It continued to rain heavily for most of the day, a perfect event for the mood I was in: depressed, lonely and in bad spirits.

My name is Julius Corness, the current head of the Corness Corporation, one of the most influential economic empires in the world. I am one of the richest and most famous men on the entire planet and… I’m only seventeen years old.

While people always think of me as a strong and talented leader, in reality I'm not. I have artistic talent for sure, but I’m really not the type of leader this company and most people wanted me to be. It’s getting harder and harder every day for me to hide this inner weakness of mine from the public. Despite this, I persevere. Had I stopped, had I given up, it would have completely tarnished my family’s and the company’s good reputation. If I give up now, it will ruin this massive empire that my parents had spent all their life building and shaping.

Ahh yes, my parents. It has been almost ten years since I have last seen them. Ten long years.

I remember the last time I had seen them. One fateful morning when I was still very young. I guess we are all too young when it comes to losing our parents. I still remember the moment I hugged them, before letting go and watching them going off to their business trip over the Atlantic towards America.

They had promised that they would call us after their arrival in America, to tell me that they have arrived safe and sound and would come back as soon after their meeting was over. Of course, that call never came and for a moment, we all thought that they were just late or maybe they just forgot to call after landing. The first call came, but it was not from my parents, instead it was from an apologetic-sounding air crash investigator and what he relayed to us was just too shocking to bear.

Back then it was all over the news. The private plane that my parents were always using for long faraway trips had crashed somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic, just over halfway to its destination to Boston. The plane was literally torn to pieces during the impact. When they found all the scattered parts of the plane floating around the crash site area, none of them believed that anyone had survived the accident.

Rumours and conspiracies had circulated that the crash was actually planned by some rival organizations or enemies against my parents. Perhaps they were motivated by the hope that the loss of the two founders would break their empire and they would claim everything that my parents had once owned. It was all speculation and none of it had been proven and over time, it was just forgotten.

At the time, I was too young to fully understand the tragedy. When I saw the pictures, I could not deny it, though I wanted to believe they were false. In fact I had for a while, I didn’t really comprehend what they meant. Servants, caretakers, personnel found it difficult to convince me. All I could think of would be the moment they would come back, sweeping in through the door, as if they’d never left in the first place. Only with the upcoming months and years was I able to fully comprehend my loss. With every passing day of my life, it sunk in and it began to sting more and more, like a splinter just under the skin.

In barely a couple of days, after I was still reeling from the implications, a new person visited us. At the time I did not care for new people, there were always new and old faces around the manor. This man was different, a severe type of face that reminded me of a stricter tutor I had but intensely disliked. His greased back hair and gaunt figure was like a corpse that had decided to don business clothes and the way he moved was with short, sharp moments like a wasp darting around in the air. He smiled somewhat insincerely and shook my hand, and I felt its cold and clammy touch.

He stared down at me from his taller vantage point and spoke in a raspy, paper-like voice.

“Young man, your parents left you with everything.”

I had inherited my parent’s company and everything that they owned. Of course I was way too young to manage and lead one of the world’s largest companies, but luckily for me I had my butler, father-figure and my parent’s closest friend, Sir John McJames, to help me with managing the assets in trust until I had reached of age at sixteen.

Sir John was really the only friend and family I had after… the event. He took care of me while I was a boy and was like a new father to me, helping me with my problems wherever he could. He was all I had during that period and I’m thankful to him for everything he’s done for me and what he still does for me, even now.

My bleak eyes turned to watch the fury of the storm unleashed outside. I taped my fingers on the desk, watching as the clouds rumbled and roiled, mad like writhing snakes and the heavy rain come pelting down on the thick-paned windows of my room.

This solitary figure that I am, sitting in this room, with only my thoughts to keep me company must have been a pitiful sight. I’d never show anyone this. Perhaps not even John, though for different reasons than ones I would to the face of the public. As I sat there in the muted tones of darkness I remember that one particular event that happened to me last year, when I finally took full control of the Corness Corporation. There were journalists and the media all clamouring for thoughts about the company’s future, what plans I had, what the future would hold for me. A strong voice called out, catching me off guard, just as John and I were about to enter our car. He told me it must be awesome to be one of the richest men on the planet and he asked me what it was like to get what I want, whenever I want. I wanted to tell him he didn’t know anything, I wanted to tell him that I couldn’t buy back my parents, I wanted to tell him what it was really like, having to deal with the strain of managing a veritable economic empire while I was only sixteen. Instead, I just smiled at him, feeling hollow and allowed John to shepherd me into the car.

Money can’t buy you happiness, or get rid these depressing and empty feelings.

