Day 22: The night sky changes with the seasons.

A question came tonight from a little one who sleeps under a window. "Pim, in winter I see some stars from my bed. In summer I see other stars. My grandpa says the winter stars go away on holiday in summer. Is that true? Where do they go? From a child who looks out of the window every night." Pim read the question twice, and he wanted to find out.

The Bow on the Teacup

The little red bow from Lina's shawl was still tied to the handle of the teacup. June touched it with one finger and listened to the story of the dry plain. "Blue-white is hottest and red is coolest," she said. "I will remember that." Nell floated by the bow and looked out of the window. "I keep looking for the stars around my home," she said. "Some nights I think I see them. Other nights they are gone."

Grandma Ada was folding a tea towel by the stove. "The sky is not the same all year," she said. "My own grandmother used to say the stars move house with the seasons." June frowned. "Where do they move to?" she asked. Grandma Ada only smiled, because she did not know. The Night Wind rattled the window softly. "I know a place where they watch the sky through every season," it said. "Come along."

Apple Trees in the Dark

The Night Wind carried Pim and Nell over the sea and over the land, to rolling hills covered in apple trees. The trees stood in long, neat rows down every slope. Their leaves were turning yellow, and ripe apples hung low on the branches. Pim zoomed down a row of trees and back again. "Apples!" he laughed. "Hundreds and hundreds of apples!"

At the top of the hill there was a wooden shed with a lantern hanging by its door. Old Hollis sat on a bench under the lantern, sorting apples into baskets. "Good evening, little lights," she said. "You are out late for the picking." Pim landed on the edge of a basket. "We came to ask about the seasons and the stars," he said.

Nell told her about the stars around her home that came and went. Hollis set down an apple and nodded. "I have watched this sky for sixty years," she said. "In spring, summer, autumn and winter, the stars over this hill are never quite the same. People say the stars move house. But the stars stay where they are. It is we who move." Nell's light flickered. "We move?" she said. "But the hill is not moving at all."

Hollis and the Round Walk

Hollis stood up and took the lantern off its hook. She hung it on a low branch of the nearest apple tree. "Pretend this lantern is the sun," she said. "And pretend I am the Earth." She began to walk in a big slow circle around the tree. "The Earth goes all the way around the sun once a year," she said. "That takes spring, summer, autumn and winter." Pim flew beside her, round and round, laughing at how slowly she walked.

"Now watch," said Hollis. She stopped on one side of the circle and turned her back to the lantern. "When it is night, I face away from the sun. I look out into the dark, and what do I see?" Pim looked past her. "The shed and the far hill," he said. Hollis walked to the other side of the circle and turned away from the lantern again. "And now?" she asked. Nell looked out. "Now I see the apple rows and the gate," she said.

"That is the whole secret," said Hollis. "Over the year, the Earth goes around the sun. On each night of the year, the dark side of the Earth looks out at a different part of the sky. So the stars of winter nights are behind the sun in summer. They are there, but they are up in the daytime, and sunlight hides them." So the grandpa in the letter was nearly right. The winter stars do go away for a while, and they come back with the year.

A Year Around the Sun

Nell thought about it for a long time. "So the stars around my home are not lost," she said. "They are only waiting for the right season." Hollis nodded. "Every star you can see has its own nights of the year," she said. "Wait, and the year will bring yours back." Pim spun in a happy loop. "Spring, summer, autumn, winter!" he called. Then he sang the travel song, because it was nearly time to go. "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight."

Hollis picked out one red apple from the good basket and gave it to Pim. It was much too big for a firefly. The Night Wind took it gently and carried it for him. They waved goodbye, and the lantern on the apple tree grew smaller and smaller behind them. "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight," sang Nell. Spring, summer, autumn, winter, the hills turned slowly under the stars, and the little house came near.

Grandma Ada's lamp was shining in the window, with the red bow on the teacup beside it. She always left the lamp on, so that a traveler in the dark would know that someone was waiting. The Night Wind set the apple down on the sill beside Nell's teacup bed. June was asleep, and Grandma Ada was asleep too. Pim looked at the lamp and at the apple and at Nell. "The lamp is on. The door is near. And all is well here," he whispered.

Stars for an Autumn Window

Watch for one bright star you know, and see if it is still there when the weather turns warm or cold. Watch for a star that rises low over the trees, because new ones come up as the seasons go by. And watch for the stars that will not be there tonight, because they are only waiting for their own time of year. Spring, summer, autumn, winter. The year goes slowly around, and the stars come home again. The apple sits on the sill, and the lamp is on, and it is time to sleep.

Day 23: A shooting star is a tiny speck of dust.

