Celeste the Little Star's Nighttime Adventure

Celeste was the newest, tiniest sparkle in the whole wide sky. She was so new, in fact, that she hadn't even met Twinkle the Dream Helper, who we know is always busy painting sleepy thoughts into beautiful dreams for you. Celeste had a different job. Tonight was her very first night to find out what it was. She took a deep breath, and with a tiny, fizzy POP, she tumbled right off the handle of the Big Dipper. Whoosh! Down she floated, like a dandelion seed on a gentle breeze.

The world below was a big, dark, sleepy quilt. And Celeste was a tiny silver thread, drifting down to see it up close. She floated over rooftops and quiet streets, until she drifted over a wonderful, dark garden. Everything was so still. The bright red roses had tucked their petals in tight, like little fists. The sunny yellow daisies had their faces bowed down, fast asleep. It was beautiful… but a little lonely. Celeste felt very, VERY small. She began to wonder… what was a little star sparkle supposed to DO down here?

Her light felt so tiny in the big, quiet dark. She drifted lower, and lower, until she was hovering just above a patch of green leaves. And then… something moved. A long, pale bud began to stir. Slowly, gracefully, a flower began to open its petals, right there in the dark. It was a moonflower, and it was glowing with a soft, creamy light of its own. Celeste floated closer, her own light trembling just a little. The moonflower seemed to sense her. “Oh, hello,” a soft voice whispered, seeming to come from the petals themselves.

“I was waiting for you.” “For… for ME?” Celeste fizzed. “For the starlight,” the flower explained. “We can’t bloom without it. Your light tells us it’s safe to open up and share our perfume with the night.” Oh. OH! Celeste suddenly felt a warm glow spread all through her sparkly self. Her light wasn’t just for twinkling way up high. It was a secret signal. It was a goodnight kiss for the world. She felt so happy, she did a little loop-the-loop. Then, she floated over to the sleeping roses and pulsed her light, just once, a gentle whisper of “sweet dreams.” She danced over the daisies, leaving a trail of soft shimmers in the air.

She wasn’t lonely anymore. She was part of a secret, beautiful night-time dance. Feeling happy and wonderfully tired, Celeste began to float back up. Up, up, past the rooftops. Up, up, toward the cozy blanket of the sky. She saw other sparkles, just like her, drifting back up from other gardens. They all twinkled at each other, a silent hello. She found her spot, right back on the handle of the Big Dipper, and snuggled in. Her first journey was over. And as she closed her sparkly eyes, she dreamed of all the flowers she would visit tomorrow night.