Thomas collected things. Rocks. Shells. Bottle caps. Feathers.
But his favorite collection was secret.
Every night, Thomas climbed to his roof with a special jar. And every night, he caught one star.
He had jars and jars of them hidden under his bed. They glowed softly in the dark.
But lately, something was wrong.
The night sky looked emptier. Where there used to be thousands of stars, now there were only hundreds.
And Thomas felt strange. The more stars he collected, the lonelier he felt.
One night, a star spoke to him before he could catch it.
"Please," said the star. "Let us go. Stars aren't meant to be kept. We're meant to be shared."
Thomas looked at the dark patches in the sky where stars used to be. He thought about all the other children who couldn't see them anymore.
He thought about his jars of glowing stars, all alone under his bed.
"I'm sorry," Thomas whispered.
He opened every jar.
The stars flew up, up, up into the sky. They swirled around Thomas like fireflies, and he could have sworn they were saying thank you.
The sky blazed with light again. Brighter than ever.
Thomas smiled. His jars were empty. But for the first time in a long time, he didn't feel alone.
Because now, whenever he looked up, the stars winked at him like old friends.
THE END