Stella, Tindel and the Star That Blinked Wrong

The sky over the sleeping hills had just turned its deepest, softest blue. One by one the stars were waking up — the way lamps come on in windows all down a long street. Stella the star fairy sat on the rim of a small cloud, swinging her feet in the cool air. She counted the stars, quietly, the way she did every single night.

Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen… and then Stella stopped. Right at the bottom of the sky, near the very edge of everything, one tiny star was doing something odd. Blink. Blink. Pause. Blink, blink… pause. All the other stars shone steady and calm, like little candles that never flickered. This one did not.

“That's not how stars blink,” Stella said softly to herself. “Stars just… shine. They don't go blink, blink, pause.” She leaned so far forward that her toes came off the cloud. “Unless — unless you're not blinking at all. Unless you're saying something.”

Behind her, the cloud gave a wobble. Then a bounce. Then a small pair of feet came right through the middle of it, wiggling in the air. Stella did not even turn around. She knew exactly one person in the whole night sky who arrived by falling through things instead of landing on them.

“Surprise!” said Tindel, tumbling out and landing beside her upside down. “I've been hiding in that cloud for ages. It's very damp inside, by the way — I would not recommend it.” He rolled the right way up and shook the mist off his ears like a small wet dog.

Stella laughed and pointed down at the bottom edge of the sky. Tindel followed her finger. His giggling stopped mid-giggle. Together they watched the little star do it again — blink, blink, pause — patient and steady, over and over, like someone gently knocking on a door that nobody ever opens.

“Tindel, look properly! Every star belongs to a constellation — that's a group of stars that make a picture, like joining dots.” “But that little one is all on its own, right at the end. And it's been knocking all night.” “I think we should go and find out what it wants.”

Tindel thought about this for exactly one second, which for Tindel was a very long think. Then he grinned so wide his whole face joined in. A journey! Across the whole sky! In the dark! He grabbed Stella's hand, stardust puffed off her wings in a little golden sneeze, and off they went.