Day 10: Everyone in the world sees the same stars, says the zebra.

A question came tonight from a little one whose father is working far away. Pim, when I look at the stars from my bed, can my father see the very same ones from where he is? I want to know before I go to sleep. Pim read the question twice in the lamplight. Nell listened from her teacup, holding her rice leaf. "That is almost what the boy on the roof said," she whispered.

Nell had kept the boy's words all day, along with the shell and the rice leaf. "His grandmother lives far across the sea," she said, "and she sees the same stars he sees. Do you think everybody does, Pim?" Pim did not know. When the lamp was lit and the Night Wind came in through the curtains, Nell asked it straight away. "Is there somebody who knows about the same stars?"

The Wide Grass Country

"I know a place where you can see the whole sky at once," said the Night Wind. It lifted them off the sill and swept them out over the garden. June waved, and Grandma Ada smiled from her chair. Pim sang, "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight." They flew a long, long way, over dark hills and dark water, until the land below grew flat and wide.

Below them stretched a great plain of tall grass, silver under the moon. There were no hills and no towns, only grass and a few low trees with flat tops. The Night Wind blew across the plain, and the long grass bent and rose again. Swish, swish, the long grass. Pim zoomed down and skimmed along the tops of the grass, and Nell held on and laughed.

Stripes in the Moonlight

Something big was standing in the grass ahead of them. It had long legs, and a long neck, and black and white stripes from its ears to its tail. It was a zebra, and she was wide awake, chewing slowly. Pim landed on a stalk of grass right in front of her nose. "Good evening," he said politely. "I am Pim, and this is Nell, and Nell is a lost star."

The zebra stopped chewing and looked at Nell for a long time. Then she looked up at the sky, which was full of stars from one edge of the world to the other. "A lost star," she said. "How strange. I thought all the stars stayed where they were put." She flicked her tail at a fly. "My herd is sleeping over there, but I am keeping watch tonight. Ask me anything you want."

One Sky for Everyone

"The boy on the roof says his grandmother sees the same stars he sees," said Nell, "even though she is far across the sea. Is that true?" The zebra nodded her striped head. "Of course it is," she said. "My mother taught me that everyone in the world sees the same stars. There is only one sky, and it covers everything. Whoever looks up sees the very same lights."

"Even the turtles on the beach?" asked Pim. "Even the fox on the sand, and the hare in the snow?" The zebra flicked her ears. "All of them," she said. "The same stars, every one, all over the world. When I look up at night, I think of my cousins far away, looking up too. That is why I keep watch. I am never really alone out here."

Nell thought about that for a long while. The wind blew across the plain. Swish, swish, the long grass. "Then somebody far away might be looking at my empty place right now," she said slowly. "Somebody might be wondering where I went." The zebra lowered her head close to Nell. "Perhaps," she said kindly. "And perhaps they will help you find it."

Pim did not say anything. He was not sure, and so he only wondered. He zoomed up high over the zebra's back and looked at all the stars, from one side of the sky to the other. Then he spun around and around, and he thought about all the faces looking up at the very same lights. It was a big thought for a small firefly, and it made him dizzy, so he landed.

A Seed on Pim's Leg

The Night Wind stirred the grass around them. "It is time to go home," it said, "before morning comes to the little house." Nell thanked the zebra, and the zebra blinked her long lashes. Pim hopped off the grass stalk and onto the wind. As he went, a tiny grass seed caught on his leg, with little hooks that held on tight. Swish, swish, the long grass, waving them away.

Pim sang as they flew, "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight." Far ahead, a little yellow light was shining in the dark. It was Grandma Ada's lamp in the window, waiting for them, the way it waited every night. The wind set them down on the sill beside the teacup. Nell climbed into her bed, and Pim tried to shake the grass seed off his leg, but it would not come loose.

"Never mind," said the Night Wind softly at the window. "Tomorrow night I will take you somewhere green and loud, and the seed can find a new home there." Pim yawned and stopped shaking his leg. He said, "The lamp is on. The door is near. And all is well here." Nell murmured the words with him. Above the garden, the same stars were shining, or so the zebra said.

Signs to Spot Before Sleep

Tonight, before you sleep, watch for one bright star from your window, and think of somebody far away who might be looking up too. Watch for a seed or a burr or a bit of grass stuck to your sock or your sleeve after a day outside. And watch for the lamp in your own window, or the glow of a night light, left on so you know you are safe. Then let your eyes close slowly, now that the zebra's watch is done, and sleep.

Day 11: The bats say that fireflies are broken stars.

