https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/106/#comments-29 is usually credited as being the first comment. The comment ID is 29 though, meaning there were most likely other comments made before this that were either taken down or were only posted for testing. This does seem to be the oldest comment still up, however.

Also fun fact this comment is almost a legal adult

KindScratcher768 wrote:

anyone want a follow?

sure @Juni-bug lol. Also no random posting, thanks!

Best mile: 5:53*
Longest distance: ~10 miles in 75 minutes with one or two short water breaks

*Probably would be 5:3x if not for an injury a few days before the end of season one mile time trial that stopped me from running it, some friends who were usually about my speed-ish got 5:30-5:45

Have you ever thought of making an insane project such as “3D Minecraft” or “GTA” on Scratch, but you just don't have the skill or time to make something that requires so much perplexity, time, and experience?

Well, instead of spending on average of 47 hours a week to develop a complexed video game, I will tell you how to make a 5-10 MINUTES developing a high quality Pen Video that has a span up to 4 minutes! FOR BEGGINERS! .

Now imagine you coding up to 47 hours, but now you just SAVED ABOUT 46 HOURS OF YOUR ENTIRE TIME, so that is a WISE CHOICE OF YOU TO FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS!

Note: I am still working on ways to make high quality pen videos in very simple steps. Right now I am currently discussing my theories on how this is possible in this post.

—————————————————————————————

- So basically, you want to find a video on YouTube
- Then open a new project and add the pen extension
- Then visit my website on the link below
- Upload the desired YouTube video
- It will convert the YouTube video into numbers. Those number and the color and saturation of each pixels of the video
- Go back to your project's code
- Then make pen dots on each pixel of the Scratch coding screen
- Then you will make a define block that will change the pen pixel according to the numbers that are generated from my website
- Enter the number given from my website into the defined block you made
- THEN BOOM! You have an entire pen video now in 5 - 10 minutes!

OK, whatever we might say about Archimedes Chess, but this old Swashbuckler of a Scratch Chess Engine won against White Dove (P2) after having faced mate in 3, won against Shallow Blue (Depth 2) after having faced mate in 6, and drew against Scurious (Ply 4) after having faced mate in 2, in just three consecutive games. True survival skills!

Those are chapters 42 - 44 in our Scratch 3 Runtime study: https://lichess.org/study/v3EKTlR2

It will take quite some wins to replace it from place 4. I think I will give Frenchgamerlol the next run, but who knows how this might end…

MineTurte wrote:

toad_duzz wrote:

game link: the game i need help with
The game uses timers and I'm guessing I coded something wrong about them because the boss is not spawning
if someone can look through the code and hopefully find a solution it would mean a lot!

Okay well first off all you script that starts the enemy spawning starts when it receives “glock” which I assume is not correct? After that it works fine and the boss spawns as it should.

Hope this helps!


Edit: haha. wayyy ahead of you deck, lol.[/quote

I made it like that on purpose because I don't want the enemies to start spawning until they pick up the pistol and when they do, the zombies can start spawning

floppasyay wrote:

italvera wrote:

It's a subdomain, like if you did scratch.mit.edu/?, it would do the same

But what's the point of these subdomains?

I don't know. The only other character I can replicate it with is #

is star getting an alternate or is that just for the normal characters (if he is i already have a alternate star for Project: Star so we could just use that one)

Hello @ceebee! I would like to curate! I want to be helpful member of the community and will be active. I also have curated teh April Fools Studio Somewhere in Time and have experience so I can be useful for you. I'll make sure the projects are not made by the scratcher itself, the proposer is not a new scratcher and the project follows the community guidelines. Thanks!

italvera wrote:

It's a subdomain, like if you did scratch.mit.edu/?, it would do the same

But what's the point of these subdomains?

It's a subdomain, like if you did scratch.mit.edu/?, it would do the same

KindScratcher768 wrote:

anyone want a follow?

?

Platypus_WKeyboard wrote:

Doctor Who with a high budget feels weird.

