But in the end, it will all be worth it,
you will be glad! Just dream! Dreaming a dream, make your dream come true Sing a song or write a story, anything you
want to do Whatever good thing your dream might just
be Never lose your hope, never lose your energy Dreaming a dream (Just dream) Dreaming a dream, make a wish upon a star Go on a journey, you’ll go to many places
afar Always remember that I will stay and walk
with you And keep in your heart whatever it is you
want to do Dreaming a dream (Just dream) Just dream! Wake up from your comfortable and peaceful
sleep Remember the dream you had while you slept
deep Let the warm golden sunshine through your
window (sunshine through the window) The first thing to do is smile while you
hug your pillow (hug your pillow) And today, the most important thing that
you should do (you should do) Will be to come closer to making your dream
come true (make your dream come true) Just dream! Dreaming a dream, make a wish upon a star Look up at the night and watch for a shooting
star It’s a long and difficult road to get to
where you’re going No matter what happens, we should always
keep trying Dreaming a dream (Just dream) Dreaming a dream, make your dream come true Don’t be discouraged and always be true
to you Leave behind all the troubles that made
you cry The dream would only be a waste if we did
never try Dreaming a dream (Just dream) Just dream! Wake up from your comfortable and peaceful
sleep Remember the dream you had while you slept
deep Let the warm golden sunshine through your
window (sunshine through the window) The first thing to do is smile while you
hug your pillow (hug your pillow) And today, the most important thing that
you should do (you should do) Will be to come closer to making your dream
come true (make your dream come true) Dreaming a dream, make a wish upon a star Just dream! Dreaming a dream, make your dream come true!
(Just dream) Dreaming a dream, make a wish upon a star
(Just dream) Dreaming a dream (dreaming a dream) Just dream! Preview for Next
Episode Melanie, Hazel, and Justin’s narration: Melanie: “Hello, everyone!” Hazel: “Hi, Melanie, Justin!
Hey, I’m glad you made friends with that kid who said that her
big brother didn’t want her hanging around you.
But I think he still doesn’t like it.” Justin: “That’s great, Melanie.” Melanie: “I’m glad, too. Her name is Rachel. She’s not the only one I made friends with.
I also made friends with Alison.” Hazel: “Alison? Who’s that?” Melanie: “The lady that we saw
at the park.” Justin: “Oh, that lady. What’s she like?” Melanie: “I think she’s very
nice. She’s a story writer, too. Her stories are beautiful! It reminds me of the way I write songs.” Hazel: “Wow! That’s pretty cool. No one could tell that she was such a good story
writer.” Justin: “That’s because people
look at the outside and not at a person’s heart.” Melanie: “In fact, her stories
are so good that…that I want to write songs about them!” Hazel: “Really?! That would be cool! If her stories are that good, and if you write
songs about them, you’ll be even closer to becoming a famous idol pop
singer!” Justin: “I think that’s a great
idea.” Melanie: “You think so? Thank you so much. I’m going to ask Alison the next time I see
her at the park. That is…if she’s
still there…because I think something might happen.” Hazel: “Something might happen?
What do you mean by that?” Melanie: “I’m not sure. But I guess we’ll find out.” Hazel and Justin: “Next time
on Starry Love Dream!” Melanie: “Episode 14: Turn my stories into your songs…” |
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