The Goldfish Who Swam in Stars

Lily was lonely. Her only friend was a tiny goldfish named Fin who lived in a glass bowl on her nightstand. Every night, she'd tap the glass and whisper, "Goodnight, Finny."

One evening, as Lily was eating her bedtime snack, something magical happened. She accidentally dropped her orange vitamin tablet into Fin's bowl.

"No, Fin! Don't eat that!" Lily cried.

But Fin gulped it down. Suddenly, he began to glow. His orange scales turned to gold, then to silver, then to sparkling starlight. He grew bigger and bigger until he burst right out of his bowl!

"Lily!" Fin said. "That vitamin was magic! Now I can show you my world!"

Fin swam through the air as if it were water. Lily reached out and touched his shimmering fin. ZAP! She could breathe and float in the air too!

"Come swimming with me!" Fin said.

Together they flew out the window, up past the trees, higher and higher until they reached the moon. Lily gasped. There was an entire ocean in space, filled with cosmic jellyfish and silver seahorses!

"This is where goldfish really come from," Fin explained. "We visit Earth to find children who need a friend."

Lily's eyes shone. "I really needed a friend."

"And now you have one forever," Fin promised.

They raced through stardust and played hide-and-seek behind comets. Fin showed her the Milky Way was actually made of milk from moon-cows.

When the sun began to rise, Fin brought Lily home and shrank back to his normal size.

"Will I remember this?" Lily asked.

Fin winked. "Always. And whenever you feel lonely, just remember—your friend is swimming right beside you, even if you can't see me."

From that night on, Lily was never lonely. She'd whisper to Fin, and sometimes, just sometimes, he'd glow a tiny bit of starlight back.

And she knew that somewhere, in the space between stars, her best friend was swimming, waiting for their next adventure.