Day 4: The Night Wind carries them over the sand.

A question came tonight from a little one who lives where the summers are long and hot. Pim, are the stars warm? They look so cozy from my bed, and I want to sit next to one. Pim read the question out loud to Nell on the windowsill. Nell held up one bent point and felt it. "I am not sure," she said. "I am a star, and I feel a little warm."

The sky outside was going dark, and Grandma Ada reached over and lit the lamp. Its yellow glow spread across the sill and over the teacup bed. "Tomorrow night, when the lamp is lit," Pim said softly, remembering the promise. At that very moment the curtains stirred, and the mint swayed in the garden below. The Night Wind had come, just as it said it would.

Up and Away from the Sill

"Are you ready?" asked the Night Wind in its rushing voice. Nell climbed out of the thistledown and onto Pim's back. June waved from her bed, half asleep, and Grandma Ada nodded from her chair. Then the wind scooped them up off the windowsill, and the little house grew small beneath them. Pim kept his wings open and his light on. He sang, "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight."

They flew over fields and woods and wide dark water, faster than Pim had ever flown in his life. Nell squealed and laughed and held on tight with all five points. Pim did a loop just because he could, and the Night Wind laughed with them. After a long while the ground below turned pale and smooth. Great hills of sand rolled away in every direction, silver under the moon.

The Fox on the Dune

The Night Wind set them down gently on top of a tall dune. The sand was cool now, though it had been hot all day. When the wind moved over it, the sand whispered. Shh, shh, went the sand. Pim walked a few steps and left tiny footprints behind him. Nell slid down a little way on her back and giggled, and her light made a bright trail on the sand.

Then two enormous ears popped up over the top of the dune. Under the ears was a small fox with a pointed nose and a bushy tail. "Who is making all that light on my dune?" asked the fox. Pim blinked hello three times. "I am Pim, and this is Nell," he said. "Nell fell out of the sky, and we are looking for her place. Do you know anything about the stars?"

The fox sat down and curled her tail around her feet. She looked up at the sky, and so did Pim and Nell. Out here, far from any town, the sky was crowded with stars. "My mother taught me what the stars are," said the fox. "Each one is a campfire. Far away, travelers walk all day across the sand, and at night they stop and light a fire. Those are their fires, up there."

Campfires Far Away

Nell looked up at all the twinkling lights. "Campfires," she said slowly. "Then every star has a traveler sitting beside it?" The fox nodded her big ears. "That is what my mother said, and her mother before her. When the travelers are tired, they sit by the fire and get warm. When the morning comes, they put out the fire and walk on. That is why the stars go away at dawn."

Pim zoomed up and down the dune, thinking hard. "But Nell does not remember any travelers," he said. "Do you, Nell?" Nell shook her head. "I only remember my place, and the stars around it, and shining." The fox tilted her head. "Perhaps your traveler fell asleep," she said kindly, "and the fire went out for a while." Nell thought about it. Shh, shh, went the sand.

"Is it warm, being a campfire?" Nell asked the fox. "It must be," said the fox. "Every fire is warm. And a fire in the dark tells a tired traveler where to stop and rest." Pim thought of Grandma Ada's lamp in the window of the little house. It told tired fireflies where to stop and rest too. "Then a fire in the dark does what Grandma Ada's lamp does," he said, and the fox agreed.

They sat together on the dune for a long time, counting campfires and naming the travelers they imagined. The fox named one Dusty and one Old Long Legs. Nell named one Pim, and Pim laughed so hard that he rolled down the dune. Then the Night Wind stirred around them. "It is late," it said. "Morning is coming over the little house. Climb on." The fox waved her tail. Shh, shh, went the sand.

All the way home, the Night Wind carried them high and smooth, and Nell dozed on Pim's back. Pim sang very quietly, "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight." Far ahead, a small yellow dot appeared in the dark. It grew bigger and bigger, until it was a window with a lamp shining in it. Grandma Ada had left it on for them, the way she did every night.

The wind set them down on the sill beside the teacup bed. Pim shook his wings, and a few grains of sand fell out onto the wood. A few more grains stayed stuck in his wings, but he was too sleepy to care. Nell crawled into the thistledown and yawned. Pim said, "The lamp is on. The door is near. And all is well here." Inside, June was still asleep.

Sights for a Sandy Night

Tonight, before you go to sleep, watch for a light far away in the dark, a lamp on a hill or a light in a distant window, and think of who might be sitting beside it. Watch for one star that looks a little warmer and more golden than the rest. And watch for the wind at your window, saying shh, shh, very softly, just what the sand said to the fox. Then close your eyes, and let the shh carry you to sleep.

Day 5: Snow falls softly on the sleeping forest.

