Superhero For A Day | Fantasy Bedtime Tale For Kids

Find out what makes someone a true hero in tonight's fantasy bedtime story for kids.

Sleep and Sorcery presents Arthur's Corner,

Magical bedtime stories for young people.

Inspired by fantasy,

Fairy tales,

And folklore,

And using guided visualization,

This bedtime story is especially designed for children,

But can be enjoyed by listeners of all ages.

You can find more bedtime stories for any age at Sleep and Sorcery.

This story is called Superhero for a Day.

In tonight's cozy bedtime story,

You make a wish on a shooting star to become a superhero.

When you wake up the next day,

You discover that you have extraordinary strength and the ability to fly.

You try out your new powers and even get a chance to save the day,

But the experience teaches you that you don't need superpowers to be a hero.

Before the story begins,

Take a moment to settle in and get cozy.

This is a story to help you fall asleep.

All you have to do is listen to my voice.

And feel free to close your eyes and fall asleep before the story is over.

You can always come back and finish it another time.

Let's take a couple of deep breaths together to help you relax and enter the world of the story.

Breathe in,

Filling up your belly like a balloon,

And breathe out.

Now,

Close your eyes,

Relax your body,

And begin to use your imagination.

Imagine that you are part of the story I'm about to tell.

In fact,

You're the main character.

Use your imagination to see pictures in your mind,

Like a bright cape fluttering in the sun,

To hear the sounds of the story,

Like the call of someone in need,

To feel the sensations in the story,

Like the wind running through your hair as you soar above the clouds,

To smell the smells in the story,

Like the smell of old comic books.

Now,

Are you ready to take flight?

You have come to the end of another thrilling issue of your favorite superhero comic book series,

The Adventures of Galaxy Girl and Star Child.

Once again,

The powerful duo has managed to save the day and restore order to the universe.

This was an especially exciting adventure,

Because four other heroes from other books joined the fight,

And it ended with them forming a mighty new hero team-up,

The Supernovas.

You are grinning from ear to ear as you close the last page,

Wondering how you'll ever be able to wait for the next issue,

To find out what the Supernovas take on together.

You were allowed to stay up and read a little longer,

But now it's time for lights out.

Before you go to bed,

Though,

You take a look in the mirror.

You flex your muscles and make the most brave,

Mighty face you can muster.

You imagine what it would be like to have superpowers,

To be able to fly,

Or turn invisible,

Or run so fast you look like a blur to people watching.

You think about what your superhero name would be.

And then,

Finally,

You crawl into bed and draw the covers up so you're nice and warm.

You turn out the lamp by your bedside and roll over to face the window.

The curtain is open,

And you can see the night sky outside your window.

Just as you are about to close your eyes,

Letting waves of sleep wash over you,

However,

Something happens.

A streak of white light zooms through the dark sky.

It's so fast you would have missed it if you blinked.

A shooting star.

Your head is already full of superheroes,

Brave deeds,

And extraordinary powers.

But right now,

You remember an early issue of The Adventures of Galaxy Girl.

Before she ever got her sidekick.

That comic book told the story of a young person who always wanted to make a difference.

Until,

One day,

A shooting star landed in their backyard.

As it turned out,

That shooting star was Galaxy Girl,

Falling to earth after facing a mighty foe.

The child in the comic book helped Galaxy Girl get better,

Enabling her to return to the fight and save the solar system.

But something amazing happened back on the ground.

A little bit of stardust fell on the child as Galaxy Girl took off,

Granting them the power to fly,

Create light from their fingertips,

And even breathe in outer space.

They became the star child,

Galaxy Girl's trusty sidekick.

There are countless songs and rhymes about shooting stars.

How if you see one,

You should make a wish.

It might come true.

You shut your eyes tight and think about what you would like to wish for.

Just like star child,

You'd like to make a difference,

To be a force for good in the world.

What if you could be like Galaxy Girl,

Or star child,

Or any of the supernovas?

What if you had superpowers?

You clear your head,

Take a deep breath in,

And as you exhale,

You let your wish ring out like a song in your mind.

I wish I could be a superhero.

As you drift to sleep,

Your head fills with colorful images.

Shooting stars,

Brightly colored capes,

Spaceships,

And secret hideouts.

