Whispers for the Sleepy Moon
Harper lay under her purple quilt, wide awake. Her unicorn rested beside the bed, its mane glowing faintly. "I can't sleep," Harper whispered. The round window showed a sky with no moon in it at all.
Unicorn nudged her hand and tipped its horn toward the window. The glass shimmered like water. Harper was shy, but she took a breath and climbed onto Unicorn's back. Together they floated right through the sparkle.
Outside, clouds rolled like hills of whipped cream. Silver stars lay in the fluff like dew. An owl with a purple ribbon blinked at them. "The Moon is lost in the haze," she hooted softly. "She's too sleepy to shine."
"Can we help?" Harper asked in a tiny voice. The owl nodded. "Follow the glow. But beware, the bouncy clouds wake up if you are loud." Harper looked ahead. A field of springy clouds wobbled between them and the faint silver light.
Harper slid down and held Unicorn's mane. One cloud gave a little jiggle, and then another. She would have to pick her way across the wobbling field, and she had to decide how.
Harper hopped onto Unicorn's back and leaned close. "Glide slowly," she whispered. Unicorn spread its wings a little and floated over the clouds like a leaf on a pond. Not one cloud woke.
The clouds below rocked like cradles as they passed. Harper giggled into her hands to keep it quiet. Soon the silver glow grew warm and close.
They came to Moon Hollow, a soft bowl of misty blue. There sat the Moon, huge and round, her eyes drooping. "I can't find my bed," she yawned. Her glow flickered like a candle in a draft.
Harper felt shy of something so big. But the Moon looked so tired. "I'll help," she said softly. Unicorn fetched the cloud blanket, lavender and floppy, and dragged it across the hollow with its teeth.
Together they lifted the cloud blanket and spread it over the Moon's round shoulders. It was almost enough. Still, the Moon blinked and shifted. "Shhh," the owl hooted from above, "she needs quiet whispers."
Harper stepped close to the Moon's big, kind face. The hollow was so quiet she could hear stardust landing. She knew the very last thing the Moon needed, and she had to choose what to whisper.
Harper hummed a lullaby, low and slow, the one from her own bed. The Moon's eyes slid closed. Her glow softened to a gentle silver. Unicorn lay down at her feet, and Harper sat leaning on its warm side.
The Moon sighed one long, sleepy sigh and began to snore like a kitten. Harper yawned. Back home, in her bed, she tucked the lullaby inside her pillow, to hum again another time, and closed her eyes.