Oh, 100%. The butterfly effect gag would never have happened before.

anyone want a follow?

I'm exploring song generators until I can get a good one with the prompt:
plane in late summer
the day in september i cannot name
the song is called Horizon
tempo of 140

edit: i have the music in soundtrap click if you wanna listen (you might need to sign up for an account tho)

Everything should be easy to code
but the scripts for the collision are simple

it could be

if <touching [Ground v] ?> then
change y by (1)
if <touching [Ground v] ?> then
change y by (1)
if <touching [Ground v] ?> then
change y by (1)
if <touching [Ground v] ?> then
change y by (1)
if <touching [Ground v] ?> then
change y by (1)
if <touching [Ground v] ?> then
change y by (1)
end


end

so on and so on

or it could be a custom block like:

define if touching

if <touching [ground v] ?> then 
if <touching [ground v] ?> then
change y by (1)
end
else
  
stop [this script v
end

(You could just look at my example.)
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/988808923/

Or look at griffpatch's YT tutorial


How do you even make a forum signiture?
Alpha. Gamer, animator, not a forumer (usually.)
(Im also @Alpha_ape_13 and @Alpha_ape_31…

Bestlifebash wrote:

bleacher is scared of short words, likes undoing arson, saving people, and they're overall a kinder person than creature.

Ok

Hii!

A while ago, me and my friend settled on the following challenge. We would “imitate console wars” by building one console each and continuously developing it afterwards. Eventually, we would check out each other's consoles and see how well they did.

In my opinion, my console (its name is PULSE) is ready for some basic gameplay now, and thus I decided to publish it here; feel free to check it out:
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/988451094/

My friend came up with StopStation; the link to that is here:
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/988726698

I'd appreciate it if you gave me some feedback and/or ideas on what to add; it'd help me a lot! Additionally, if you're interested, you can suggest or even make your games for PULSE; I attached the disc templates in the description to give you a brief explanation regarding that topic.

Hopefully, that's all for now, I'll make sure to update the console often! If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask.

Have fun playing! :)

it's time for my first suggestion comment in over a year *clears throat*
support.
i agree with you, it is pretty iconic, but it's about time it got changed. the thumbnail really just gives off this 2.0-era vibe (which isn't bad, i miss 2.0 lol) but with the forthcoming ui upgrades, it does look a bit out of date. the least they can do is to upscale the image so it doesn't look so… grainy.

minikiwigeek2 wrote:

i asked chatgpt to make me a song once while constantly using the phase “fire in the hole” and it ended up giving me something i didn’t necessarily want

and no, it has absolutely nothing to do with geometry dash

(Verse 1)
In the silence of the night, under a moon so bright,
We dance around the flames, our spirits taking flight.
With every step we take, our hearts begin to race,
Beneath the stars above, we find our sacred place.

(Chorus)
Fire in the hole, let the flames ignite,
Burning deep within, casting shadows in the night.
Fire in the hole, our souls begin to soar,
Lost in the inferno, we're craving something more.

(Verse 2)
With passion in our eyes, we're fearless in our stride,
We'll conquer any obstacle, together side by side.
The heat consumes us whole, as we surrender to the fire,
In this moment of abandon, we reach higher and higher.

(Chorus)
Fire in the hole, let the flames ignite,
Burning deep within, casting shadows in the night.
Fire in the hole, our souls begin to soar,
Lost in the inferno, we're craving something more.

(Bridge)
Through the trials we face, through the battles we endure,
We'll emerge as warriors, our spirits strong and pure.
With every challenge overcome, with every victory we've won,
We'll rise above the ashes, like the rising of the sun.

(Chorus)
Fire in the hole, let the flames ignite,
Burning deep within, casting shadows in the night.
Fire in the hole, our souls begin to soar,
Lost in the inferno, we're craving something more.

(Outro)
So let the fire burn, let it consume our very soul,
For in its scorching embrace, we find ourselves whole.
Fire in the hole, our hearts forever bold,
In the fire's embrace, our story will be told.

that's… umm… interesting.

