In The Night Sky

| Part 4

"Grandma! Grandma Eleanor!" shouted little Charlotte, as she ran into her grandmother's arms.

"Oh, why, hello Charlotte! My, my, you certainly have grown."

Charlotte smiled, showing two front teeth missing.

"Hello, Charles! Oh, Diedre, you do look lovely!" said Eleanor, as her son entered the room with his beloved wife, Lady Diedre.

"Thank you, Eleanor." replied Diedre, as she hugged her mother-in-law tightly.

Diedre's mother had also left her when she was very young, so, when she married Charles, Eleanor was only too happy to welcome her as her own daughter.

"Dinner is served in the grand dining room, Queen Eleanor," interrupted a servant.

Charles and Diedre made their way to the dining room, filled with all the people of the village, all present in the palace for the holiday of Starres. Tonight, all the homes would be light up with beautiful lights of gold and silver with the snow covering the roofs.

After a delicious dinner and fun-filled ball, Eleanor settled down infront of the fire in a little cosy sittingroom in a private corner of the castle.

"I thought I'd find you here, Grandma," said little Charlotte, bustling in to the room.

Eleanor smiled. "Come and sit here on my lap, Charlotte," she said.

After Charlotte had settled on her grandmother's lap, she asked, "Grandma, why do we celebrate Starres in winter? And, why do we have it here in Winston Dale, and not in the big castle?"

"Well, my dear," began Eleanor, "a long time ago, the skies were thrown out of balance. So, there was a giant, ugly, ice dome covering Winston Dale."

"That's TERRIBLE!" exclaimed Charlotte.

"Yes, it really was. Now, the only thing that could save the skies were a magical pair of glass slippers that once belonged to Princess Cinderella. But, they were stolen. For years and years, there was no sky...until one day, in the middle of winter, a little girl named Ella came to the Arinton Dales, and she found the lost slippers."

Charlotte smiled, eager to hear more of the story.

"The slippers were found right here in Winston Dale."

"But, where in Winston Dale, Grandma? And how did Ella find them?"

"Well, let's just say she found it in the Green Forest -where we lauch fireworks on Starres- with a little magic...and help from her mother."
The clock chimed twelve just as Eleanor had finished her sentence.

"Goodness! Look at the time! Come on, Charlotte: it's time to go to the forest."

Eleanor and Charlotte arrived just in time for the fireworks to begin. They lit up the beautiful skies of Winston Dale, as all the people gathered in the place where Ella had found the Glass Slippers, restoring the balance in their beautiful skies.

"Isn't it beautiful, Charlotte?" asked Eleanor.

"Yes, but Grandma...would you please call me Charlie?" asked Charlotte.

Eleanor laughed and said, "You should call me Grandma Ella,"

Charlotte gasped as she looked down to find the Glass Slippers on her grandmother's petite feet.

Ella smiled down at her granddaughter, then she dropped her gaze to the Glass Slippers.

These slippers were what had finally captured her most cherished memory, and now, everyone could share it with her, not just on the Starres holiday celebrated every winter, but every night as they looked into the beauty of the night sky.

It was a wish come true...