The Hedgehog Who Tends the Moon
3 chapters for 2 characters · about 3 minutes · told 0 times. Flowers that open only for the moon, and a hedgehog who tends them. The highlighted parts are filled in with your own characters when you make this story yours.
Chapter 1: When the Lamps Went Low
It was the kind of evening that arrives slowly. Outside, the sky had turned the colour of silver and lavender, and inside, ⟨Character 1⟩ and ⟨Character 2⟩ had almost finished getting ready for bed.
There was ⟨Character 1⟩, a ⟨age⟩-year-old ⟨role⟩ who was born in ⟨birthplace⟩, now lives in ⟨home⟩, and loves ⟨favourite thing⟩. They yawned a yawn so wide that it seemed to pull the whole room a little closer to bedtime.
And there was ⟨Character 2⟩, a ⟨age⟩-year-old ⟨role⟩ who was born in ⟨birthplace⟩, now lives in ⟨home⟩, and loves ⟨favourite thing⟩. They were the first to notice that something outside was glowing.
At the window there was moonflowers glowing along the path, and under it, so faint you could mistake it for your own breathing, came a fountain talking quietly to itself.
"We'll be back before anyone notices," said ⟨Character 1⟩, which is what everyone says at the start of a very gentle adventure. The room smelled of jasmine and wet earth.
Chapter 2: A Small Kindness
Near the middle of the Night Garden, ⟨Character 2⟩ stopped. Something was crying, very quietly, the way you cry when you do not want to wake anyone.
They found a moth with one damp wing curled up small. It could not fly up to the lamp where its friends were waiting. "That sounds hard," said ⟨Character 1⟩ gently. "Let's look together."
"Follow me," said ⟨Character 2⟩, who have a knack for finding things. They went slowly, so that a moth with one damp wing could keep up.
Step by step they found the way. a moth with one damp wing grew calmer with every step, and by the time they arrived it was almost asleep in ⟨Character 1⟩'s arms.
Thistle nodded slowly. "Kindness is the quietest magic," it said, "and it works best after dark." ⟨Character 2⟩ thought about that for a long time.
Chapter 3: The Long Way Home
The journey back was even slower than the journey there. Thistle walked them to the edge of the Night Garden and waited until a garden gate that swung open onto a path that had not been there before.
⟨Character 1⟩ leaned against the side and watched moonflowers glowing along the path grow small. Their breathing slowed. In, and out. In, and out.
⟨Character 2⟩ murmured something about ⟨favourite thing⟩, and smiled, and was asleep before the smile had finished.
Home again. The blankets were warm, the lamp was off, and outside a fountain talking quietly to itself went on, very softly, as if to say: you can sleep now. I will keep watch.
The fountain said the same soft word again and again. And ⟨Character 1⟩ and ⟨Character 2⟩ slept. And slept. And slept. Goodnight.
And if you listen very carefully, you can still hear it: a fountain talking quietly to itself. It is saying goodnight.
A question for tonight
What is the kindest thing anyone did in tonight's story, and who would you do it for?