It was a warm summer evening. Stars came out one by one across the velvet blue sky. As the evening grew darker, the twinkling lights turned brighter.
Katie and Ildi Honeybee watched the change in amazement.
“Look at the sky! It’s like a huge rug full of tiny silver dots.”
“The stars look like diamonds scattered from a broken necklace.”
They just sat there in the soft grass, taking in the night sky. Suddenly, Ildi Honeybee had an idea.
“Katie, I know a place where we can see the stars even better. There’s a little clearing not too far from here, where no trees block the view.”
“Sure, let’s go there!” Katie agreed enthusiastically. Ever since her leg healed, she was constantly on the move.
So they set out. As they reached the edge of the woods, the shadows of the trees grew longer.
“Are we there yet, Ildi?” Katie began to worry.
“It’s got to be here, somewhere… Maybe we haven’t gone far enough.”
They kept on walking. The shadows slowly disappeared, and the friends have found themselves surrounded by total darkness. A warm breeze played through the boughs of the trees, and strange noises emanated from the forest.
“Are you sure this is the way? Shouldn’t we head back soon?”
The wind grew colder. Ildi looked around in bewilderment, and finally broke into tears.
“I don’t know where this place is. And I don’t know where we are…”
“I am scared!” whispered Katie and tears appeared in her eyes.
The two friends cried on each other’s shoulders for a long time. Their sobs were so bitter, that even the old oak trees felt sorry for them. Gently rustling their leaves, they were trying to comfort the stargazers. That’s when Ildi Honeybee suddenly noticed a light twinkling in the distance.
“Look! There! I see a star!”
The tiny point of light came closer, growing bigger by the second. Soon it was only a few feet away.
“What a unique star! It must have fallen from the sky.”
The star burst into laughter.
“Star? I’m not a star! My name is Freddy Firefly, and I’m a lightning bug. I haven’t fallen from the sky – I’m on my way home from work from Mrs. Cuckoo’s nest. She is learning to read and could not find her flashlight,” he said, introducing himself politely with deep bow. “Why were you crying?”
Katie explained how they had set off into the forest to take a better look at the stars, and ended up getting lost.
“Not a problem,” said the firefly. “I can help. I know every inch of these woods, I was born not too far from here. Come, follow me. I’ll light the way for you and take you back to Great Meadow.”
And that’s exactly what happened. They set out with Freddy Firefly in front, illuminating the path with his little light. Katie and Ildi followed closely behind. The trees began to thin out slowly, and before long they were back out on the Great Meadow, where every single blade of grass was familiar to them.
“Thank you! Thank you very much for bringing us home!”
“Oh, it was nothing,” replied Freddy. “I’m always ready to help those in need. That’s how my parents raised me. And if you are ever in need of some light after it gets dark, just let me know.”
Finally, it was time to say goodbye to their new friend, but Katie could hear Freddy’s words ringing in her ears long after she got home: “I’m always ready to help those in need.”