Day 30: A new light shines above the little house.

The last question of the month came from a little one who has heard all of Nell's story. "Pim, is Nell happy now that she is home? Do you miss her? Can I see her light from my window too, or only from the little house? From a child who is nearly asleep but wants to know how it ends." Pim read it on the windowsill, in the warm glow of the lamp, and his light flickered softly.

The Empty Teacup

In the morning, Nell's teacup bed was still on the sill beside the lamp. It was empty, and the sun was shining into it. June stood and looked at it for a long time. "Should we put it away now?" she asked. Grandma Ada shook her head. "Leave it where it is," she said. "It is a good place for a teacup." So the teacup stayed on the sill, next to the white pebble and the apple seeds, with the little red bow still on its handle.

Pim sat on the rim of the teacup. He did not zoom or spin all morning. "Do you miss her?" June asked. Pim nodded. "I do," he said. "But I know where she is. That is different from lost." June sat down on the floor under the window. "I know where she is too," she said. "In the tail of the kite."

Pim's Quiet Morning

All day the sky was blue, and all day there were no stars to see. "She is still up there," said June. "The stars are in the sky by day, and the sunlight hides them. You and Nell found that out on the rocky coast." Pim's light gave a small flash. "That is right," he said. He flew up to the window frame and looked out. Somewhere in all that blue, Nell was shining. He could not see her, but he knew.

In the afternoon, the old owl woke up in the oak and called down to Pim. "Did you sleep, little firefly?" she asked. "A little," said Pim. The owl blinked her gold eyes. "Tonight will be clear," she said. "I can smell it. Come up to my branch when it gets dark, and we will look together." Pim felt a little better. He zipped once around the oak and back, and for the first time all day, he laughed.

One Light Up High

When the sun went down, Grandma Ada lit the lamp in the window, the way she had done every night for years and years. Grandma Ada, June and Pim went out into the garden together, past the mint and down to the gate. Pim flew up to the owl's branch. "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight," he sang as he rose. The stars came out one by one, and the kite came out over the oak.

There, at the tail of the kite, a small white light was shining. It was not the hottest and not the coolest. It stayed in its place in the kite, and it did not fall. June pointed at it with both hands. "There she is! She is winking at us!" Pim laughed, because he knew that the moving air above them made every star twinkle. But he flashed his own light back at Nell anyway, three times, and the owl hooted three times too.

"One light up high," said June, and she pointed at Nell. Then she turned and pointed back at the yellow window of the little house. "And one light down low." Grandma Ada smiled. Nell's light shone over the garden, a lamp left on in a window high above, so that everyone below would know where she was. "One light up high, and one light down low," said Pim. "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight."

Pim thought about all the friends they had met, so far away. He thought of the fox in the desert, the turtles on the beach and the girl with the telescope on her hill. On a clear night, many of them could look up and find the kite, with its little white light at the tail. Nell did not shine for the little house alone. She shone for everyone who looked up.

The Lamp That Stays On

They watched Nell's light until June began to yawn. Then they went back inside, and Pim came down from the oak. Grandma Ada did not turn off the lamp. She never would. "Some nights there will be clouds," she said. "In some seasons the kite will be up in the daytime, and the sunlight will hide it. But Nell will always be there in her place. And the lamp will always be here in its place, every night."

June climbed into bed, and Grandma Ada tucked the blanket up to her chin. Pim settled on the rim of the empty teacup, close to the lamp. Outside, the Night Wind went whistling softly past the window. "Good night, Pim," it said. "There are many more nights to fly." Pim smiled. "Good night, Night Wind," he said. He looked at the lamp, and at June asleep, and up through the glass at the small white light. "The lamp is on. The door is near. And all is well here," he whispered.

Every night after that, Nell's light shone above the little house, even on the nights when clouds or sunlight hid it. Every night after that, the lamp shone in the window. One light up high, and one light down low. Pim kept watch from under the eaves, glowing softly. And when June looked up and said good night to Nell, Pim was sure that, somewhere far up in the kite, a little star was saying good night back.

Last Lights for Your Window

Watch for one small star above your own house tonight, and give it a name of your own. Watch for a lamp left on in a window, because someone there is waiting for somebody to come home. And watch for the little firefly glow of your own night-light, keeping you company until you fall asleep. One light up high, and one light down low. The lamp is on. The door is near. Your star is in its place, and you are in yours. Close your eyes now, and sleep.

A Short Timeline

Day 1. Nell falls into the mint by the gate, and Pim finds her. Day 2. Pim and June make her a bed in a teacup on the windowsill. Day 3. The old owl calls Nell naughty, and the Night Wind offers to carry the friends wherever night has fallen.

Days 4 to 11. The Night Wind carries Pim and Nell to a hot desert, a snowy forest, an island beach, mountain meadows, rice fields, a town rooftop, a wide grassland and a rainforest. In each place, someone tells them an old saying about the stars, the moon or the night.

Day 12. Back at the little house, Nell misses her home. June writes a question on a piece of paper: "What is true?" From that night on, the friends look more closely at the sky.

Days 13 to 24. On a hilltop, a rocky coast, a harbor, a river meadow, a still lake, in a bakery, on the far north ice, the far south ice, a high dry plain, the orchard hills, a lake island and at a mountain hut, Pim and Nell find out what is known about the moon, the stars and fireflies.

Days 25 to 27. Nell remembers the kite of four stars with a gap at its tail. Far from the bright lamps of a town, the friends see the whole kite. Then the clouds come, and they learn to wait.

Days 28 to 30. Pim and Nell say goodbye to their friends. On the first clear night, the Night Wind lifts Nell into the gap, and the kite is whole. Ever since, a small white light has shone above the little house, and the lamp in the window has stayed on.