With a start, my blank eyes twitched away from the ceiling it had drifted to. I noticed that the skies were now clear and it revealed the full moon and the beautiful night sky that was hidden under the blanket of storm clouds. Everything was so peaceful and quiet all of the sudden. Just looking at the brilliant specks of light scattered among the deep black velvet of the sky, with the luminance of the moon and the enchanting swirl of cosmic dust and radiance, raised my spirits a little bit. Slowly, I felt my mind begin to ease and I simply enjoyed the silence and the tapestry laid out before me.

I simply continued to sit there for a few more minutes until I felt a sudden urge to get out of this ridiculously large room and go outside. I wanted to view beautiful midnight sky vista.

Flinging myself from my front window couch, I made my way to the front door and entered the vast hallways and side passages that snaked through the building. To many visitors, it would seem like an endless maze and they would be lost, were it not for an appropriate guide. My mind only half-engaged I wandered along the halls, not really taking in much and passing old family heirlooms, or those of my ancestors or another’s. I headed for the central staircase that lead directly to the ground floor, but on the way I managed to bump into Sir John.

“Ahh young master Julius, I see that you have finally decided to leave your quarters for the day. I can only hope that you are feeling better right now?” asked the aged butler. As always, he had an ever-present smile, one that never changed from its warm sincerity.

“Well I feel a little bit better, John, but not by a whole lot,” I replied honestly. I sighed. I really didn’t want to worry John, but he would always know how to get the truth out of me anyway.

“You should really not be in such grief all the time, sir. It will only make things worse for you… and I would think that your parents would not have wanted you to be like this day after day,” he said, with a stern look that was so familiar it had carved a permanent line in his features.

I knew that he was right. Being so depressed most of the time was probably going to drive me down a bad road in the future, but other than John, who else could I turn to? I was about to say something but at the last moment I thought better of it and simply decided to just drop it.

“I know John, I know, but it’s fine. I can handle it, alright?”

For a moment he just looked at me, then he continued gently, “Julius, I have been taking care of you and watching over you since you were born. I can easily tell if there is something else bothering you.”

Well I knew from the beginning that he could tell that something else was up, but for the most part I decided to keep my problems to myself for two reasons. Firstly, I'm old enough to handle them on my own and secondly he has been doing most of the work here for me and I really didn’t want him to have more by dealing with my personal problems as well.

I simply sighed.

“Well you should know what my problems are John, but it’s okay, I can handle myself.”

Again there was a moment of silence and John just looked at me with a neutral expression. I simply stared back at him. Finally, I felt a hand being placed right onto my right shoulder and a very calm and fatherly voice.

“Julius, sir, you need to have more faith and self-confidence or all this destructive self-pity would one day hold you back… in fact I see it holding you back now. I know that you had a pretty hard life, especially after you parents’ passing but you need to let it all go and focus on the future ahead. Your parents would not have wanted you to live the rest of your life in self-doubt.”

I said nothing at this point and continued to gaze into empty space while more thoughts were rushing through my mind.

Focus on your future? I thought to myself. What could the future possibly hold for me? Most of my life was nothing more than pure stress and empty feelings.

I just stood there in the massive, but empty, hallway, with a deep frown on my expression.

John tried to hold my eyes but then gave up and sighed.

“Well I think it’s a good idea for you to get some air. You’ve been closing yourself in your room non-stop for days. Maybe a nice walk through the back garden will help you calm your fears and worries for a bit”, suggested John.

I raised my head to look at him. It was my plan all along, but I knew John always meant well.

“Maybe you’re right, John. Maybe I do need some fresh air. I was planning to go out into the garden anyway...so yeah”, I told him.

He nodded and gave me one last pat on the shoulder before shuffling off. I turned around, going down the stairs and went left towards a massive glass door that lead me directly into the back garden of the mansion.

As I stepped outside I was immediately greeted with the chilling cool air of the night. The air was so cold that for a moment it stung my nose and my eyes watered. Gradually, I got used to the colder temperature and I continued my journey towards the ends of the garden.

The grass, flowers and other plant life were still very moist from the rain, the pseudo-mildew reflecting the light of the moon and giving the garden an almost ethereal look of sparkles and glimmers. For a moment I pause at the breathtaking sight, it almost looked like the garden was actually covered by a fine layer of stardust.

I circled around the garden, taking in the beautiful cornucopia of flowers and rainbow-coloured flora, exotic plants and babbling fish ponds.

Maybe this really was a good idea, I thought to myself.

I continued my route, already I could feel the dark whisperings of my past quieten and the horrid pounding of my heart slow down. I let go, feeling the stress slowly slip away.

The heavenly silence surrounded me, when I had the sudden urge to stop and look up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something in the sky. Something I had never the pleasure of witnessing in real life. A shooting star.

I saw a lone shooting star, flying majestically through a sea of stars aimlessly. Flying without a single care in the world or universe. Continuing its journey through the night sky leaving a trail of beautiful, glimmering stardust behind.