"Hold on tight, because tonight we are going somewhere cold!" The Night Wind swept in through the open window and lifted Pim and Nell off the sill. June waved from her pillow, and Grandma Ada called out, "Come back before morning!" The lamp glowed behind them as they rose into the dark. Pim turned around once to look at it, and then he faced the wind.

Sand on the Snow

They flew for a long time, over hills and rivers. The air grew colder and colder, and Nell tucked herself deep into Pim's back. Then the Night Wind carried them down between tall dark trees. Everything was white. Snow lay on the branches, on the rocks, and on the ground. Pim landed on a branch and shook his wings, and the last grains of sand from the desert fell out onto the snow.

"Look," said Nell, "the desert came with us." The tiny brown grains sat on the white snow for a moment. Then a snowflake landed on top of them, and another, and another, until they were gone. Snow was falling all around them now, slowly and quietly. Soft, soft, the snow comes down. Pim had never seen snow before, and he spun in a circle to catch the flakes on his wings.

A Forest Fast Asleep

The forest was very still. No birds sang, and no leaves rustled. Every creature was tucked away somewhere warm. Pim sang, "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight." His voice sounded small among the big trees. His glow made a little yellow circle on the snow below the branch. Nell made a little white circle beside it, and the two circles touched.

"Is everyone asleep here?" Nell whispered. "I think so," Pim whispered back. "It is winter, and in winter the forest sleeps." Just then, a lump of snow at the bottom of the tree began to wiggle. Two long ears poked out of it, and then a twitchy nose, and then two dark eyes. A white hare shook the snow off her back and blinked up at them.

The Hare in Her Hollow

"Who is shining a light into my hollow?" asked the hare. "Oh, I am sorry," said Pim, and he dimmed his glow at once. "We did not mean to wake you. I am Pim, and this is Nell. She is a star who fell into our garden, and we are looking for her place in the sky." The hare looked at Nell with great interest.

"A star, down here in the snow," said the hare. "Well, that explains the light. Come inside where it is warm, both of you." She hopped back into her hollow under the roots of the tree. Pim and Nell followed her. Inside it was dry and soft, lined with moss and fur. The snow fell outside the doorway. Soft, soft, the snow comes down.

A Blanket Full of Holes

The hare settled down with her paws folded under her chin. "My grandfather told me about the stars," she said. "The sky is a great dark blanket, spread over the whole world at night. It is old, and it has tiny holes in it. Behind the blanket there is a bright light, and the light shines through the holes. Those little shining holes are the stars."

Nell looked out through the doorway at the sky above the trees. "Then my place is a hole in the blanket?" she asked. "If you fell out, it must be," said the hare. "Somewhere up there, a hole is dark now, with no light coming through. Count them all, and you will find the empty one." Pim zoomed to the doorway and looked up too. There were so many stars that his head spun.

"Could anybody count them all?" asked Nell. The hare twitched her nose. "I never could," she said. "I always fall asleep at about twenty. But the turtles by the warm sea say they can count every one." Pim and Nell looked at each other. Nell said the word quietly to herself, so that she would keep it. "Count," she said. "Every one."

Warm in the Hollow

They stayed in the hollow for a while, listening to the snow and to the hare's stories. She told them about the long winter and about the first green shoots of spring. Pim and Nell made their lights low, so the hollow glowed gold and silver. It felt safe inside, with the snow outside and the moss under them. The hare yawned a long yawn.

Then the Night Wind whistled softly at the doorway. "It is time to go home," it said. "Morning will soon be over the little house." The hare blinked her sleepy eyes at them. "Come back in the spring," she said, "and the forest will be awake to meet you." Pim thanked her, and Nell gave her a little bow with her bent points. Then they climbed onto the wind.

The Window Through the Snow

The snow was still falling as they rose above the trees. Soft, soft, the snow comes down. Pim kept his wings wide and his light steady. He sang, "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight." Far ahead, through the falling flakes, a tiny yellow light shone. It was Grandma Ada's lamp in the window, waiting for them, and it grew bigger and warmer the closer they flew.

The Night Wind set them down gently on the sill. Nell climbed into the teacup and pulled the brown feather close. A single snowflake was melting on her point, and it turned into a tiny drop of water. June was asleep, and Grandma Ada was asleep in her chair. Pim settled on the handle. He said, "The lamp is on. The door is near. And all is well here."

Nell looked up at the sky through the window glass. She was trying to count the stars, very slowly, one by one. "One," she whispered, "and two, and three." Her light was dimming, soft and slow. "Four," she said, and then she did not say five. Pim smiled. The lamp glowed beside them, steady and warm. The little star was asleep, and soon the firefly was asleep too.