Doctor Who with a high budget feels weird.

I know it's pretty iconic, but I think it would be nice to see a refresh. Maybe in a design similar to how the Scratch Team does them for Scratch Camp, Scratchtober, Scratch Week, etc.

i asked chatgpt to make me a song once while constantly using the phase “fire in the hole” and it ended up giving me something i didn’t necessarily want

and no, it has absolutely nothing to do with geometry dash

(Verse 1)
In the silence of the night, under a moon so bright,
We dance around the flames, our spirits taking flight.
With every step we take, our hearts begin to race,
Beneath the stars above, we find our sacred place.

(Chorus)
Fire in the hole, let the flames ignite,
Burning deep within, casting shadows in the night.
Fire in the hole, our souls begin to soar,
Lost in the inferno, we're craving something more.

(Verse 2)
With passion in our eyes, we're fearless in our stride,
We'll conquer any obstacle, together side by side.
The heat consumes us whole, as we surrender to the fire,
In this moment of abandon, we reach higher and higher.

(Chorus)
Fire in the hole, let the flames ignite,
Burning deep within, casting shadows in the night.
Fire in the hole, our souls begin to soar,
Lost in the inferno, we're craving something more.

(Bridge)
Through the trials we face, through the battles we endure,
We'll emerge as warriors, our spirits strong and pure.
With every challenge overcome, with every victory we've won,
We'll rise above the ashes, like the rising of the sun.

(Chorus)
Fire in the hole, let the flames ignite,
Burning deep within, casting shadows in the night.
Fire in the hole, our souls begin to soar,
Lost in the inferno, we're craving something more.

(Outro)
So let the fire burn, let it consume our very soul,
For in its scorching embrace, we find ourselves whole.
Fire in the hole, our hearts forever bold,
In the fire's embrace, our story will be told.

toad_duzz wrote:

game link: the game i need help with
The game uses timers and I'm guessing I coded something wrong about them because the boss is not spawning
if someone can look through the code and hopefully find a solution it would mean a lot!

Okay well first off all you script that starts the enemy spawning starts when it receives “glock” which I assume is not correct? After that it works fine and the boss spawns as it should.

Hope this helps!


Edit: haha. wayyy ahead of you deck, lol.

I can’t make a editor on mobile in this project https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/955350270

ArnoHu wrote:

Is it just me, or did you also lose that lichess.org analysis board feature that would show you the next best move via a blue arrow once you activate local evaluation? I now have to hover over a variation in the PGN moves panel, and that only appears during live analytics (https://lichess.org/analysis/), not on a stored game.

This is a setting you can toggle with the settings button in the lichess analysis (to the right of the button that toggles Stockfish).

i have made a few songs with beepbox, how do i post them here?

Barney_at_Bonels83 wrote:

among_us1w2 wrote:

Barney_at_Bonels83 wrote:

comic sans = controversy from a gallon of comic sans haters
and controversy = bad

Little to no support
and this topic is (only the Scratch Team can explain)

purple=controversy
taiwan is country select=controversy
recolor is remix=very controversial

this topic existing = controversial

see scratch is very controversial this is prob the least do t use controversy to no support

curlyfish565 wrote:

(#28)

Nj0001 wrote:

curlyfish565 wrote:

Mingle_Wobbledog wrote:

curlyfish565 wrote:

Nj0001 wrote:

Mingle_Wobbledog wrote:

Nj0001 wrote:

Mingle_Wobbledog wrote:

Nj0001 wrote:

curlyfish565 wrote:

add game to it

G A M E

W u t

G A A A A A A M E

CREATE A QQUOTE CHAIN

Y E S

GAYMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Quote chain also wat is a gaymmmmmee

its a gameeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee but gaymeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

G A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y YY Y Y Y M M M M M M M M M M M M E E E E E E E E EE E

GAME FOREVA GAYMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

oh nevermind UPDATED

Mingle_Wobbledog wrote:

(#20)

Nj0001 wrote:

Mingle_Wobbledog wrote:

Nj0001 wrote:

curlyfish565 wrote:

add game to it

G A M E

W u t

G A A A A A A M E

CREATE A QQUOTE CHAIN

YES.

