Wish Upon A Falling Star

Welcome to Dreamland.

Our story tonight is called Wish Upon a Falling Star.

First we're going to get our bodies ready for bed.

So I want you to lay flat on your back,

All cozy in your bed.

Lay your hands down beside you.

The palms open so they are open up toward the ceiling.

I want you to imagine that you have a box in each hand.

You're going to think about your day today.

Think about anything that made you feel crabby or upset,

Or your feelings got hurt,

Or you felt frustrated or nervous.

Take all those thoughts from today and take them out of your head and put them inside the box on the left side of your hand.

Put all those thoughts inside and you're going to close up the box.

Now I want you to think about everything happy that happened today.

When you made you laugh,

When you were playing with your friends,

Anything that made you feel proud about yourself or creative.

Take all of those thoughts from today and put them in the other box in your right hand.

Now we're going to go back to those thoughts that made us feel upset.

We're going to look at that box and all of a sudden there's going to be a balloon tied to it.

You can make the balloon any color that you'd like.

It could be stripes,

It could be polka dots,

Red,

Green,

Purple.

As soon as you think of the color of the balloon,

I want you to raise your hand a little bit,

Give it a little push,

And that box of thoughts is going to go floating away.

And you'll watch it float up,

Up,

Up,

And away into the distance.

Now all of those thoughts are gone from your head today.

The day is done.

You don't need to go back and think about them again.

We're just going to start fresh tomorrow.

Now on your other hand is all your happy thoughts.

And you're going to take those and you're going to close up the box top.

And you're going to lift that up and kind of give it a little push into the air,

But this one's not going to disappear.

These are your happy thoughts that you want to keep.

So we still want to clear our mind for the day,

So we're going to get rid of these thoughts and push them up into the air,

But they're going to go land someplace safe,

Someplace that you can always keep them and go back and think about them again.

So you can put them in your closet.

You can put them in a drawer,

In your backpack,

Anywhere that you feel that the thoughts are safe,

And you can go back and think about them whenever you want to.

Okay.

Now our thoughts are clear.

Our mind is nice and relaxed and ready for bedtime.

We're also going to relax our body.

So you're going to take your toes and you're going to crunch them up real tight.

And while we count to three,

And then you can let them go.

So one,

Two,

Three,

And relax those feet.

Next you're going to take your legs,

The top part and the bottom part,

And you're going to tighten them up as tight as you can.

Ready?

One,

Two,

Three,

And let them go.

Now you're going to tense up your tummy and your back and your chest.

And we're going to do that right now.

Count to three.

One,

Two,

Three,

And relax.

Now you're going to take your hands and your arms and your shoulders and your neck and we're going to tighten up.

Count to three.

Ready?

One,

Two,

Three,

And relax.

And now we're going to do our face and our head.

And we're going to crunch up our face and tighten everything really,

Really tight.

We're going to make a little sour face like we just took a bite of a lemon.

And one,

Two,

Three,

And relax.

Okay?

Now our mind is clear,

Our body is relaxed,

And we're ready for our story.

A little girl named Abby and her brother James were playing together in their backyard one evening in the sandbox.

It had been warm all day,

So the evening air felt good on their skin,

And the sand felt cold as they pushed their fingers in to dig.

They were busy building a sandcastle together when from a distance they heard a light swooshing sound.

It was very,

Very light for a while,

But then it started to get louder.

The kids looked at each other,

And Abby said,

Did you hear that?

James nodded.

Where is it coming from?

They started to get a nervous feeling in their tummies,

So they ran inside to get their mom.

Mom was just inside the door reading a book on the couch in the living room.

Mom,

We heard a weird noise outside,

They said.

So mom got up and followed the kids outside to have a listen.

All three were out in the backyard,

But they didn't hear a thing.

They waited around for a while,

But the sound had definitely stopped.

Mom,

I swear,

It was a weird sound.

It was like a whooshing,

Swooshing sound,

And it kept getting louder.

We both heard it,

Insisted James.