"One slice for June, one slice for me, and one tiny slice for Pim," said Grandma Ada. She was cutting the red apple from the orchard hills on a wooden board by the window. June ate her slice in three big bites, and Pim sat on his slice and sipped the sweet juice, and he said it was the best apple in the whole world. Nell could not eat apples, so she sat on the sill and glowed over the seeds.

Apple Slices on the Sill

"Grandma, do you remember the night Nell came?" asked June. "You said that a falling star means a star is lost." Grandma Ada nodded and wiped the knife. "That is what my mother told me," she said. "And on another night, I told you to make a wish on one." Nell looked up at the dark window. "Is it true?" she asked. "When a star falls, is it lost?" The Night Wind tapped on the glass and said that it knew a place to find out.

The Island Tent

The Night Wind carried Pim and Nell to a wide, calm lake. In the middle of the lake there was a small island with pine trees and a pebbly shore. Beside a little orange tent near the water, Mira lay on a blanket with her father, looking up. "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight," sang Pim, and he landed on the end of the blanket.

"Hello, firefly," said Mira. "You came on a good night. Tonight is a night for shooting stars. Dad says we might see twenty, or even more." Her father nodded and pointed up. "Lie down and watch that part of the sky, and be patient," he said. Pim lay on his back on the blanket, which is not easy for a firefly. Nell floated just above him.

A Heron in the Reeds

For a while nothing happened at all, and the lake lapped softly at the pebbles. A tall gray heron stood very still in the reeds, waiting for a fish. Pim began to wiggle. "When will one come?" he whispered. "Shh," said the heron, without moving its head. "Waiting is half of watching." Pim stopped wiggling and counted the pine trees, and then he counted the ripples on the lake, and then he forgot to count.

Streaks over the Water

Suddenly a thin line of white light shot across the sky. "Zip, and gone," said Mira happily. Pim jumped up and zoomed in a circle. "Did you see it?" he cried. Then another one streaked over the lake, short and bright. "Zip, and gone," said Mira's father. Nell watched with her light very still. "Are those stars falling?" she asked. "Are they lost, the way that I was lost?"

Dust from Space

Mira's father sat up and smiled at Nell. "People call them shooting stars or falling stars," he said. "But they are not stars at all. Out in space, there are tiny bits of dust and rock. Most of them are smaller than a grain of sand. Sometimes the Earth passes through a lot of them. They fly through space very, very fast, and some of them rush into the air high above us."

"Each speck moves so fast that it gets very hot and burns up," said Mira. "That makes the bright line we see. It is all over in a second." Pim landed on her knee with his mouth open. "So the stars do not fall?" he asked. "Not one star falls," said Mira's father. "All the stars are still in their places. Each streak is only a speck of dust, far smaller than you, firefly." Pim flashed his light in surprise.

Nell was quiet for a long moment. Then she said, "So when Grandma Ada saw a falling star, no star was lost?" Mira shook her head. "No star at all," she said. "Every streak is a speck of dust." Nell's light glowed a little warmer. "Then the sky is not missing anybody but me," she said softly. Pim flew close to her. "And you are a little star with a story of your own," he said. "We will get you home."

Mira's Wish

Another line of light flashed over the water. "Zip, and gone," said Mira, for the third time. She closed her eyes and moved her lips without a sound. "Are you making a wish?" asked Pim. Mira opened one eye and grinned. "Yes," she said. "I know it is only a speck of dust, but I still make a wish." Her father laughed and made a wish too, and the heron caught a fish.

They counted the streaks together until they reached twenty-two. Some were long and some were short, and one was green at the very end. Mira's eyes grew heavy, and her father pulled the blanket up over her shoulders. The Night Wind came rustling through the pine trees. "The night is half over," it said. "It is time to take you home."

The White Pebble

Mira sat up sleepily and felt along the shore. She found a small white pebble, round and smooth from the lake. "This is for June," she said, and she put it into the Night Wind's gentle hold. "Tell her about the dust." They waved goodbye, and the little tent grew small behind them. "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight," Pim sang, as the lake slid away below.

Far ahead, a small yellow light was waiting. It was Grandma Ada's lamp in the window of the little house. She left it on all night, every night, so that anyone out in the dark would know someone was waiting. The Night Wind set the white pebble on the sill beside the apple seeds. June was asleep in her bed. Pim looked at the lamp and at the pebble and at Nell. "The lamp is on. The door is near. And all is well here," he whispered.

Nell curled into her teacup bed. Pim settled on the green leaf beside her. High above the roof, the stars stayed in their places, every one of them. Now and then, a tiny speck of dust drew a line across the dark. Zip, and gone. The little house was quiet, and the lamp glowed on in the window, and slowly, slowly, everyone fell asleep.