What is the name of your account(s)?: Legon974
How much experience do you have on a scale of 1-10?: 9
How active are you on a scale of 1-10?: 10
Extra : Coder

The x position block does return the clone's x position under the any hat block except ‘when flag clicked’:

when I start as a clone
say (x position) // Clone says the x position of the clone

when [space v] key pressed
say (x position) // Clone says the x position of the Clone and Sprite says x position of the Sprite

when I receive [message1 v]
say (x position) // Clone says the x position of the Clone and Sprite says x position of the Sprite

// and so on...

I'm not sure what you mean by what you said about the project, so can you share the project and provide the link?
Also, next time you have a question about coding, post it in the Help with Scripts forum.

I'm not sure if the speech API on AWS allows tonal input, but even if they have, I see problems on this suggestion:

1. When you run a speech block with new configurations for the first time, it takes a while before the speech is played. That's because the blocks gets the speech audio on the fly, then caches it for later. This could impose a problem for something where timing is absolutely necessary.
   We could mitigate this by getting the speeches before it's being run, but I can't imagine the amount of unused requests speeches from this…
   
2. How would we handle multi-syllable words, that has different tones on different syllables? Do we:
   a. try to sound them:
   

   sing [day] at note (78 v) for (1) beats :: extension
   sing [zee] at note (75 v) for (1) beats :: extension // not *see, since the <s> in <Daisy> is voiced (spoken like Z)
   sing [day] at note (71 v) for (1) beats :: extension
   sing [zee] at note (66 v) for (1) beats :: extension // ditto
   sing [give] at note (68 v) for (0.333) beats :: extension
   sing [me] at note (70 v) for (0.333) beats :: extension
   sing [your] at note (71 v) for (0.333) beats :: extension
   sing [en] at note (68 v) for (0.666) beats :: extension // en [ˈɛn] is close enough to the first syllable of answer [ˈænsɚ]
   sing [sir] at note (71 v) for (0.333) beats :: extension // so is [sˈɜː]
   sing [do] at note (66 v) for (2) beats :: extension

   b. use hyphens to notate that the word is split into different syllables (this also means there's a “lookahead” between blocks)
   

   sing [dai-] at note (78 v) for (1) beats :: extension
   sing [-sy] at note (75 v) for (1) beats :: extension
   sing [dai-] at note (71 v) for (1) beats :: extension
   sing [-sy] at note (66 v) for (1) beats :: extension
   sing [give] at note (68 v) for (0.333) beats :: extension
   sing [me] at note (70 v) for (0.333) beats :: extension
   sing [your] at note (71 v) for (0.333) beats :: extension
   sing [an-] at note (68 v) for (0.666) beats :: extension
   sing [-swer] at note (71 v) for (0.333) beats :: extension
   sing [do] at note (66 v) for (2) beats :: extension

   c. Defenestrate this English spelling nonsense and use something like X-SAMPA or the IPA for the lyrics
   

   sing [d'eI] at note (78 v) for (1) beats :: extension
   sing [zi] at note (75 v) for (1) beats :: extension
   sing [d'eI] at note (71 v) for (1) beats :: extension
   sing [zi] at note (66 v) for (1) beats :: extension
   sing [g'Iv] at note (68 v) for (0.333) beats :: extension
   sing [m'i:] at note (70 v) for (0.333) beats :: extension
   sing [j'U@] at note (71 v) for (0.333) beats :: extension
   sing [\{n] at note (68 v) for (0.666) beats :: extension
   sing [s3] at note (71 v) for (0.333) beats :: extension
   sing [d'u:] at note (66 v) for (2) beats :: extension

