Once upon a time, in a cozy barn tucked between the hills, lived a little gray kitten named Tilly. She had the softest paws, the fluffiest fur, and eyes full of wonder.
But there was one thing Tilly wasn’t very good at: falling asleep.
Every night, she would toss and turn in her hay nest, her tail twitching, her eyes wide open. The cows were already snoring, the sheep were dreaming, and even the mice were curled up tight. But Tilly? She was still wiggling.
“I wish I had something to help me drift off,” she whispered to the stars.
A Field of Gentle Lights
One evening, as Tilly padded quietly outside the barn, she noticed tiny green lights blinking softly in the tall grass.
Glowbugs!
They floated like tiny lanterns, blinking on… and off… and on again. Tilly sat still, her ears perked, watching them twinkle all around her.
“One… two… three…” she began to count.
Each glowbug’s blink was like a soft lullaby for her eyes. With every number, her breath slowed… her whiskers drooped… her heart grew calm.
Counting Dreams, Not Just Bugs
Tilly lay down in the dewy grass, the glowbugs dancing gently above her like stars come down to play.
“Seven… eight… nine…” she yawned.
In her mind, she saw dreams forming with each count: a sailboat floating on cream, a moon made of milk, a sky where kittens could bounce from cloud to cloud.
By the time she reached “twenty,” her blinks grew slower than the glowbugs’.
And when one little glowbug landed softly on her nose, she smiled sleepily and whispered, “Goodnight.”
Blink by Blink, the World Slept Too
As Tilly drifted into slumber, the glowbugs blinked one last time, then floated up into the night, their job complete.
The barn stayed still. The stars twinkled quietly. The hills held their breath.
And the little kitten who couldn’t fall asleep?
She was dreaming, peacefully, softly, one blink at a time. Because sometimes, all it takes to rest is a tiny light, a gentle count, and a kitten willing to watch the stars blink goodnight.
The End !
