Marek lay back on the bedroom rug, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to the ceiling, and thought about one very big question: what would Marek be when Marek grew up? There were so many wonderful possibilities that it made Marek's head spin. Maybe something up among those stars. Maybe something with animals, or airplanes, or paint, or bubbling test tubes. With a grin and a deep breath, Marek closed both eyes tight and began to imagine every single one.

First, Marek rocketed into space as a brave astronaut. Zipped snugly into a puffy white spacesuit, Marek floated weightless inside the shuttle, tumbling in slow, giggling somersaults past floating pencils and drifting droplets of water. Through the little round window, Earth hung below like a great blue-and-green marble, glowing softly against the endless black. Out among the silent stars, Marek planted a flag on the powdery grey Moon and bounced high with every step, feeling small and enormous all at once.

Next, Marek became a caring vet, looking after animals big and small. In a bright clinic full of gentle patients, Marek pulled on a clean white coat and listened carefully to a puppy's heartbeat through a shiny stethoscope. There was a fluffy kitten with a bandaged paw, a rabbit with a twitchy nose, and a very patient old dog who thumped his tail with gratitude. Speaking softly and moving slowly, Marek helped each frightened creature feel safe again, and every happy wag and purr felt like the best thank-you in the world.

Then Marek soared into the clouds as a confident pilot. High in the cockpit, surrounded by a dazzling wall of switches and glowing dials, Marek gripped the controls and guided the great silver airplane smoothly through the sky. Fluffy white clouds parted like curtains, and far below, tiny towns and winding rivers looked like a toy map spread out across the land. With a steady hand and a proud smile beneath the peaked cap, Marek announced to imaginary passengers that the skies were perfectly clear and the view was absolutely spectacular.

After that, Marek splashed into a world of colour as a joyful artist. Standing before a tall easel with a smudged apron and a brush in hand, Marek mixed swirling blues and sunny yellows into brand-new greens that had never existed before. Paint dotted Marek's cheeks and freckled the floor, and every bold stroke made the canvas come more alive. There were no mistakes here—only happy surprises—and when the painting was finally finished, it burst with so much colour that it seemed to glow from the inside out.

Finally, Marek became a curious scientist, eager to discover how everything works. In a laboratory full of bubbling beakers and blinking gadgets, Marek slipped on a pair of safety goggles and a crisp white lab coat and carefully mixed two potions together. With a fizz and a puff of harmless purple smoke, the liquid changed colour, and Marek gasped with delight and scribbled the results into a notebook. Every experiment answered one question and sparked ten more, and Marek realised that the best part of science is never, ever running out of things to wonder about.

One by one, Marek slowly opened both eyes, back on the cosy bedroom rug beneath the glowing paper stars. Astronaut, vet, pilot, artist, scientist—each dream had felt so real and so wonderful that it was impossible to choose just one. And that was perfectly alright, because there was still so much growing up left to do. Whatever Marek decided to become, one thing was absolutely certain: the future was as big and bright as the whole starry sky, and it was waiting just for Marek.