When the evening comes and the night falls, the stars light up the sky. Some are smaller, some are bigger. One shines less, the other more. Their little lights are seen by children all over the country. They spread out across the whole sky and give us a sign that it’s time to go to bed. But these stars don’t just shine, they keep an eye on the children. From their great height, they can see beautifully into children’s bedrooms. They keep an eye on who’s having bad dreams, or help children fall asleep. When it’s evening and all is quiet, the stars keep their little eyes and ears open and listen to see which child needs their help.
Once, on the top floor of a large house, there was a quiet, sad cry. The little stars heard it, so they hurriedly swung down from the sky to see what was going on. They looked into the little room and there was no one there. But they could still hear the thin, sad voice. They leaned as far over the window as they could and lit up the whole room with their glow.
There were little feet sticking out from under the covers. A little boy was covered under the rest of the blanket. His name was Harry and he was very scared. Slowly, the stars came closer to him, so as not to frighten him. They gently tickled his feet. At that moment, the little boy quickly hid his feet and pulled the blanket off. He stared at the stars with his mouth wide open and looked around the room, which was completely lit up from the heavenly glow.
He had heard that when children were scared at night the stars came to their rescue, but until now he hadn’t believed it. “I’m alone in my room for the first time today. I’m very scared, it’s very dark in here. Will you be here with me?” Harry tried to ask for help. The stars smiled and nodded, letting our friend know they would help him.
They each crawled to a corner of the room. They dimmed their glow to shine only as small lamps and waited until the little boy was asleep. Once he had their lights there, his fear left him and he soon fell asleep.
Every day from then on, Harry looked forward to the evening. As soon as he saw that it was getting dark, he ran to bed and waited for his stars. When they arrived, he excitedly told them what he had experienced during the day and then fell asleep happily by their light. It was the best part of the day for him.
When he was older, he would look out the window one evening and wait for the stars to arrive. But they never came. Instead, a sign appeared in the sky. “Our dear friend, now we’ll only watch over you from the sky. You’ve grown up and you’re no longer afraid. You can do a lot of things on your own. And when you get sad, look up at the sky, we’ll always be here for you. Beautiful dreams.” The message was written in luminous stardust.
He knew it was for him. He also knew that even if the stars no longer came to his room, they were still with him, and when he was most afraid, they helped him. He smiled, lay down, and fell asleep.
We all have our fears. It doesn’t matter if it’s big or small, and it doesn’t matter what we’re afraid of. The important thing is, until that fear passes, or until we grow up, to have someone there to help us with them. As the stars did for Harry.
