Kawartha was a girl who lived with her grandmother in a little cobhouse on an island in the middle of the mighty dark blue seas. During the day, the island was always sunny and warm. In the evenings, gusts of winds whirled, bringing fresh air and spreading a blanket of salty magic dust.
Every night before going to sleep, Kawartha looked up to the sky. Kawartha counted the stars. Kawartha searched for the twinkling shapes and patterns the stars drew on the blackboard of the universe.
The starlight shone on Kawartha's hair and her forehead, the arch of her nose and her cheeks. The starlight bathed in her eyes and seeped deep down into her heart, making her soul glow.
Kawartha and her grandmother lived by the light of the stars at night. But one eve, out of the blue, the island sank into darkness.
Kawartha knew that something was wrong. She feared that the stars had been sucked away into a big black hole, but her grandmother disagreed.
“Grandma,” Kawartha's muffled voice quivered, “It's so dark. I can't see anything. Could you please find our candles?”
“Good idea,” said the grandma as she shuffled slowly in her leather moccasins across the earthen floor of a tiny living room, taking one step at a time.
“Thank you,” echoed Kawartha's voice as her grandmother disappeared in the basement looking for a stash of their beeswax candles.
“You're welcome,” grandma's voice echoed back. Unable to see each other, they kept talking. Hearing each other's voices helped them keep in touch.
From then on Kawartha and her grandmother had to light candles every night because the stars did not come back, and the sky was very very dark.
Kawartha missed the stars very much. Every day, she went a bit further into the woods looking for them. She thought the stars had probably fallen down from the skies and believed that she could find them.
The longer Kawartha stayed away from her little cobhouse, the deeper grew the frowns on her grandmother's forehead.
“Grandma, please don't worry. I feel safe in the woods,” pleaded Kawartha.
“Forest animals are my friends and they will help me find the stars.”
Holding Kawartha gently in her arms, her grandmother took a deep breath.
“I believe that you'll find the stars if you look for them,” she said with a heavy sigh. “I have seen the starlight in your heart. The glow of your soul will guide you. Make the skies shine again, Kawartha! The light in the skies will show you your way back home.”
“Thank you grandmother,” sang Kawartha with joy flaring in her heart.
“You're welcome,” whispered grandma, and weak in her body, she sat down, looking away in the distance.
Deep in the woods, Kawartha had to knock on many doors. Sometimes she had to knock over and over again because some animals were fast asleep, and needed time to wake up.
“Please open the door,” Kawartha's voice rang like a bell. “I want to ask if you'd seen the stars!”
Owl's beak appeared through the window of its nesthouse.
“Shhhh,” mama owl spoke softly, “my owlets are asleep, please don't wake them up.”
“Oh I'm sorry Ms. Owl,” whispered Kawartha, “I wanted to ask if you'd seen the stars.”
Ms. Owl scratched her feathery chin.
“Our skies've been very dark lately,” she admitted. "I could hardly see my way around when hunting. My food is running out.”
Knowing that soon she wouldn't be able to feed her owlets without the starlight in the skies, Ms. Owl promised that she would fly far and high to see if she could spot the stars.
“Thank you,” said Kawartha to her new friend.
“Oh you're very welcome,” responded mama Owl. “Thank you for stopping by.”
“You're welcome,” smiled Kawartha.
The next evening, Ms. Owl frantically flapped her wings over Kawartha.
“Please wake up, please wake up, I've seen the stars.”
“You have Ms. Owl?” squeaked Kawartha through her yawn, “thank you for bringing this awesome news.”
“You're welcome Kawartha, but quick, climb up on my back, let's fly together. I want to show you the stars. They had fallen into the ocean on the opposite side of the island. The fish I'd talked to said the stars were waiting for the light which would guide them back to the sky.”
Kawartha sank into the soft feathers on Ms. Owl's back, feeling safe and excited as the owl navigated through the gusts of winds with her wings. As they flew closer to the starlit lagoon, they could see the rainbow-like radiance arising from the salty ocean water.
“Thank you for carrying me to the lagoon of the fallen stars, Ms. Owl,” said Kawartha as she slid down the owl's back after they'd landed.
“You're more than welcome Kawartha. I'm hoping that the skies will light up before I reach my nest,” hooted Ms. Owl as she flew away.
Kawartha found herself alone in the radiance of the starlit lagoon so far far from her home. Suffused in intense rainbow light and dazzled, she fainted.
The next morning, when the sunlight softened the starlight glow from the ocean, Kawartha woke up and could see in the air many doves, butterflies, dragonflies and honeybees. Not feeling alone any more, she got up and came closer to the ocean.
Kawartha scooped the radiant water and washed her face with it. As she was combing her hair, fish started to jump in the air and splash back into the sea. Kawartha stopped and listened. She heard the fish complain about the light of the fallen stars. It was just too bright for them to sleep at night.
The fish asked Kawartha to, p l e a s e, take the stars back to the skies!!!
“Huh,” Kawartha let out a heavy sigh. How could she do it, she wondered.
The next morning, Kawartha and the ocean inhabitants held an emergency meeting.
“Let's pull up the stars from the bottom of the ocean to its surface,” agreed the sea animals. “The stars are light in the water so it won't be difficult to carry them.”
“Thank you,” said Kawartha, and the sea animals said, “you're welcome.”
Soon, the stars floated on the ocean waves.
“Oh thank you,” said Kawartha to the fish, sea stars, sea horses and seashells.
“You're welcome,” they responded, “but please don't forget to ask the birds to take the stars into their beaks and fly them to the sky.”
“Thank you for reminding me to talk to the doves. I sure will,” Kawartha assured them.
“You're welcome,” said the sea animals and disappeared in the ocean.
Kawartha looked for the doves.
“There's an emergency situation and your help is needed. Please come out to the meeting,” she called.
With the elegant flapping of their wings, doves settled on the lowest branches of the nearby trees. They heard what the sea animals did to bring the stars to the ocean surface and it suddenly dawned on them.
“Let's pick up the stars with our beaks and fly them up to the sky,” they spoke in unison.
“Thank you,” said Kawartha and the doves said, “you're welcome.”
Soon there were flocks of doves over the ocean surface trying to pull the stars up with their beaks. But the stars were way too heavy for the doves to fly them to the sky.
So, the doves called the butterflies, “Please come help us pull up the stars to the sky.”
And so the butterflies did.
“Thank you,” said the doves and the butterflies said, “you're welcome.”
But still, the stars were very heavy.
The butterflies called the dragonflies, “Please come help us pull up the stars to the sky.”
And so the dragonflies did.
“Thank you,” said the butterflies and the dragonflies said, “you're welcome.”
But still, the stars were very heavy.
The dragonflies called the honeybees, “Please come help us pull up the stars to the sky.”
And so the honeybees did.
“Thank you,” said the dragonflies and the honeybees said, “you're welcome.”
When the doves, butterflies, dragonflies and honeybees together pulled on the stars, they were able to lift them in the air. They fluttered their wings faster and faster because the stars were becoming heavier and heavier as they were raised higher up in the air. Heavy beads of sweat dripped from Kawartha's forehead. It was unbearable to watch the effort needed to lift the stars up to the sky.
In a moment of terrible anguish, Kawartha heard a booming voice, “Light please!” and saw the floodlight of sparkly stardust fan far and wide out of her soul. Suddenly, the winged people gained enormous strength and flew the stars to the sky.
In the evening, the island was lit again with the twinkling light of the starry skies – and everyone celebrated!
The End
