Estrella stared at the book harder than she had stared at anything in her entire life. It's like the book was taunting her, laughing at her face from her inability to figure out what page to go to. She stared at it harder, as if it had just made a mean comment about how her hair looked today, as if it knew she spent a little longer on it than usual today. She stared until-

"Estrella, did you find that recipe?" A voice from the kitchen broke her concentration. She sighed heavily, realizing the intense strain she felt.

"I could have found it if you hadn't stopped me." She said, defeated. The woman popped her head in to the living room to see Estrella with the book closed in her hands. She sighed.

"Estrella, please just use the index." She said with a frown.

"But I can do it, I really can!"

"Estrella." Her mother looked at her with a look full of emotions, but Estrella didn't care to identify them. She opened up to the back of the book and searched for the recipe. Her mother hesitated before sitting next to her.

"Listen. I know you want to practice your powers, but it might not be the best idea. What if it gets out of hand or some non-star supremacist finds out about it?" She started. Her mother often chose to share her worries and feelings rather than hide them, a practice that seemed to cause less tension and more tension at the same time, but everyone agreed that it worked.

"What's a supremacist?"

"It means they think non-stars are better. My point is that you've been given a gift. A gift that could do all sorts of things for you, good and bad. And I'm worried about the bad. And it's not like I don't trust you to handle it, because I do trust you, it's just... I don't know what I'm saying. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Estrella smiled. She hugged her mom before responding.

"Yeah, I do." Estrella felt bad, because she knew she would practice just as hard anyway. She never felt good disobeying her mom, but she thought that practicing her power was just about as important as studying for a big test. In her mind, she had to do it.

"Okay, good. Just be safe, okay?" Estrella nodded. Her mother reached across from her to grab the book Estrella had put down. She flipped a couple of pages before landing on the recipe, "Why don't you go outside with your sisters? I'll call you all in when dinner is ready." Estrella got up with a burst of energy and put on a pair of shoes.

"Okay, love you!" She said as she ran out, nearly slamming the door behind her. Outside, her three sisters were passing a ball between one another when they saw her come out.

"Hey Estrella, wanna come play with us? We saw a lizard before we started, so that means good luck, right?" Sarah asked from her spot in the pseudo-triangle the girls had formed.

"Good luck for what, we're just passing a ball?" Lily asked, and Sarah replied with a shush.

"In a moment." Estrella said as she took a seat on one of the chairs the left out front. She closed her eyes and tried to focus really hard.

"Oh, are you using your power thing?" Estrella didn't respond. Sarah tried to ask it louder, but the other two shushed her. She put all of her focus into trying to answer the long lingering question in her mind. It was just about the most important question she could think of. In fact, she had asked the question daily when she got the power, but was starting to hurt her, so she settled for once a week. She put every last ounce of energy into finding the answer. But no matter how hard she tried, she wasn't any closer than she was those few months ago. She sighed, eventually giving up due to exhaustion. When she opened her eyes her sisters were once again looking at her.

"No luck." She said quietly.

"... Were you looking for Momma?" Vicky asked after a pause. Estrella nodded.

"She's pretty far away. She could be just about anywhere in the country. Or Canada." Silence took over the group. Estrella had wanted nothing more than to know what happened to her. She had left years ago without telling anyone where she was. They had tried everything since then, and they spent months looking. But not a single clue was found, and eventually they had to call off the searches. They could only assume she was dead. Even Estrella wasn't sure if she was alive. She couldn't answer those types of questions. But she was hopeful that one day she would find her and they would become a big happy family once again. After a few moments, Lily spoke up.

"Well, come on, let's get back to playing."