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Storyline summary (rough):

The story follows two friends, the raccoon Rascal, and the fox Ruff. Rascal and Ruff are best friends and play together at night, one day they come across a ball in the park and while playing with it, it rolls out into the street. Rascal is uneasy about the road, and doesn't want to fetch the ball, Ruff however has no such qualms and jumps into the road. He's then hit by a car and dies.

Rascal mourns the loss of his friend, and after seeing two cats playing a couple of nights later, goes up onto a rooftop to cry. Ruff's spirit, seeing his friend so sad, comes down to find out what the matter is. After a joyful reunion the two spend the night playing as they used to.

However, when the sun begins to rise, Ruff has to leave, and after a tearful goodbye he tells Rascal he'll always be watching over him, and then rises up into the sky and becomes a star.

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Reasoning:

While the general plotline for this story was written back when I was 16, and dealing with the loss of my own mother. I feel it's important to explain why I've decided to stick with most of the decisions made then, and in fact, why I made them in the first place.

Why a fox and a raccoon?
I wanted to create protagonists that could be identified with on a number of levels. As animals, children can identify them as their own lost pets, as friends they work for the loss of friends or family.
I wanted to use animals that most children would be aware of without using domestic pets, so decided on the urban fox and raccoon. On a sentimental level they're also based on two stuffed toys I had as a child.
In regards to their names, again these are taken from the toys I used to have, but as descriptive names they also help to create the protagonists characters. Rascal, as his name implies is quite cheeky and troublesome, Ruff as his name implies, is more brass and fearless.

Why a star?
This is based on a letter I received from my Aunt when we first discovered my mother was terminal. In it, she described her belief that when a person dies, they become a star and continue to watch over their loved ones from the night sky. At the time, I found this idea very comforting even if it is not something I believe in personally, and as such decided to include it in my book.

It's also partly based and inspired by the children's nursery rhyme:

"Star Light Star bright,
The first star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight."

As well as a line from the poem Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep by Mary Frye (a poem that my mother and I found in an anthology a short while before her death and was read at her funeral). [The relevant line has been highlighted below.]

"Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush.

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there. I did not die."