The fairy and her lost dust

Fairy Marigold kept a little pouch of magic dust tied to her petal belt. Every night, she'd sprinkle a pinch of it to fly up to the moon and tuck the stars in before they fell asleep. But that night, the pouch was empty.

"Oh no," sighed Marigold, sitting on a mushroom. "I must have lost my dust somewhere in the garden." A passing ladybug stopped. "I'll help you look," she said, and called her friends over.

The cricket searched under the leaves, the snail searched behind the pebbles, and the hedgehog sniffed at the foot of every flower. It was finally a little firefly who found it: the magic dust glowed softly inside a closed tulip, where it had slipped quietly while Marigold was napping.

Marigold thanked each friend in turn, with a kiss on the nose for the ladybug and a pinch of dust offered to the firefly, who began glowing twice as bright. Then she filled her little pouch and flew off to the moon at last, just in time to tuck in the first star of the evening.

Since that night, Marigold always hides a little dust inside a closed tulip, just in case. And if you look closely some evenings, you might see the garden's tulips glow just a little, as if wishing you goodnight.