The Star Money | Dreamjourney · The Quiet Corner — A Gentle Sleep Story

Hello my little ones. I'm Luna and this is my friend Twinkle. There you are, all tucked in, warm and soft. I'm so glad you are here with me tonight. How was your day today, little one? Long, maybe. Full of so many things. It's all finished now. Every bit of it. There's nothing left to carry. You can let your eyes grow heavy whenever they'd like to. There's nothing at all to do now. Only rest and listen and be here with me and Twinkle for a little while. Have you ever given something of yours to someone who needed it more? Maybe you shared the last of something sweet or handed a warm thing to someone who was cold. And do you remember that soft feeling deep inside, warmer than the thing you gave away? There's an old, old story about a little girl with a heart just like that. The brother Scrimm told it long ago in a land far from here. Come along with me. We will walk a little way beside her on a clear and starry night. You are resting warm in the soft grass beside a quiet country road. Long ago, as evening comes on and the first stars begin to show, and along the road comes a little girl, small and gentle and all alone in the world. For her mother and father were gone and she had no home and no little bed to sleep in. All she had left in the whole wide world were the simple clothes she was wearing and one small piece of bread in her hand that a kind soul had given her along the way. She was good and pious and because she was left so alone by all the world, she went out along the road and into the open country, trusting in dear God to keep her. Presently, she met a poor man. He was thin and tired and hungry and he looked at her and said softly, Oh, little one, I am so hungry. Have you anything at all to eat? And the little girl looked at her one small piece of bread, the only food she had in all the world. She gave it to him, the whole of it. Here, she said, you need it more than I do. And she watched him eat and her heart was glad and she walked on with empty hands. A little further along, she met a child sitting by the roadside. Oh, said the little child. My head is so cold. Took the warm cap from her and settled it gently over the little one's ears. There, she said, you'll be warm. And on she walked into the soft evening. Further still, she met another child with no jacket against the cool night, hugging her small arms and trembling. And the kind girl took off her own jacket, her own warm jacket and wrapped it snugly around the shivering child. There now, she said softly. And she walked on, warmed only by her own warmth. And a little further, one more child, cold in the evening with no dress to wear. And the girl looked down at her own dress and gently, gladly, she gave that too. At last, she came into a quiet wood where the trees stood soft and still and the light was growing dim. And there, in the hush of the wood, was one more little child with nothing at all to keep it warm. Now, the little girl had already given away her bread and her cap and her jacket and her dress. The only thing she had left in all the world was the little shirt she wore. And it was evening and the wood was quiet and no one was there to see. I can give this too, she thought. It is the last thing I have, but this little one needs it more than I do. And so, with a warm and open heart, she gave away the very last thing she had. And there she stood and the quiet silver wood with nothing left in all the world. She had given everything, every last thing she owned, to those who needed it more. And still, somehow, her heart was warm and light and glad. And just then, my little ones, as she stood there beneath the open sky with nothing left at all, those stars in heaven began to fall, softly, slowly, one after another. They drifted down out and as they fell, each one into a shining silver coin. Down they came, glimmering and gentle all around her like soft silver snow. And as they fell, she found herself wept all in new and shiny linen, the very finest there ever was. Soft and warm and clean, given back to her by heaven. And the silver coins gathered at her feet and shone all about her and the quiet more than she could ever count. A whole sky full of shining money drifting down just for her. For the little girl who gave away everything she had to those who needed it more. The whole wide sky had been saving something all along. And she was cared for and warm and never in want again. For all the days of her life, the silverwood grows soft at its edges. Now, the little girl and the falling stars and the shining coin drift slowly away. The story folds itself up gently and tucks itself away until another evening. That's the one for tonight, my little ones. You did enough today. You were enough today. And there's all the time in the world to rest now. I say goodnight soon, but only for a little while. You are warm. You are held. You are exactly where you belong. And all those stars are shining up above you too. The same soft silver stars watching over you the whole night through. Good night, my little ones. Sleep soft. I'll see you tomorrow with twinkle and another. You rest. You dream. You sleep deep and easy the whole night through. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.