On the planet of Mars lived a small civilization of aliens called the Mauri’s. They lived on the most remote part of Mars in a village. The little village was blessed with a flower infested hill and a few miles down the hill lay the tallest tree of Mars. The hill was home to a small cottage where a family of three lived: a father and his two children. The father led a busy life of work as a historian and writer. He was a well-respected man, acknowledged by the village as one of the wisest men on the area. The house used to shine brightly every waking hour, enlightened by the lovely aura of his Mauri wife. However, even now, the land still mourned her death with the light coating of snow that fell every winter. Since the death of his beloved, the father spent most of his days locked up in his study, coming out whenever he felt the need to. Some days he would not even come out to feed the children and when he saw them in the halls of the cottage he wouldn’t glance their way.
His children, a son and a daughter, passed their time roaming around the cottage or traveling to the village. Every time they’d go to the village the oldest twin, Teson, held his sisters hand tightly. Malia in turn would suck on her thumb and look around in wonder. Teson walked with dignity, his white hair cropped to a short size in an attempt to look older than he was, blue skin scrapped with minor wounds from running too much around the cottage. Malia had the fairest of pink skin in the entire village, bringing some envy amongst the girls. Every morning Teson would pick out the prettiest flower of the hill and pin Malia’s long black hair back. However, there was no one on the land with the bright green eyes the children possessed. One look into their eyes and suddenly fear gripped at ones heart.
One day Malia woke up to the first snow fall. She hopped out of bed and gaped at the light coating of white outside her window. The stars shone bright outside with the anticipation of a relaxing night. A little ways off, the little girl could distinguish the Earth and its Moon. It looked like it was going to be a good night. Malia glanced to her brother’s empty bed. He must be picking out flowers. Malia changed from her night dress to warm clothing, wrapping a red scarf around her neck and covering her mouth. She sprinted to her father’s door and knocked three times. For a while nothing happened. She knocked again.
“Father, I’m hungry.” Malia heard a light gruff but nothing more. She frowned but insisted no more. Instead the little girl stepped outside. Footsteps covered the entrance and led a trail down the hill. Malia followed the trail, giggling every time she saw the puff of her own breath. She spotted her brother not too far off from the tallest tree of all Mars, surrounded by children from the village.
Teson stood unfazed by the children. He felt Malia hold his hand. He looked at his sister calmly sucking on her thumb. Father didn’t feed her again.
A tall girl looked down at the twins. Teson squeezed Malia’s hand. “My mama said that your father hates you. She says you are just another curse in his life.”
“Watch your mouth! Father loves us,” Malia spat, thumb still in her mouth.
A small child stepped forth from the crowd of kids. He took hesitant stepping towards Teson but he kept his eyes on Malia. “I heard from my cousin a legend that might help.”
Teson followed the boy with his eyes, slowly pulling Malia behind him. The boy stopped walking but continued talking. “At the very top of the tallest tree there is a fruit unknown to any one in Mars. Legend says whoever reaches the top of the tree and takes a bite off the fruit their deepest dreams will come true.”
Malia and Teson looked at each other in awe. “How do I know you are saying the truth?” Teson asked, pushing Malia behind him entirely when the boy tried to once again approach his little sister.
“I guess you don’t. It’s a legend. It’s a matter of believe,” the boy said as he turned and walked away from the group. The children followed closely behind the boy, murmuring and whispering as they left. Malia let go of Teson’s hand and look up the tree. Even with the cold weather a drop of sweat dripped down her temple.
“I want my dream to come true,” she whispered. Teson sighed lightly and looked up at the tree as well. He also wanted his dreamt to come true more than anything in the world, but he couldn’t see the top of the tree no matter how hard he looked.
“But you are scared of heights,” Teson reminded Malia. She shook her head. 
“I don’t care. I want my wish to come true,” and with those words Malia stood before the tree and climbed her first step on a branch. Teson supported her other leg and she managed to stand on a branch without any problem. Teson smiled at his sister and climbed up the same branch. Together they climbed another and another branch, clutching on to each other’s hands for support.
“Don’t look down,” Teson kept reminding Malia every time she looked down. Malia whimpered but bit her lip and continued on her determined path up the tree, branch by branch. Teson looked down as well but with each step he took, the more foolish he felt. Why should he trust the words of bullies? Children and adults who looked down on them like if they were a plague? Yet he kept moving forward for the sake of his sister, and himself.