For a moment I could forget, but then my memories came crashing back to me, hitting me hard and I crouched down as if hit in the stomach. It took me a few moments to gather myself and I made my way to the closest bench to sit down. I could feel my thoughts sinking down into that terrible abyss, but then I recalled that when you see a shooting star you could make a wish. I almost laughed at my own desperate bid.

But what did it matter?

After a moment, I had my wish.

“I wish I had something. Anything that could bring me happiness and meaning back to my life. Something to get rid of these lonely feelings and self-pity just anything, please.”

I looked up, but of course the star had already left, disappearing back into the blackness of the void and leaving me alone with my empty thoughts and feelings.

I continued to stand there looking at the same spot where the shooting star used to be and hoped that my wish and pleas were answered. But of course nothing happened.

Irrationally, I got angry. I shouldn’t have, it was not as if I should have expected a wish on a star would have yielded anything. “It was all for nothing!” I grunted. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, but instead I balled my hands into fists and sank further into my seat. “Nothing, nothing and nothing! Wishing is just a stupid fairy tale,” I muttered. With a heavy sigh and a very disappointed expression, I stood up to make my way back to the mansion when for the second time of the day I noticed something out the corner of my eyes. This time it wasn’t a shooting star. No it was a flash. A very faint flash of light. It was faint, but it was there, and I could clearly see it, even if it was just for a split second. For a moment I stopped, almost daring to hope. I quashed it under layers of doubt. No way, it was probably something else. Still, it was unusual and it warranted an investigation.

There weren’t any light sources around the garden, or even electricity, except maybe the pumps for all the water fountains, but those couldn’t be it. My curiosity was slowly overtaking me and I decided to investigate this strange phenomenon. I headed towards that mysterious point of light.

This part of the garden was the deepest section. Instead of neatly arranged bushels of flowers and carefully maintained flora, there was overgrown shrubbery and dense thickets. I could see that this was the beginning of the path towards the maze, an extravagant project that my parents had constructed after I was born. Despite peering through the gaps and trying to see if the light source would pop out again, I couldn’t see anything and I was about to call it quits… when all of the sudden a strange sound entered my ears. It sounded like...crying?

Yes! There was the faint sound of crying somewhere in this garden. Twisting my head this way and that, I could hear the direction of the noise and I could guess where the cries were coming from.

“Cries here in my garden? Who could possibly be here in this time of the night and why?” I asked myself under my breath. I couldn’t make sense of what was going on here. Why would there be crying in the garden this time of night? I shivered. These gardens were old, as old as the mansion itself. Ghosts? I angrily shook myself from these illusions. Ridiculous, there were much better explanations for the noise. I firmed my resolve and decided to try and find the source of these cries. It was more likely that someone could be hurt or injured and they were probably in need of some help. I swiftly traced the crying sounds, diving into the maze, hoping to find the distraught person at the other end. The cry sounded youthful, young, maybe it was a child? With those thoughts, my pace quickened.

As I ventured deeper and deeper into garden, following the path to the maze, the crying sounds became louder and louder. Finally, at the end of the path I reached the entrance of the hedge maze. The same one I used to wander around when I was a kid. Precious, joyful memories came back to me from those wonderful times but I shook my head of them and forced myself back to the reason why I was here in the first place.

The cries were definitely coming from inside the maze, I thought. Navigating through this maze could take a long time, time that I did not have. So instead I decided to simply rip my way through it and I wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost in there. It’s a good thing that the hedge maze was only made from very soft bushes and branches so it was easy for me to just create my own path to the centre of the maze. From time to time, my jacket and other clothes would get stuck on the way, but it wasn’t too difficult. I don’t know what possessed me, I just kept powering on through.

When I arrived at the inner area of the maze I was immediately greeted by a gigantic water fountain with a majestic snow white marble eagle standing at the centre with its huge wings unfurled to both sides, casting everything around it in a big imposing shadow of himself against the light of the full moon. But that wasn’t what interested me. Instead my eyes were drawn to what was lying at the edge of the fountain. Right there, on the ground, were two piles of white, silky blankets neatly folded and wrapped around something.

I approached the bundle, expecting to find two abandoned babies or something close to that, but when I got close enough, my jaw dropped and I staggered back a couple of steps. Wrapped up inside these blankets were not human babies as I first thought, but two little equine-looking foals.

What in God’s name are these two creatures and how did they get here? I screamed internally, in utter shock.

For a while, I was just stood there in complete shock and disbelief. How did these two weird looking creatures get here?

They obviously needed help. But my thoughts also drifted to wondering where the crying come from. I shivered again but galvanised my nerves and bent down, curiosity prompting me to look for anything left by their owners or some other form of note or form. How did they get past security? How did they get in the centre of the maze? Why?