3. How would we handle edge cases like “singing” a sentence or two over a short period of time?
   

   sing [A nutshell is the outer shell of a nut.] at note (127 v) for (0.001) beats :: extension

   Or singing for a very long time?
   

   sing [aaaaaa] at note (0 v) for (99999) beats :: extension

Scratch--TheCat wrote:

poggerguy4ever wrote:

Gosh darn it!!!!!!!!!!!!1111 Idk how to make sure that I won't duplicate topics!!!!!1

You can check if your topic is a duplicate by looking for the topic in the Directory or by searching for the keyword related to your topic [in this case the keyword(s) would be “diary of a wimpy kid”] and “site:scratch.mit.edu/discuss” [at the end of the keyword(s)] in your search engine. [so, for example, you would search “diary of a wimpy kid site:scratch.mit.edu/discuss”]

Tysm! ima delete this topic now.

poggerguy4ever wrote:

Gosh darn it!!!!!!!!!!!!1111 Idk how to make sure that I won't duplicate topics!!!!!1

You can check if your topic is a duplicate by looking for the topic in the Directory or by searching for the keyword related to your topic [in this case the keyword(s) would be “diary of a wimpy kid”] and “site:scratch.mit.edu/discuss” [at the end of the keyword(s)] in your search engine. [so, for example, you would search “diary of a wimpy kid site:scratch.mit.edu/discuss”]

game link: the game i need help with
The game uses timers and I'm guessing I coded something wrong about them because the boss is not spawning
if someone can look through the code and hopefully find a solution it would mean a lot!

I'll move this over to the Requests section for you - that seems like a better fit for this kind of topic

quartay wrote:

do you guys like soup

sorry (i dont) but soup is souper food for someone (a lot of people)

ArnoHu wrote:

HasiLover wrote:

ArnoHu wrote:

HasiLover wrote:

ArnoHu wrote:

HasiLover_Test wrote:

I have just released Scurious 2, after doing some Bug Fixes and Tweaks.

Scurious 2 just drew against Chip. Scurious was clearly ahead, could have promoted on same move, but then went for three-fold repetition instead.

As I had forgotten neither of the two engines has PGN export, I must replay anyway :-)

Yes, it still doesnt know about draw by repitition, I will be fixing it later.

Replay. same opening, deterministic game by both, same result: https://lichess.org/study/v3EKTlR2/10eJhWR2

Its probably assuming that Black will play Ka8 and thats why it tried to play bc2 to wait, because it wanted the promotion to come with check.
I did a test on this Position:1k1K4/8/8/8/8/8/5p2/8 b - - 0 1 and Scurious didnt promote until it promoted with a check.

OK, and the next game was against Archimedes, which went back and forth, until Scurious moved its pinned pawn trying capture the knight on d4, invalid move: https://lichess.org/Pmgee7a0#49

In one of the first versions, I had to force GoK by some minor bonus when promoting on earlier move.

That makes sense, Scurious generates pseudolegalmoves and thought the ook was pinned to archimides's king.

If i make a scratch game, that does not have anything innapropriate (violence, alchohol, drugs, etc) but the game itself has assets and/or has multiple references to a videogame that is innapropriate, will i get banned? also, do i need to put a content warning?

Edit: Or also, when i use a clip of a song with nothing innapropriate, whilst the rest is innapropriate, can i put it in? and also, do i need to put in the source?

Yet another edit: Also, if my game has very mild and little innapropriate things; for example the character needing to defecate (for a purpose of realism) without showing any severely innapropraite things (for example: the actual depiction of the feces) will it pass by the moderation team?

among_us1w2 wrote:

Barney_at_Bonels83 wrote:

comic sans = controversy from a gallon of comic sans haters
and controversy = bad

Little to no support
and this topic is (only the Scratch Team can explain)

purple=controversy
taiwan is country select=controversy
recolor is remix=very controversial

this topic existing = controversial

Hi! I'd love to be a curator! It would be a wonderful experience! I'd love to not only help underrated scratchers, but find them!! There are so many exceptional projects out there, and sometimes I look at that studio just to find some! I would really love to be a curator, if that's alright!

