Let’s begin.
Gigi the giraffe and Starlight the unicorn had spent the afternoon playing by the river. Now it was nearly time to go home. As they waved goodbye at Reed Bend, Gigi spotted a tiny blue light in the forest.
They had seen that light on the day they first met. Today, it was back.
It blinked once inside the Glade. Then twice. Then it slipped behind a curtain of leaves.
“There!” Gigi said. “The light from the first day.”
“I saw it.” Starlight leaned forward. “It is smaller than I thought.”
They had finished their afternoon walk and promised to be home before the sky grew dark. The light was close enough to investigate and far enough into the trees that Gigi had to stop at the path's edge.
“Do blue lights bite?” she asked.
“Most things with a light don't,” Starlight said. “But I haven't met this one.”
“That wasn't quite an answer.”
“Sorry. I don't know yet.”
They told their families where they were going, then followed the path into the Glade. Starlight led where the roots were close together. Gigi watched the higher branches, where a light might be hiding. The forest smelled of leaves and damp earth. When the light disappeared, Gigi wished she could still see it.
“Perhaps it is stuck,” Starlight said. “Maybe it needs us to pull it free.”
“Perhaps it is leading us somewhere,” Gigi said. “Maybe we shouldn't follow.”
Neither guess made them feel brave.
The light flashed again behind a cluster of ferns. Starlight hurried toward it, but the glow disappeared. She stopped so suddenly that Gigi nearly walked into her.
“I scared it,” Starlight said.
“Or it moved. We don't know yet.”
They took a few steps back. A tiny creature peered between the fern stems. It had soft dark fur, round ears and a blue light that shone gently from the tuft at the end of its tail. The light was no bigger than a berry.
“Hello,” Starlight said quietly. “I'm Starlight. This is Gigi.”
The creature's tail went dark.
Gigi lowered her head so she did not tower over it. “We saw your light. Are you all right?”
The creature did not answer at first. Then a small voice said, “I was, until you came running.”
Gigi lowered her neck and stayed still. She had felt enormous on the narrow path, but she had not thought about how enormous she might look to someone behind a fern. Starlight stepped away from the opening so the little creature could come out if she wanted.
The blue tuft shone again, faintly this time. Gigi wanted to ask another question. Instead, she waited. The little creature was still watching them.
Starlight folded her ears. “I thought you might be trapped.”
“I'm not.”
“Sorry,” Starlight said. “We guessed.”
The little creature stepped out just far enough for them to see her. “My name is Luma.”
Gigi waited. Starlight waited too. The pause gave Luma room to speak again.
“I am trying to reach Reed Bend,” she said. “My family is there. They can see my light from the open grass, but these leaves hide it. I don't need to be carried. I need to find a clear way through.”
“We know a path,” Starlight said.
Luma looked at her hooves, then at Gigi's long legs. “Your path might be too big for me.”
Gigi nearly offered to lift her. Instead, she asked, “What kind of path works for you?”
“Low ground. Not too many roots. Somewhere I can see the sky.”
“I was frightened of your light,” Gigi admitted. “I have never seen a tail shine blue.”
Luma glanced at her own tail. “I was frightened of how tall you are. I have never seen legs go so far up.”
Gigi bent a little lower. “You can ask me to move back if I'm in your way.”
“You can ask me to dim my light,” Luma said. She did, for one breath, then let it shine again. Gigi smiled. The little creature was nervous too.
Gigi raised her head above the ferns. From there she could see a narrow strip of open ground curving toward Reed Bend. It was too small for her, but it might fit Luma.
“There's a clear strip past that fallen trunk,” she said. “It ends near the brook.”
Starlight walked over to inspect it. She did not touch the trunk with her horn. She looked underneath, then around it. “The open strip starts on the other side. There is a gap at the roots, but I can't tell if it's wide enough.”
“I can,” Luma said. “If you'll give me room.”
They moved aside. Luma slipped beneath the trunk and called back, “It fits.” Her blue tail light flashed once on the far side.
Gigi and Starlight went around by the larger path. For a short stretch they could not see Luma through the leaves. Gigi felt a flutter in her stomach.
“Should we call her?”
“She knows where she is,” Starlight said. “She asked for room.”
They reached the open grass at the same time Luma did. Her light shone brighter without leaves in front of it. Across the brook, two small blue lights answered.
“My family,” Luma said.
The stepping stones at Reed Bend were much too large for her. She did not need to cross them. A thin, dry shelf of ground ran along the Glade bank toward her family, who were waiting on the same side. Gigi spotted it from above. Starlight checked that the shelf was open all the way along.
“This way,” Starlight said. Then she paused. “Would you like us to walk with you, or would you rather go alone?”
Luma looked down the strip. “Beside me would be nice. A little way.”
So they walked the big path while Luma followed her small one. When she reached her family, three blue lights blinked together, like a quiet greeting.
Gigi smiled. “We thought she needed a rescue.”
“And I was ready to carry her!” Starlight said. “She's quick on those little feet.”
“And a path that fit.”
Luma came back to the edge of the grass. “I like Reed Bend,” she said. “Maybe next time we can all meet here before it gets dark.”
“I'd like that,” Gigi said.
Starlight nodded. “We can bring a little snack. Do you like flowers?”
“To look at,” Luma said. “Not to eat.”
Gigi thought of the flowers growing beside the brook. “I saw some along the path this morning.”
The three friends laughed. The blue lights moved away together through the Glade, and Gigi and Starlight took their separate paths home. Each had been afraid of something at the start. Now each had one more friend to look for at Reed Bend.