The Animals of Little Meadow, Part 9: Turn Off the Little Light

The Animals of Little Meadow, Part 9: Turn Off the Little Light

The Story Begins

A happy evening was drawing to a close on Little Meadow. Bobo the Hedgehog, Liza the Squirrel, and Timo the Bunny had spent the late afternoon playing hide-and-seek in the tall grass and near the little house.

Liza skipped over the stones so quickly that her green acorn pouch swung merrily from side to side. Timo carefully put back on the path the pinecones that had fallen during their game. And Bobo carried two dry leaves on his spines, although they had not been needed for any game for quite some time.

“I’ll take these leaves home,” he said contentedly. “They’re soft like little blankets.”

The first star slowly appeared above the meadow. The grass rustled more quietly, and the flowers were already closing their colourful heads. Uma the Little Owl sat on an old branch, adjusting her tiny spectacles.

“It’s time to gather the toys and greet the evening,” she said gently.

First, Timo found the wooden ball beneath a bush. Then Liza carried three chestnuts to the basket near the little house. Bobo took one last look around to make sure nothing had been lost.

Just then, he noticed a little light beside the path. It glowed yellow beneath a round shade. During their game, it had helped them see where they were rolling the ball.

“Oh, our little light is still on!” Bobo called.

He stepped closer, and his blue scarf stirred softly in the evening breeze. The little light was truly pretty. It made tiny golden dots on the stones.

“Let’s leave it on,” the hedgehog suggested. “Someone might like it. And perhaps someone will still walk along the path.”

Liza tilted her head. “It’s so small that it probably doesn’t get tired,” she said.

Timo looked towards his little house. “I’m not going anywhere now. My paws want to rest.”

But Bobo kept looking at the light. “What if someone wakes up? The light would be ready.”

Meanwhile, Uma flew quietly down from the branch. She landed near them so softly that not a single leaf moved.

“That’s a thoughtful idea, Bobo,” said the little owl. “The light served us well during the game.”

The hedgehog smiled. He was glad that Uma understood why he did not want to turn it off.

Then the little owl looked at the dark-blue sky. “But now everyone is going to sleep. The path is empty, the houses are close by, and the moon is shining down on us.”

“Does the little light go to sleep too?” Timo asked.

Uma nodded. “When no one needs it, it can rest. When the little light goes out, we save its glow for the time when we really need it.”

Bobo thought about that. He looked at the path, then at the little houses, and finally at the stars. The darkness was not scary. It was soft, peaceful, and full of tiny sounds.

A brief cricket chirp came from the grass.

“Listen!” Liza whispered. “When the little light was on, I couldn’t even hear it.”

“The night meadow has a voice of its own,” Uma added.

Bobo took a small step towards the light, but then he stopped. “What if we left something else shining?”

That was a good question. So the friends decided to make an evening round. It was not a long one: from the little house to the bush, from the bush to the bench, and back to the path.

Liza jumped onto a low branch and looked down. “Nothing is shining by the basket!” she announced.

Timo bent down beside the little house. “The window is dark. That’s right, because no one is reading inside now.”

When Things Start to Change

Uma noticed a shining drop of dew on the grass. “That only reflects the moon. There’s no need to turn off a drop of dew,” she said with a smile.

Bobo giggled. “All right. We’ll let the drops make their moon dots.”

A little later, they were all standing beside the little light again. Now they knew it was the last thing left shining after the game.

The hedgehog carefully stretched out a paw towards the small button on its side. For a moment, he hesitated. He liked the golden dots on the stones.

Uma leaned towards him. “If you turn it off, we won’t lose anything lovely. We’ll simply give the evening a little more quiet.”

“And tomorrow we can turn it on again when we play,” Timo reminded him.

“All right,” said Bobo. “Good night, little light.”

Click.

The little light went out.

The stones were no longer golden, but the stars shone above them. Between the blades of grass, the light of one firefly flickered, then that of another. They were not little lamps beside the path. They were tiny lights that belonged to the night meadow.

“Look how beautiful they are,” Liza whispered.

Bobo smiled and wrapped his blue scarf more snugly around his neck. “Our little light is resting now. And the fireflies shine all by themselves.”

The friends stood together for a little while longer. They listened to the cricket, the rustle of the grass, and the very distant babble of the stream. Then Liza went to her tree, Timo followed the clean path to his little house, and Bobo slowly made his way to his soft bed of leaves.

Uma remained on the old branch and looked contentedly at the quiet meadow. “Tomorrow, before bedtime, we’ll check again to see whether anything is shining for no reason,” she said.

“We will,” Bobo promised. “It’s a little evening round.”

Night covered Little Meadow in dark-blue peace. The little light was sleeping, the animals were sleeping, and the stars shone just as brightly as they needed to.

Today, Little Meadow was helped by a little light that had been turned off.