 With a jerk, I unwrapped the first one. It had a completely snow-white coloured coat with a very long light pink mane and tail. On impulse I reached out to touch it. It felt silky, like the smoothest satin and light and wispy, almost like a living wisp of mist or air. Another thing I noticed is that this white creature (a horse or pony?) had a horn right on his or her forehead. I knew the stories, of course, maybe it was a unicorn? Then I dismissed it, trying to find any edges or glue stuck to its poor forehead. Finding nothing I sighed, but something else caught my gaze and trapped it, like a fly in amber. Looking at its back I noticed two little, stubby looking wings, clearly way too small to support flight at their size. I could also determine that this ‘unicorn’ was actually female, after checking between its— her hind legs.

Now this was something I had never heard or seen before in my entire life. A winged unicorn? Well a unicorn was surprising enough but a winged unicorn? Thoughts about horrific genetic experiments and animal abuse flittered through my mind. I quickly wrapped the bundle and gently set it on the ground. It struggled and cried out when I moved on. Pity and sadness welled in my chest as I considered the small infant. Why would anyone abandon something so small and fragile? I turned to the second one which was just lying right next to the one I already examined.

The second one also had a horn and a pair of tiny wings like the first one but this one was in a completely different colour and slightly smaller than the other unicorn. This equine had a dark bluish coat with a light bluish mane and tail and just like the other one it was female. I was looking at a pair of mythical creatures, or some horrible accident, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I just couldn’t believe it. Two creatures right out of a fairytale book were just lying at the base of a water fountain right in front of me with no explanation whatsoever. This was some really crazy shit right here.

I just stood there completely baffled, watching these two little ‘unicorns’ lying on the ground, still crying and weeping madly.

Then out of nowhere a very strong and chilling wind blew right into my face, snapping me out from my thoughts and sending a shiver throughout my whole body. At that point I finally realised that it was actually getting really cold, really fast. It was the beginning of winter so it was really no surprise for me that it was so damn cold.

I looked back at those two fillies still crying inside their thin blankets.

“If I leave them out here they would probably freeze to death,” I muttered to myself. I couldn’t let that happen. I bent down to my knees and picked them up one by one, hugging them to my body. As I did, the two fillies stopped crying and began to open their eyes for the first time since I found them. They looked up at me with wide, wide eyes. I stared back, gazing at those big pink and light blue coloured eyes for the first time. I could still see the remnants of their tears at the corner of their eyes and the trails they had carved on their matted cheeks.

With those eyes filled with the presence of pure innocence and wonder, but also a hint of fear and mistrust. I shifted them around and with my free hand, tried to stroke them on their heads in hopes of calming them down. But as soon my hand came into view, the two fillies squirmed away from my attempt to touch them and one of them was about to cry again. My hand froze guiltily and it sank back to my side. They were frightened and alone. I tried again, this time, with soothing words.

“Shhhh,” I murmured, rocking slightly. “It’s okay. You two are safe here with no need to be afraid anymore. Nothing will happen to you.” I hoped my words would win their trust. For a while, there was nothing. They looked at me the same, but then the white one slowly turned its head in my direction and for a second time since I found them we made eye contact. She just looked at me with more curiosity than fear. I tried to move my hand to her head for a second attempt, but this time more slowly and cautiously. I was afraid she’d shy away but this time she didn’t move. I slowly parted some of her hair away from her face and began to gently stroke her mane and cheeks. At first she didn’t react, but after a few seconds the confused expression on her mouth slowly turned it to a small smile and her ears went flat against her head she also began to gently nuzzle my hand with her nose while I petted her.

As I was comforting the little filly I began to notice that something was touching me on the left arm. It was the blue one, who must have seen me winning the trust of what I assumed was her sibling. Well even if they were not I doubted there was anything on Earth that could qualify and coming close to being their relative. She reached out with her tiny hooves in my direction, obviously wanting some care and affection too. And that is exactly what I did, scratching her behind the ears and cheeks. She even started to giggle as I tickled her through the blanket on her belly.

Both of them were really starting to warm up to me and soon they were giggling and playing around with my fingers until another cold gust of wind hit us from out of nowhere. This time I didn’t really feel it, but when I focused my attention back to the two fillies on my arm, I saw that they were shivering and whimpering. The temperature was dropping fast and I knew I had to get them away from here. Immediately I hugged them closer, shielding them from the wind and I wrapped my jacket around them to keep them warm and protected from the outside winter air.  It was time to head back inside.

As I was making my way back into my parents’ mansion I noticed movement near my chest and I glanced down. What I saw warmed my heart to a whole new level, the two little fillies I were snuggling against my chest and sleeping peacefully with small, but happy smiles on their muzzles.

Maybe my wish was fulfilled after all, I thought, as I was made my way back home.