Starbursts of Blue

On By Annika PerryIn Creative Writing, Short Stories, short story

He thought everyone saw these. His first memories were of blue sparkles, twinkling at the periphery of his vision. Later in life, he described them as starbursts. Why would anyone care for fireworks, he wondered, watching his own light show intently.

‘Concentrate, Olly,’ his mum said repeatedly.

‘Concentrate, Oliver,’ Mrs Wright pleaded at school. 

‘For God’s sake, look up, son!’ An angry, repugnant sibilant flying off the letter S. Son.

He knew he was their son. Named Oliver after his grandad. He’d been a big shot in the RAF, and the stories he told at tea time, of faraway places, of the planes, of the pilots, entranced Olly from a young age. His granddad choked up as he recounted the roll call of names.

That’s the life I want! A dream Olly kept to himself, never telling a soul. He did concentrate; he looked up more than ever. Now the blue sky was in his field of vision, as he imagined jets thundering past, helicopters thudding down to land and grenades shaking the ground. That will be my life.

Amy got him. Beautiful Amy and one of the few people who suited the royal blue school uniform, her jumper ironed with perfect creases, her tie the neatest of them all. Her aquamarine eyes sparkled in the sunlight as they waited in the playground for their first registration. 

‘Do you see them too? The blue sparkles?’

She smiled, the smile of one being saved, of being seen.

‘Yes! Always. And you?’

Olly nodded solemnly. From that day on, the kindred spirits were never far from one another’s side, and they entered secondary school as one, existing inside their own bubble. Of blue, of course, they whispered, laughing in unison.

Here, they wore black blazers with the school’s red emblem on the pocket, but Olly and Amy took heart in their blue PE kits. It became Olly’s favourite lesson. 

‘I need to be fit for service,’ he declared and Amy nodded in earnest as she saw him head off for yet another cross-country run. An endurance test that proved elusive to her, her strength waning by the years.

‘You’re like a willow, so wan and thin,’ said Olly early on in Year Ten. Their final exams were due in one month and he’d barely seen or heard from her for days, the afternoon he popped round to see Amy. Her unwashed hair hung in thin strands upon her red jumper, a blue scarf tied loosely around her neck. ‘How are you, Amy? I’ve been worried and now, seeing you, more so.’

With a puff of air and a deep sigh, Amy slid slowly down the doorframe, landing with the slightest of thuds on the doorstep.

‘They’ve gone, my sparkles. They disappeared! I’ve lost … everything.’

The blue lights of the ambulance accompanied the screaming siren, searing his soul as it pulled away from their house, with Amy inside, her Mum holding Amy’s hand, reassuring her. It was in her brain, that’s all they told him. A tumour he learned at the funeral, as around him the mutterings continued. ‘She had it for life.’ ‘How sad!’ Sad! The smallest inconsequential word for the earth-shattering loss. Olly clenched his fists.

Sitting on the church pew, Olly looked at the coffin. He refused to think of Amy in there. She was everywhere but in that box. The coffin was adorned with pink roses, purple freesias and, for God’s sake, who still sent white lilies? Where was the blue? Olly stood with the mourners and queued for the final goodbye, a farewell bouquet in his hands, the forget-me-nots a final sparkling starburst of blue.

The End

©Annika Perry, 2026

Note: Starburst image by Gerd Altmann . at https://pixabay.com/users/geralt-9301/
Forget-me-not image by Buntymum.

74 thoughts on “Starbursts of Blue”

  1. Dear Annika, your deep and beautiful story touches my soul. The blue Stardust conveys the boy’s feeling of wonder.

    As Amy enters his world and proves to be a kindred spirit, laughter fills the blue bubble and the two who live together in the bubble. There they feel deep belonging.
    in spite of his loss the star bubble will always be there within Oliver and his beautiful Stardust flowers.
    🌟

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    1. Miriam, thank you so much for your wonderful comment and I love how you see into the depth of the story, to the wonder of the world of Oliver and Amy – even though it ultimately claims her life. Your thoughts mean so very much to me. xx