Barney_at_Bonels83 wrote:

comic sans = controversy from a gallon of comic sans haters
and controversy = bad

Little to no support
and this topic is (only the Scratch Team can explain)

purple=controversy
taiwan is country select=controversy
recolor is remix=very controversial

Monsoon_Man wrote:

Listened to WE DONT TRUST YOU around 5 times now, definitely top 2 with Blue Lips rn this year, can't decide between the two. That Kendrick verse lives rent-free in my mind right now though. Can't stop thinking about how it's gonna start a whole war in hip-hop. Guess our chances of seeing Kdot, Cole, and Drake on a song together are pretty non-existent, at least for the time being. Can't want to see how Cole is gonna reply on The Fall Off. Pretty much all the features were amazing except Thuggers, but that was more a soundbite kinda thing anyway. Carti has been on a wild feature run recently. But that Pet Semetary line was absolutely crazy, hearing it during my first listen made me freaking explode. But yeah, those are my thoughts, this year is gonna be a great one for hip-hop, with Carti, Cole, ASAP, Keem, Beyonce, Vultures 2, Wayne, and the Em and Dre/Snoop albums.

Totally agreed

Monsoon_Man wrote:

Listened to WE DONT TRUST YOU around 5 times now, definitely top 2 with Blue Lips rn this year, can't decide between the two. That Kendrick verse lives rent-free in my mind right now though. Can't stop thinking about how it's gonna start a whole war in hip-hop. Guess our chances of seeing Kdot, Cole, and Drake on a song together are pretty non-existent, at least for the time being. Can't want to see how Cole is gonna reply on The Fall Off. Pretty much all the features were amazing except Thuggers, but that was more a soundbite kinda thing anyway. Carti has been on a wild feature run recently. But that Pet Semetary line was absolutely crazy, hearing it during my first listen made me freaking explode. But yeah, those are my thoughts, this year is gonna be a great one for hip-hop, with Carti, Cole, ASAP, Keem, Beyonce, Vultures 2, Wayne, and the Em and Dre/Snoop albums.

those new albums look awesome. this year is actually gonna be insane.

comic sans = controversy from a gallon of comic sans haters
and controversy = bad

Little to no support
and this topic is (only the Scratch Team can explain)

Listened to WE DONT TRUST YOU around 5 times now, definitely top 2 with Blue Lips rn this year, can't decide between the two. That Kendrick verse lives rent-free in my mind right now though. Can't stop thinking about how it's gonna start a whole war in hip-hop. Guess our chances of seeing Kdot, Cole, and Drake on a song together are pretty non-existent, at least for the time being. Can't want to see how Cole is gonna reply on The Fall Off. Pretty much all the features were amazing except Thuggers, but that was more a soundbite kinda thing anyway. Carti has been on a wild feature run recently. But that Pet Semetary line was absolutely crazy, hearing it during my first listen made me freaking explode. But yeah, those are my thoughts, this year is gonna be a great one for hip-hop, with Carti, Cole, ASAP, Keem, Beyonce, Vultures 2, Wayne, and the Em and Dre/Snoop albums.

It's possible. You can use the panning sound effect blocks to make the music play in a different ear.

set [pan left/right v] effect to (-100) :: sound // left ear
set [pan left/right v] effect to (100) :: sound // right ear

Absolutely not – As said above, you'd have to always post constructively, helpfully and respectfully. Don't respond to topics which you don't know about, always give even a little bit of insight to the OP. There's no limit to how many posts you make on any forum, aside from spamming. Heck, there's even one guy who made 30,000 posts in HwS, that may not be 30,000 people he has helped, but it'll still be a lot. So, you can help people as much as you will.

Also, making a few too many topics is okay too. Most normal people won't even notice, they just love helping people. Although, some people will know you as ‘the guy who asks too many questions and keeps coming back’.