These pictures accompany you through a night of pleasant dreams.

The moon and stars give way to a dazzling sunrise the next morning.

The sky turns purple,

Pink,

And brilliant orange before it settles on its daily blue.

And you awake,

Rubbing your eyes and yawning,

Still savoring the sweet dreams.

You don't feel any different,

At least not right away.

You get out of bed,

Have a sip of water,

And go to brush your teeth.

Still sleepy,

You hardly even glance at the mirror.

But when you go to the kitchen to get some breakfast,

That's when you realize something has changed.

As you open the refrigerator,

You're shocked when the door flies open,

Nearly breaking off its hinges.

But maybe you just hugged at it a little too hard.

Today is Saturday,

So after breakfast,

You decide to go outside and see if any of your friends would like to ride bikes to the park.

It's a beautiful day,

With crisp air and bright sunshine.

Your next-door neighbors are already out,

Coloring on the sidewalk with chalk.

You holler as you run over to join,

And they turn their heads.

Instantly,

Your friends gasp and point at you,

Apparently speechless.

Finally,

One of them regains her words and cries out,

You're… you're floating.

At first,

You laugh.

Surely your friend is playing a joke on you.

But then,

You look down at your feet,

And to your immense surprise,

You realize that you are,

In fact,

Hovering a few inches off the ground.

The shock alone is enough to make you lose your balance and come back down to earth.

Your feet land with a thud on the sidewalk,

But for the first time,

You realize that you feel different.

Stronger,

Lighter than you did yesterday.

A thought crosses your mind.

What if your wish came true?

And then,

You have another thought.

What if you can fly?

You bend your knees,

Take a deep breath,

And close your eyes.

As you let the breath out,

Slowly,

You push your feet against the ground and straighten your legs.

With a whizz and a whoosh,

You kick off and speed through the air,

Straight upward,

Up,

Up,

Up,

Into the sky.

The wind rushes through your hair,

And the morning air is crisp and clean,

Filling your lungs with a sweet freshness.

You come to hover high above the ground,

But close enough that you can still clearly see your street,

And even the figures of your friends who have leapt to their feet,

And now point and cry out at the sight of you in flight.

You can't believe it,

The wish you made on that shooting star.

It's real.

You have superpowers.

For a few moments,

You stay here,

Floating above the world.

You can see your whole neighborhood,

The tops of trees,

The cars and buses traveling the streets.

So small,

They look like insects below.

You can see the roof of your house,

Your school.

A flock of birds passes by you,

Chirping and twittering.

You wave hello.

It's so peaceful up here,

You think.

And when you look down,

You realize how small,

How connected everything is.

You wish everyone could see the world like this,

Just once.

But something comes to disrupt your peace.

A sound rising above the quiet rush of wind and distant traffic.

You strain your ears to discover what it is and where it comes from.

It sounds like the cry of someone in need.

And being that you now have superpowers,

Your heart fills with purpose.

Who better to help the needy than you?

You locate the direction of the sound and take off toward it.

It takes some time to get control of your new flight powers.

You're a little wobbly at first.

But soon you are soaring with ease over the neighborhood.

As you get closer to the source of the sound,

You realize it's not a person crying,

But the meow of a cat.

It's coming from the tufty tops of an oak tree.

You slow down as you fly to meet its level and peer between the leaves of the oak.

There,

Clinging to a thick branch and crying in fear is an orange and white tabby cat.

You hover just below the branch,

Bobbing up and down in the air.

And you hold your arms out to the feline.

It's okay,

You say.

I'm here to help.

Slowly you inch closer to the cat until you can get your arms around them.

You stroke their ears to help them calm down.

And they cautiously lift one foot,

Then another,

Climbing into your arms.

With the cat's head resting gently on your shoulder,

You float down,

Down,

Down to the ground,

Landing lightly on the grass.

Now,

You notice that the cat is wearing a collar.

His name,

You find out,

Is Cosmo.

And he lives just down the street.

You take Cosmo,

Who is no longer trembling,

To his home and knock on the door.

The family thanks you for bringing back their beloved cat,

Who they were beginning to worry about.

Cosmo purrs and rubs against their legs,

Happy to be home.

You're a real hero,

Says the little girl who lives in the house.