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  2. Annika, wow. I wasn’t expecting that. I started reading this thinking it was going in such a hopeful direction and then you just pulled the rug so quietly. What I love is how you thread the blue through everything. It doesn’t feel forced at all, it feels like the whole story breathes it. Such a beautiful piece, I’ve read today 🙌🏼

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    1. Wow! Ritish, thank you so much for your wonderful comment and it is great you feel the thread of blue through everything – just what I hoped to achieve. The magical quality of it lighting up their lives, yet the source of such sadness. As often happens when I’m writing, the story pulled me in this unexpected direction – maybe my next one will be to hope! 😀

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      1. That’s just really good storytelling, Annika. And yes please to a hopeful one next! 😄 Though honestly even your sad ones leave you feeling something good somehow – that’s a rare thing.

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    1. Klausbernd, the sad ending was not foreseen by me, just the way the story led me. The brain tumour in a child does tragically happen and devastatingly so to my son’s classmate aged only eleven.

      Wishing you a great week too … I see sunshine is on the horizon! 😀

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    1. Diana, bless you for your beautiful comment both about the story and my writing; they mean so much to me. It was one of those times when a few words took the lead and I obediently followed! 😀❤️

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  9. I saw it as also meaning that the blue sparkles were caused by the tumour, a gift perhaps., a life burning brighter than others, but shorter. But will Ollie turn out to have a tumour as well? I hope he gets to fly first.

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    1. Janet, there is a wonderful feeling when someone totally gets your story and you have here! It’s almost as if you were reading my notes … just so about the cause of the blue sparkles, their gift and yes, Olly too. And of course, he must fly first! Thank you so much! 🙏😀

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  17. A sad but beautiful story. I loved the “blue sparkles”, a man and a woman with a dream. A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor a former manager of mine died from a brain tumor.

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    1. Thomas, I am so sorry for your friend’s devastating diagnosis and I hope it goes well for them. I have a close friend who was diagnosed with a brain tumour over 20 years ago. She was treated at the time as far as they could and is still living a full life with it. It is tragic about your work colleague, my condolences. The ending and the brain tumour came to me without any deliberate thought although my son’s friend died suddenly from a brain tumour aged only eleven and a few years later at the same school a girl had one too and passed away. These so sad and young loss of life has stayed with me, all of us.

      It’s great you like the ‘blue sparkles’ and these were inspired by a writing prompt to write about a colour … the magic sense of sparkles just came to me!

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      1. Thank you Annika and I am so sorry to hear about son’s friend and the girl at the same school. It is especially tragic when it happens to children and the young. It is amazing that your friend survived and is still fine after 20 years. I should say that the friend of mine who was just diagnosed had it removed pretty quickly and they are giving her a good prognosis. Medicine has advanced.

        Yes the blue sparkles was very poetic and imaginative.

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    1. Pete, thank you so much and to be honest, I didn’t see that coming either when I started the story. It led me this way and I do like the feeling when that happens … luckily often to happier endings too.

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    1. Carol, thank you so much for your kind words about the story and I really appreciate them. I love forget-me-nots and have flower borders of them in Spring so they naturally made their way into the story.

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    1. Jan, it was one of those times when the story led me in its own tragic direction and even I found Olly’s grief all too tangible upon rereading the piece. Forget-me-nots are one of my favourite Spring flowers and they’re naturally wove their way into the story. Thank you for your thoughtful comment.

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  27. This is a wonderful story of friendship, innocent love and understanding, Annika. Even within a few words, the characters emerge to touch the heart of the reader. And the last paragraph really spoke to me – a true sentiment that the departed soul is everywhere around us and acceptance is a far cry. Also, I love the way you’ve used the symbolism of blue color.

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    1. Balroop, bless you for your beautiful and thoughtful reflections upon my short story. It is wonderful how you feel I’ve captured the two characters so directly. I feel Olly’s feelings are ones many feel at the final farewell and you sadly only know that too well. I wanted his emotions to be visceral and unequivocal. Sending hugs xx ❤️

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    1. Robbie, we all want our words to reach out and create an impression upon a reader and it means a lot that my story has affected you so. Sadly we have experience of such tragic early loss of life at my son’s school when he was there and, although not intentional, the deaths led me to this sad ending.

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