For an hour, Hex listened to Chester's shallow breaths as he slept soundly, snuggled in a pile of leaves. Hex envied the toad. How nice it must be to sleep so easily. He hardly remembered a time when he'd slept peacefully.

In the moonlight, the woods glittered with a thick frost. Hex shivered and grabbed the edges of his cloak, pulling it tighter. This night would be beautiful if it weren't so cold.

With his back resting against a tree trunk, he gazed at the stars.

The stars gazed back.

"Come now," he whispered, so as not to wake Chester. "Surely one of you will fall?"

The stars twinkled, but Hex's words did not move them. It would take more than that.

"Must I beg?" he asked.

The stars listened.

"Very well." Hex knelt on the frozen earth and raised his hands to the sky. "Please, I beg of you. Grant me a wish, so I may save the one I love."

Hex waited patiently.

The stars pondered.

Tears stung the sorcerer's eyes.

"Who are you talking to?" Chester whispered.

Startled, Hex hissed, "Hasn't anyone ever told you it's dangerous to sneak up on a sorcerer?"

"Erm... no." Chester sat beside Hex. "What are you looking at?"

"Chester, just for a moment. Shut up and look up."

The toad raised his eyes. He marvelled at the sky. "So beautiful," he said. His bottom lip quivered with emotion.

"It's all the magic of the entire universe. Right there, for every creature to behold." A tear spilled over Hex's cheek and splashed onto the earth, melting the frost.

The stars decided.

"Oh, my." Chester gasped as a single star streaked across the sky.

Hex clicked his fingers, creating a flash of light. A brown sack and a net appeared before him.

Hex scrambled to his feet. "Out the way, toad," he yelled, almost trampling Chester in his rush to catch the star.

Chester watched in amazement as Hex hurtled through the forest.

And that is where he stayed, hoping the sorcerer wouldn't leave him there, in the dark, all alone.

It was a good two hours before the sorcerer returned, out of breath and sweaty.

"Did you catch it?" Chester said with a yawn.

"What do you think?"

"Never mind. Better luck next time."

Hex frowned as Chester hopped towards his pile of leaves.

"Of course I caught it," Hex said and tapped the brown sack slung over his shoulder.

Chester snuggled down to sleep and closed his eyes. "Now you've caught a falling star. What will you do with it?"

"I'll make a wish," the sorcerer said, sitting at the base of a tree a few feet from where Chester lay.

Chester yawned again, "Very good," he muttered, before falling asleep.