Thunk thunk thunk
Something was hitting the roof.
Thunk thunk thunk
A lot of somethings, by the sound of it. I rolled beneath the covers and tried to get back to sleep. I wouldn't have thought anything of it, except that right after I heard the noise, I heard giggling coming from Mia's room. The kind of quiet, secret giggling that happens when you're up past bedtime and hoping nobody hears you.
I sat up. If Mia was doing that kind of giggling, then something interesting was going on.
I crept out of bed and down the hall, to her room. The door was partly open.
"Mia?" I whispered. "What's going on?"
She was sitting on her knees on the windowseat, leaning out into the night. Lights flashed around her.
"Come see!" she said. So I went over and sat down beside her.
The stars were falling.
Little stars the size of my fists and burning like fourth of July sparklers rained down from the sky, leaving glowing and glittering yellow trails in the air where they passed. The sky was streaked with yellow and white light.
One star fell straight from the sky and hit the very edge of the gutter with a clang before falling to the ground. I couldn't see what happened to the gutter, but the star cracked in half like a geode, and glowing yellow light that acted like water leaked out, puddling in the grass.
"Will the mess be here tomorrow?" I said, sticking my hand out the window.
"Nope. The sun will make them disappear."
One fell past my hand, barely brushing against my fingertips. I was too slow to catch it.
"Good," I said. "That's good."
And we spent the rest of the night watching the stars.