Mom shrugged her shoulders.

Well,

It seems to have stopped now.

Maybe it was just a plane going by.

If you hear it again,

Let me know.

I'm going to go inside and start dinner.

So the kids shrugged it off as well,

And they went back to finish their sandcastle.

When they got back to the sandbox,

The kids were surprised to discover a little hole right through the middle of their tallest tower.

It had a little smoke coming off of it,

And the sand around it felt warm.

Now the kids were really curious,

So they started to dig.

The hole had made a path all the way through their castle and way down underneath the sand to the bottom of the sandbox.

Abby suddenly stopped digging when she saw a light glow coming from the sand.

She slowly dug around and found a small ball-shaped object with a few pointed edges,

And it was definitely glowing.

Hello.

The kids gasped as they heard a soft voice that seemed to come from the glowing object.

Please don't be afraid.

I won't hurt you.

My name is Thomas.

They couldn't believe it.

They just stared in silence.

Thomas spoke again.

You see,

I'm a star.

I was playing with my friends,

And I lost my way and started to fall from the sky.

I'm so far from home.

I'm not sure how I'll get back.

Abby knew they had to help,

But she just wasn't sure how.

Don't you worry,

Thomas.

James and I will help you get back.

I don't know how yet,

But we will.

So they covered Thomas with a little sand so he wouldn't be discovered,

And then they set inside to find some ideas.

I know,

Abby exclaimed.

We can go to the neighbor's backyard and use their trampoline.

I bet if we jump high enough and give him a good throw,

He'll make it.

That's a good idea,

But I don't know if that'll work,

Said James.

How about we wrap him in bubble wrap,

And then we knock him back into space with a baseball bat?

I've got a really good swing.

Yes,

You do,

James,

But I don't know if it'll get him that far.

Oh my goodness!

My science project!

Abby had built a rocket from a kit she found online last year in the science fair.

She never had actually used it,

But she did get a ribbon for her display at school.

It had to work.

They ran to Abby's room and pulled it out of the closet.

Abby walked over to her bed and opened up a pillow and stuffed the passenger compartment with fluff so that Thomas would be nice and safe.

Then they set off for the backyard.

By now,

The sun was really starting to go down,

And you could see Thomas's glow from underneath the sand.

They knew they had to act fast.

Abby dug him out of the sand and placed him gently inside the cabin,

Snuggled in all of the fluff.

Thomas was so happy and thankful for their help.

They ran to the corner of the backyard behind a large tree so their mom couldn't see them.

I sure hope this works,

Abby said.

They set up the podium,

And pretty soon they were ready for takeoff.

Abby and James said goodbye to Thomas,

And just as Abby was about to close the door,

She opened it back up.

She said,

Thomas,

Before you go,

I have just one question that I've always wondered.

Anything,

Said Thomas.

When people wish upon a star,

Do you really hear us?

Yes,

We do.

In fact,

What do you suppose my friends and I were doing before I lost my way?

We'd always get together and discuss all of the wishes that we'd heard that night.

This made Abby and James smile.

Goodbye,

Thomas.

Good luck.

And Abby closed the door.

She set the rocket on the launch pad and stepped back.

Three,

Two,

One,

Blast off.

Abby took a deep breath and pushed the red button on the remote she had in her hand.

There was a rumble and a flash as the rocket took off to the sky and disappeared.

Dinner!

Their mom called from inside the house and the kids ran inside.

Later that night,

After mom tucked them in and kissed them goodnight,

Abby quietly snuck out of bed.

She peeked out from her bedroom curtains and looked toward the sky.

I wish I may,

I wish I might,

Wish upon a star tonight.

Thomas,

I hope you made it home safely.

And suddenly,

One star became much brighter than all of the rest.

Abby's eyes grew wide.

The star flashed twice and then it was gone,

Back amongst the rest of the stars in the sky.

Abby crawled back into bed with a smile on her face,

Knowing Thomas indeed was back home.

And she now forever had a friend in the sky to listen when she needed.