The Midnight Pool

Lily loved her backyard pool. Every afternoon, she would splash and swim until her toes turned wrinkly. But she noticed something strange – the pool looked different at night.

One full moon, Lily tiptoed outside. The water glowed like liquid silver! She dipped her toe in, and ripples of tiny stars spread across the surface. Without thinking, she jumped in for a midnight swim.

Suddenly, the water carried her upward, lifting her right out of the pool! She floated higher and higher until she landed on a cloud.

There she met him – a giant bull made entirely of stardust, with horns that sparkled like diamonds.

"I'm Ferdinand," the bull said softly. "I fell from the sky last night and can't get back home."

Lily wanted to help. She remembered the tall palm tree in her yard. Its fronds always seemed to reach toward the stars.

"I have an idea!" Lily exclaimed.

She swam back down and fetched a palm leaf from her tree. Then she and Ferdinand climbed to the highest cloud. Lily held the palm leaf like a flag, and something magical happened – the leaf began to glow!

The palm leaf stretched and stretched, creating a shimmering bridge of green light all the way to the brightest star.

"Thank you, Lily!" Ferdinand trumpeted joyfully. He galloped across the palm-leaf bridge and leaped back into his constellation, twinkling brighter than ever.

Now every night, Lily waves to her friend the star-bull. And sometimes, if she swims in her pool at just the right time, she can still see the magical palm-leaf bridge, connecting her backyard to the stars above.