STELLAR MARK

CHAPTER 4: TRENA'S PRAYER

Several days passed, and Mang Reno and Aling Trena adjusted to life with Angel. Their quiet home filled with cries, but Aling Trena welcomed every sound. For the first time, she felt like a mother.

One night, while Angel slept, Aling Trena prayed before their altar.

“Dear God… thank You. For ten years, I asked You for a child. I don’t understand why You chose this path, but thank You.”

Mang Reno sat beside her.

“Reno,” she said, “what if Angel has a real family?”

“They might be looking for her.”

“That’s possible too.”

“But…”

Her voice trembled.

“I can't give her back.”

Mang Reno gently took her hand.

“I won't force you to.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“What if her real mother comes looking for her?”

Mang Reno remained silent for a moment.

“If she's a good mother and truly loves her,” he finally said, “we'll talk about it.”

“And if she's the one who abandoned her?”

“I don't know.”

“Reno…”

“Trena.”

He turned toward his wife.

“We don't have to answer every question tonight.”

Tears slipped down Aling Trena's cheeks.

“All I know,” Mang Reno continued, “is that there is a child who needs us.”

He looked at Angel.

“And we're here.”

Aling Trena leaned against her husband and embraced him tightly.

“Thank you.”

The following morning, they made a decision.

They would raise Angel as their own daughter.

They would not spread the story of how they had found her.

Whenever a few people asked about the child, they gave only one simple answer.

“She’s our daughter.”

No further questions.

No further explanations.

The months passed.

Angel grew.

Little by little, she became a cheerful and lively child.

But as she grew older, Mang Reno and Aling Trena began noticing something unusual about her wrist.

The strange mark had never disappeared.

Instead…

it seemed to grow brighter.

One morning, while Angel was playing in the grass, sunlight fell directly across her wrist.

The star-shaped mark suddenly shimmered.

“Angel!”

Aling Trena hurried toward her.

“What is it, Nay?”

“Cover your hand.”

“Why?”

“The sunlight is too hot.”

Angel did not question her.

She simply pulled down the sleeve of her little dress.

From that day forward, Aling Trena began dressing Angel in clothes with long sleeves.

She still did not understand what the mark meant.

But she knew there was something unusual about it.

And somehow, she felt that it was something other people should not see.

One night, while Angel slept peacefully, Aling Trena spoke to Mang Reno again.

“Reno.”

“Yes?”

“Promise me something.”

“What?”

“No matter what happens…”

She looked directly into his eyes.

“…we will protect her.”

Mang Reno nodded.

“I can’t give her back.”

“I won’t force you to. If her mother truly loves her, we’ll talk about it. But we don’t have to answer everything tonight. There is a child who needs us, and we’re here.”

Aling Trena embraced him.

The next morning, they decided to raise Angel as their own. When people asked about her, they simply said, “She’s our daughter.”

Months passed, and Angel grew into a cheerful child. But the strange star-shaped mark on her wrist never disappeared. Instead, it seemed to grow brighter.

One morning, sunlight struck the mark, making it shimmer.

“Angel!” Aling Trena hurried over. “Cover your hand.”

From then on, she dressed Angel in long sleeves. She did not understand the mark, but she knew it should remain hidden.

One night, she spoke to Mang Reno again.

“Promise me we’ll protect her.”

“I promise.”

“And even if the day comes when we finally discover who she truly is…”

“Even if we discover who she truly is?”

“She will still be our daughter.”

Aling Trena smiled through her tears.

“Whether she shares our blood or not…”

Mang Reno walked over to Angel's bedside.

“…she is our family.”

That night, neither of them knew that far away, on the other side of the forest, something was watching their home.

Eyes that did not belong to a human.

A shadow stood silently among the trees.

Then a voice whispered into the darkness.

“We have finally found her.”

The shadow disappeared before Mang Reno and Aling Trena could ever know it had been there.

And so, the family's quiet life continued.

For now.

They did not know that the child they had rescued from the river was already being watched by forces beyond their understanding.

They did not know that the secret hidden beneath Angel's sleeve would one day awaken.

And they certainly did not know that the promise they had made that night would soon be tested by powers capable of changing the fate of entire worlds.

For the moment, however, Angel was simply their little girl.

Their daughter.

Their family.

And the greatest blessing they had ever received.

But somewhere beyond the mountains…

someone was already waiting for the day when the Star Mark would fully awaken.

“Whether she shares our blood or not,” he said, “she is our family.”

That night, neither of them knew that something was watching their home from the forest.

A shadow stood among the trees.

“We have finally found her,” a voice whispered.

Then it vanished.

The family’s quiet life continued—for now.

They did not know that Angel was being watched by forces beyond their understanding, or that the secret beneath her sleeve would one day awaken.

For now, she was simply their daughter—the greatest blessing they had ever received.

But beyond the mountains, someone was waiting for the Star Mark to awaken.