"Hold still, Pim, there is something stuck on your leg!" Nell called. Pim held still, and Nell tugged with one point until a tiny grass seed came loose and spun away into the dark. It had ridden with them all the way from the wide grassland. Below them, the treetops were thick and green and wet. The Night Wind had kept its promise, because this place was green, and it was very loud.

Frogs croaked, and crickets buzzed and clicked in the leaves. Water dripped from leaf to leaf, all the way down to the ground. "Drip, drip, hush," Nell whispered, and she tried the sound again with a smile. Pim circled her once, laughed, and dived down between the huge leaves. "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight," he sang. Far away, Grandma Ada's lamp was shining in the window of the little house, and Pim knew it was there.

The Dripping Leaves

The leaves in this forest were bigger than June's umbrella. Pim zoomed under one leaf and shot out the other side. Nell rolled along a leaf, slid off the tip and bounced onto the next one. "Whee!" she cried, and Pim spun in a circle to catch up with her. A tree frog blinked at them with round orange eyes and hopped away.

They went deeper and deeper into the trees, where the air was warm and damp. Vines hung down from the high branches, and somewhere a bird gave a long, wobbly call. Pim's glow made a small round patch of gold on every leaf he passed. Nell glowed too, a little whiter and a little softer, and together they lit up the path ahead. "Drip, drip, hush," Nell said again, and the forest dripped back at her.

The Fig Tree Bats

At last they came to a tall fig tree. From every branch hung a bat, upside down, with its wings folded tight. Some of the bats were eating figs, and some were chattering to each other. One bat opened her wings wide, dropped, swooped and came back up again. She hung right in front of Pim, and he tipped his head to see her upside-down face.

"Well, well," said the bat, "there is a little light in the fig tree, and another one beside it." She sniffed at Nell, and then she sniffed at Pim. The other bats crept closer along the branch. "A star and a firefly, out together," the bat called to them. "Of course they are together, because they are family." The bats nodded and chattered and rustled their wings.

The Story of the Broken Star

"Family?" said Pim, and he flew a little higher to see the bat better. "I am a firefly, and Nell is a star, and we are friends." The bat laughed a squeaky laugh. "Everyone in this forest knows the story," she said. "Long ago, a star broke into tiny pieces, and the pieces fell down into the trees. Each piece kept a little bit of light, and those pieces are the fireflies."

"Why else would you glow?" asked a young bat with a fig in his mouth. Pim opened his mouth to answer, and then he shut it again. He did not know why he glowed, because he had always glowed. He looked at his own soft light, and then he looked over at Nell. Her light was white and his was gold, but were they family after all?

A Question in the Fig Tree

"Am I a piece of a star?" Pim asked. Nell floated close and looked at his light for a long time. "I do not know," she said at last. "I do not remember any pieces, but I do not remember much about the sky either." Pim zoomed to the top of the fig tree, spun three times and zoomed back down, and he still did not know. The bats grinned their upside-down grins. "Think about it, little one," the bat said.

Rain Under a Leaf

Then the rain came, all at once, with a great rushing roar. The bats pulled in their heads and wrapped their wings around themselves. Pim caught one of Nell's points, and they darted under the biggest leaf they could find. Rain drummed on the leaf above them and ran off its edges and down to the ground. Under the leaf it was dry and warm, and the two friends sat close together. "Drip, drip, hush," they whispered.

Pim's glow lit up the little space under the leaf, and Nell leaned against him. "Your light is a lamp left on in a window," she said. "Grandma Ada told me so, and it means that someone is waiting for me." Pim felt warm all the way to the tips of his wings. "Slow wings, soft light. The lamp is on tonight," he said softly. The rain went on and on, and then it stopped.

A Green Leaf for the Ride Home

The Night Wind came whooshing down through the trees and shook the water off the fig branches. "Time to go home, because morning is coming," it said. "Remember, little firefly!" the bat called after them. "You are a piece of a star!" Pim waved goodbye to her. The Night Wind picked up a small green leaf, set Pim and Nell on top of it, and lifted them away over the dark world.

Grandma Ada's lamp was still shining in the window when they got back. The little house was quiet, and June was asleep with one arm over her blanket. The Night Wind set the green leaf down on the windowsill, right beside the teacup bed. Nell curled up in the cup, and Pim settled on the leaf, which was still wet and smelled of rain. "The lamp is on. The door is near. And all is well here," Pim whispered.

Nell fell asleep almost at once, but Pim stayed awake a little longer. He looked at his own light, soft and gold on the green leaf. A piece of a star, the bat had said, and maybe it was so, or maybe it was not. The lamp glowed beside him, and the house was warm and still. His wings grew heavy, and his light grew slow. And Pim fell asleep on the leaf.