Half way through their journey, Malia sat down on a branch and embraced the trunk of the tree with all her might. Teson hurried to her side and patted her hair. They were so high up even Teson felt a little nauseous when he looked down.
“We are almost there, Malia. Just hold on a little farther,” Teson tried to encourage his sister. Malia shook her head furiously.
“I can’t go on. I’m too scared,” Malia whimpered. “I want Father to love us, Teson. Why doesn’t he love us?”
Malia’s stomach growled. Teson grit his teeth. That’s it. “Wait for me here. Don’t move or try to go down without me. You hear me?” Malia nodded.
Teson held Malia’s gaze for a long time before moving on, climbing higher and higher. The branches became thinner the higher he went, a worry he’d rather not think about too much. From time to time he looked down and caught sight of Malia’s red scarf until he could no more and even then he kept climbing. The higher he went the colder it got and the more snow fell but Teson kept climbing.
“Why must you hate us?” Teson said to himself, fueling up the anger he had kept for so long. “Must you let Malia starve? Must I grow up without you? Why can’t you care for us instead? We’ll give you love! Mother is gone! There is nothing else you can do!” Teson stopped and let out a shaky breath. Indeed his mother was dead. He’d never known what a mother was and he knew he would never know. Yet even then he had to wonder, why did he hold on to Malia’s hand so tightly? Why didn’t he allow the boy to get close to her?
Teson felt a cold stab of air on his face. He looked up and to his surprise realized he was at the top of the tree! The stars had mostly vanished and the rays of sunshine were beginning to come over the sky. Teson’s heart accelerated. He made it! His hands and legs shook with exhaustion and excitement. Teson looked around him in search of the fruit he had climbed all the way to the top to find. There was nothing but branches surrounding the boy. Teson’s legs gave out and he sat down on a thick branch.
“Nothing. There is nothing,” Teson murmured to himself. Suddenly Teson burst into laughter, clasping his chest until he ran out of breath. Then tears spilled down his cheeks and drenched his clothing. Of course there was nothing. He didn’t need a father or any kindness from the children. He only needed his sister. He needed to hold her tightly and protect her from the dangers of the world of sadness. Teson embraced himself, sobbing until he had no more tears to shed.
Then he looked at the sky and gasped. The sun, a phenomenon he had never bothered to look at, rose to the sky in its full splendor. The sky changed to many shades of oranges, reds, blues he’d never seen before. The snow stopped falling and the wind warmed up ever so slightly. The village below quieted. Everything seemed peaceful. Teson remembered something he’d heard his father say a long time ago: In Earth, Humans sleep during the night and live during the day.
“Tell me Father, is this how Humans live their lives every day? Because if it’s true, then I want to live in this beauty every day,” Teson said to no one in particular. The wind answered him with a light whistle. After a few minutes, Teson decided it was time to descend to the ground. He mustered what little strength he had left and began to climb down. It seemed to him that in a blink of an eye he was back to his sister. Malia was looking at the sunrise, her face washed in tears.
“It’s beautiful,” she said to her brother, wiping her tears away and holding on to her brother as they kept descending to the ground.
She knows there is no fruit. She knew all along. And deep down Teson knew as well there was no fruit, just the hope of a dream that he knew would not come true as well. Finally, they hopped from the last branch and collapsed to the ground hand in hand. They heard footsteps. For a crazy moment, the twins thought their father had come to take them with open arms to their home. The boy of the tale peeked his head above their line of sight.
“Did your dreams come true?” the boy asked and extended both his hands to the twins. Teson gripped Malia’s hand.
Should I let her go? What do I do? Teson realized that the boy was not sleeping like rest of villagers. He must also like the sun. Teson looked at Malia and she looked back at him. And suddenly he knew the answer to all of his questions. He let go of his sister and gripped the boys hand firmly. Malia smiled and did the same.
“One day they will. Right now I’m hungry. Let’s find something to eat,” said Teson. Together, the children walked up the hill to their little cottage in search of food. All the while, Malia and the boy held hands and Teson smiled up at the blue sky.
Yes, one day they will.