The Stars Align
by CHUROS000 (Churro)

The fighting turns intense. They’re yelling now, like arrows of hurt flying out of their throats and piercing the other one’s heart. They’re blaming each other for hurting me. The only thing I can do is escape.

“What do you mean, it’s my fault?”

“You were the one driving the car!”

“You were the one who didn’t want to use GPS!”

“That has nothing to do with the fact that you crashed the car. Own up to your mistakes, will you?”

“Now look. Ezra’s in a wheelchair.”

The accident was all they could fight about. I know they care about me, both of them, but that’s why they’re fighting, right? Because they care about me so much they don’t want to admit that they’ve both hurt me.

I wheel my wheelchair around to the backyard, the trees looming over me as twilight seeps in. I can faintly see the stars, already recognizing Sirius and Polaris, two of the brightest. When life gets tough, the stars are always there for me.

I watch the sunset for a bit, watching it melt into a bunch of different shades of orange, and pink, and purple, dying the sky from dark blue to gold.

“He’s failing school, what the heck.”

“You’re a terrible teacher.”

“Yeah, why don’t we just hire a tutor?”

“Haven’t you forgotten? We’ve got the water bill to pay back… we can’t afford anything else.”

“No, Ezra’s smart, he’s just not mentally well.”

“Yeah, after your mom passed. It’s all your fault.”

The sterile smell of the hospital looms back into my memory. All I remembered was a bright light and then darkness. The next thing I knew I woke up in a bed wearing eerily clean clothes and the doctor saying that I wouldn’t be able to walk again. Ever.

I can’t decide who to blame for the crash, but all I know is that both of them owe me. Maybe because it wasn’t anybody’s fault. It was bound to happen, in my dad’s mental state. I didn’t think he could survive four hours driving around in the darkness, coming back from our short excursion. He’d been acting a bit depressed lately, since my grandma left. His mother.

Now he’s got no mom, his wife hates him, and his son can’t walk.

I can’t imagine how hard things must be for him.

What am I doing, anyway? Just sitting out here, running away from my problems. Why didn’t I realize what my dad was going through until now? I’m a terrible son.

Even the stars can’t help me now.

At last, the sun drops below the horizon and the moon comes out, the sky darkening. It’s not astronomical yet, although it’s got the potential to be. It’s borderline nautical (I’m measuring the light pollution and how dark the sky is. Astronomical means that it’s full-on dark, nautical is slightly lighter.) The two dogs play around the sky, and the unicorn prances gracefully. Orion nocks another arrow onto his bow. Leo roars happily.

This is my only escape, a portal to tranquility when my house is turned into a battlefield. When I had nowhere else to go.

“Ezra?” The door opens and I almost jump out of my wheelchair. Not that that’s possible, my legs are like spaghetti.

“Yeah?”

My mom steps out, along with my dad, wearing matching expressions of weariness, guilt, and shame.

“What is it, mom? Dad?”

Next thing I knew I was enveloped into a warm embrace.

“We’re sorry.”

I wasn’t expecting that.

“No, I screwed up, I should’ve been a better son, I should’ve just worn my seatbelt, I should’ve–”

“No, Ezra, none of this is your fault. Our family may be broken, but we’re still a family.” My dad puts in. “Both of your parents care about you so, so much. You’re the glue that pulls us back together.”

“We shouldn’t fight anymore, look what we’re doing to you, Ezra,” My mom says. “We love you, and that’s why we fight. But we should stop fighting, also because we love you. I can tell you’re crumbling.”

“I can tell you guys are too,” I say. “All this quarreling is really tiring… we should stop blaming each other for things that we can’t control.”

“May Grandma rest in peace.” My dad smiles. “And may we start mending this relationship.”

And we just sat there, stargazing, like we used to before everything happened all at once. We pointed out the planets, and watched the comets rain down on us, winking at us, until the sun began to rise again and the stars faded away. But I know they’ll be back, because they’re always there.