Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Aloka who wanted to touch the stars in the sky.
On clear nights, she would stare at the little stars
and wonder what it would feel like to hold a star in her hand.
One evening Aloka decided to touch a star or two, no matter what.
So she slipped out the window and started off by herself.
He walked for hours until he came to a pond.
“Evening,” he said. “I want to play with the stars in the sky. Have you seen one near here?”
“Ah, yes,” groaned the old pond. “Every night they shine on my surface.
Jump in, my little girl, and you will find them.”
“Aloka jumped into the pond and swam around, but she could not find any stars,
so she set out again across the fields.
After a while, she came to a little brook, murmuring over its stones. “Good evening, brooklet,” she said politely. “I’m trying to reach the stars in the sky so I may play with them. Have you seen any near here?”
“Ah, yes,” whispered the booklet. “They shine on my banks. Wade in, my cutie pie, and you will find them.”
Aloka waded in and paddled around for a while, and climbed all over the rocks, but did not find a star. So, she tiptoed away across the fields.
After a while, she sat down to rest in a meadow when suddenly a hundred little fairies dressed in silver and gold came out to dance on the grass.
The little girl asked the same question and the fairies called her to dance with them among the blades of the grass to find the stars.
So she whirled round and round in a ring. Though the grass shone beneath her feet, she could not see a single star.
“O I’ve tried, but can’t seem to reach the stars,” she cried. “If you don’t help me, I’ll try, but can’t seem to play with.”
All the fairies whispered together. There, in the distance, the little girl saw a beautiful rainbow rising out of the ocean and into the heavens, shining with all the colours in the world.
She came to the foot of it and saw the rainbow was actually a broad bright road, sloping up and away into the sky, and at its far end, she could see the twinkling stars.
Aloka climbed up the rainbow. It wasn’t easy. Every time she took one step, she seemed to slide back two. But, she didn’t give up.
“I won’t give up,” she told herself. “I’ve come so far, I can’t go back.”
Up and up she went. The air grew colder and colder, but the sky turned brighter and brighter, and finally, she could tell she was near the stars.
“I’m finally here,” she whispered to herself. She had never seen anything so beautiful before, and she stood gazing.
“I won’t go until I touch one star,” she told herself, and she stretched her arms. Suddenly a shooting star zipped by and surprised her so much that she lost her balance.
Down she slid, down-down-down the rainbow. The wind got warmer and warmer.
She gave a great yawn and a small sigh before she knew that she was fast asleep.
When Aloka woke up, she found herself in her very own bed. The sun was peeking through her window. “Did I really touch the stars?” she asked herself. “Or was it only a dream?”
Then she felt something in her hand. When she opened her fist, a tiny light flashed in her palm, and at once was gone. Aloka smiled to herself.