The Stolen Stars

Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, there were many beautiful stars in the sky. Children across the world loved the stars, as the stars lit up the sky at night and frightened away the monsters. But one day, a greedy man saw how beautiful the stars were and decided he would keep the stars for hiself. the man wiped the stars from the night sky and locked them in a room in his castle so only he would be able to gaze upon their beauty. When the children saw the empty night sky, they cried. What would scare away the monsters now? How would they be able to sleep?

A wise owl entered a village and saw the sadness upon the childrens' faces. The owl went to a boy and asked him, "Why do the children cry? Why are you so sad?"

Someone has stolen the stars," the boy replied. "We are sad because nothing will chase away the monsters now."

The owl looked troubled at this. Who could do such a thing?

"I have an idea," the owl said wisely. "Why don't you put your own stars in the sky?"

The boy looked confused. "Our own stars?" he asked. "But how?"

"At night, fly a kite high up into the sky with lights tied to the tail.The monsters won't be able to tell the difference!"

The boy thought about this and nodded. He gathered his friends and together, they each made their own kite. At night, when they tried to fly the kites, the kites wouldn't fly. There was no wind.

The owl returned to the boy and asked, "Why don't you put your kites in the sky? Is there a problem?"

The boy looked at the owl sadly. "Mr. Owl, there's no wind. Our kites won't fly. How can we scare away the monsters if there are no stars and we can't fly our kites?"

The owl thought for a moment then said, "I have an idea. I will fly up ot the sky and ask the wind to blow strong enough to lift your kites. Then, you can scare away the monsters."

The owl flew high in to the sky. The owl landed ona cloud and shotued, "Oh Mr. Wind! Mr. Wind! Might I have a word?"

A strong gust of wind almost knocked the owl from his perch. "Yes, Mr. Owl?"

"Someone has stolen the stars form the children. Could you help them fly their kites? They have tied lights to the tails so they can replace their stolen stars."

"Why of course I can help them!" the wind said.

The owl flew back to the boy as the wind took a deep breath. As it breathed out, the kites lifted off the ground and raised high into the air. The children cheered as the lights rose with the kites and lit up the night sky. The children looked at the sky for a long time. These new stars were much more beautiful than the old stars they had had. The new stars also kept the monsters away.

The greedy man saw the stars and became angry. Who would dare break into his castle and steal his stars?! He ran to the room to check on the stars, but they were still there. The new stars piqued his curiousity, so he traveled to find the source. He traveled to many villages until he came upon the small village where the boy resided.

The villagesr had taken kindly to the boy's endeavor of replacing the stars with lights, and were proudly displaying the many kites that had been created. They were made in different shapes and sizes. Some of the kites resembled shapes like triangles and squares; others resembled animals. As he peered closer at the kites, he saw the lights on the tails and laughed.

"But these are not stars! How foolish was I to think the sky had been recreated!"

The boy heard this and went to the man, frowning. "But sir, we have to make the sky this way. Someone stole the stars, so nothing was left to scare away the monsters."

The man thought about this. He thought back to his childhood and thought about how he, too, had used the stars to scare away the monsters at night. Ashamed of his selfishness, he returned home and put the stars back in the sky. The children laughed with glee as they danced in the starlight, still sending their kites into the sky in celebration, lighting up the sky in brilliant colors. Seeing how happy the children were, the man decided he'd never steal anything again.