The Stars in the Sky

The Stars in the Sky
By: Casey Allison Crumby

Benjamin Blue looked out his window one summer evening as his mother came in to tuck him to bed. “Mother,” Benjamin asked, “how did the stars get so high into the sky?” Benjamin’s mother smiled and said, “When I was a little girl, I asked my mother the same thing, and she told me of a story long ago.”

When the earth was still young, the earth was full of life and happiness. Antelope and lions ran free in the savannah, birds sang as they glided through white puffy clouds in a bright blue sky, and whales swam through sparkling oceans.

But as everything on earth seemed happy, the sun was sad because he was so tired. The sun shined all day so that there would never be complete darkness on the earth. The sun loved to watch baby rabbits hop across the meadow and pandas playing in the forests.

One day, the sun just couldn’t stay in the sky any longer and had to catch a nap. So, the sun sank behind a mountain, and fell fast asleep. But, the sun didn’t wake. Darkness was everywhere, and everything else then fell into a deep sleep.

Far above the earth, the angels of Heaven chatted about coming to earth to see all its beauty. They were so excited so they hurried down as fast as they could. But when they arrived, there was nothing but darkness. They couldn’t see anything. All the badgers were sound asleep in their burrows, pelicans were nestled on their favorite piers, and zebras were curled under their trees. The only thing that wasn’t asleep was the fireflies who loved to bob around in the darkness.

“Where was the sun?” they cried. The angels soon saw a soft glow coming from the mountain. “Oh, the sun has fallen asleep! What do we do?” The angels were very upset. They knew they had to do something. One angel tried to wake the sun, but the sun was very warm, so the angel couldn’t reach him. All the angels tried calling out the sun’s name, but still nothing happened.

“Perhaps we should try to create some light until the sun wakes,” said one angel. “But how can we do that?” asked another. “All angels shall hurry into the woods and gather the fireflies, quickly!” claimed an angel who was standing at the edge of the forest. One by one the angels poured into the woods searching for something to create light. But only one thing was left to help them.

The fireflies of the earth were gathered swiftly. Then, each angel took silk threads from their robes and tied them to the fireflies. The angels hurried and tied the other end of the threads to the gates of Heaven. Soon tiny twinkling lights could be seen all around the earth, but the fireflies could only bring but a little light into the world. The angels were very upset, so they began to cry.

Suddenly, a loud voice from the mountain said, “Why do you cry dear angels?” It was the sun! The angels were so excited and they jumped all around. Their cries ahd been heard by the sun and awakened him! “We were so upset that you had fallen asleep because there was no light for us to see the earth,” explained one angel. The sun then told them, “I fell asleep because I was so tired of being in the sky without rest. Being in the sky for so long is a very difficult thing to for so long. I must have rest.”

The angels understood his worries and began to think. “What if,” said one angel, “the sun slept behind the mountain half the day and shined on the earth the other half?” The sun thought for a minute and said, “That is a wonderful idea! This way, I can get my rest and still enjoy shining on the earth.”

And so it was settled. The sun would sleep half the day and shine the other half. The sun quickly rose to the sky. In an instant, everything sprang to life. Bluebirds began to chirp, flowers perked up, and bright golden wheat swayed in the mighty winds. It was as if the sun had never fallen asleep behind the mountain.

The angels, satisfied to have seen the earth, hurried back to Heaven, but not before they make sure of a few things. They all decided to leave the fireflies dangling from Heaven’s gates, so that when the sun did fall asleep, there would never be total darkness on earth again.

“What about the moon, mother,” asked Benjamin Blue. Well, she said, the moon is the eye of an angel peering down to earth, making sure that the sun kept his promise, and making sure that the earth was never in complete darkness again.

Benjamin Blue’s mother looked down at her son as she finished her story, as he was beginning to fall asleep. Perhaps he’ll dream about the stars this night. She smiled at him and then looked out the window at the stars in the sky.