She takes Cosmo in her arms and snuggles into his fur.

You beam,

So pleased to have done something to help this family.

After reuniting Cosmo with his people,

Your first heroic deed,

You feel empowered.

You fly home,

Already mastering your new ability,

And dig through the dress-up chest.

There,

You find a brightly colored superhero costume.

And,

Most importantly,

A cape,

Which you fasten to your shoulders.

You love the way it flutters in the wind behind you,

As you soar over the town.

You're on the lookout for more people to help,

More good to do.

It isn't long before you notice some commotion on the ground,

At a nearby playground.

You sink lower to investigate.

In addition to your new strength and ability to fly,

You have super sharp senses,

And you're able to hear conversations from very far away.

Quickly,

You overhear one child speaking harshly to another on the playground,

Ordering him to give up his place on the swings,

And calling him names.

Concerned,

You circle the playground,

Flying lower and lower,

Until you touch down on the ground.

There are two bigger kids standing over the young boy on the swings,

You find out,

And they continue to say unkind things to him.

The boy on the swings hangs his head,

Then solemnly slides off the swingset,

And begins to walk away.

The other kids point and laugh at him as he goes.

The whole thing makes you feel very sad for the boy,

But you are a hero.

You place your hands on your hips and stand up tall,

And in your mightiest voice you say,

Leave him alone.

The two bigger,

Name-calling kids look at you in shock.

They've never seen a real superhero before.

Oh yeah,

Says the first child.

Says who?

And now,

Sticking your chin out,

You tell them your name.

But not your real name.

Your superhero name.

You've just thought of it,

This moment,

And as you say it,

You begin to feel even more confident.

You know exactly who you are.

You're a hero who believes in kindness,

In helping others,

And in leading with love.

When you act like a bully,

You only make yourself small,

You say.

But luckily,

There are people who stand up to bullies.

You bring the boy back over to the swingset,

And ask if he'd like to fly.

The boy nods,

Climbing into the swing.

Grabbing hold of the swing chains like you're going to give him a push,

You kick off from the ground and wind the swing up as high as it goes,

Then release.

The boy laughs as the swing goes higher and higher,

And you hover over the playground,

Smiling.

The bullies,

However,

Are not laughing.

They run away from the playground,

Back home,

Leaving the swing to your new friend.

All day,

You find places to be helpful,

To be kind,

To be brave.

You help a young family lift heavy boxes into their new home.

You carry a lost,

Stuffed animal to a child who is crying for it.

You even rescue a squirrel whose paw is caught in a manhole cover.

And everywhere you go,

You are met with kindness in return,

And gratitude.

You are called a hero.

But a hero's day is long and exhausting.

As a purple sunset paints the sky,

You fly back home,

Rubbing your eyes,

Ready to turn in for a good night's sleep.

But before you go inside your house,

You stop to look up at the first few stars beginning to appear in the darkening sky.

This is just how Galaxy Girl and Star Child got their start.

By helping one person,

One family.

Acts of kindness that rippled out to create change.

Everything and everyone is connected.

The things we do every day impact everyone around us.

And if we do good,

We inspire others to do good.

We create more goodness.

Before bedtime,

You remove your cape and hang it by your door.

You change into your pajamas with constellations on them.

And you crawl into bed,

Facing the window.

You count the stars you can see from here.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Your eyelids start to droop.

And just before you close them,

You think you see a streak of light slash through the sky.

But you're just too tired to open your eyes wide again.

Maybe it was another shooting star.

Another wish.

If it was,

You think,

That tomorrow you'd like to be yourself again.

You have loved being a superhero,

Donning your cape and taking on a new name.

But you also realize that your true superpower was not flight or strength or heightened senses.

Your superpower is,

And always has been,

Your kindness.

Your willingness to be brave and help others.

And that is something you can always do,

Whether you can fly or not.

So,

Maybe,

You wish to just be you.

The wonderful,

Loving,

Heroic you.

And as you drift to sleep,

You think of all the people in your life who do brave,

Kind,

Heroic things every day.

The real heroes in your community.

The parents,

The teachers,

The crossing guards,

The mail carriers,

The firefighters,

The coaches,

The news reporters.

The bus drivers,

The grocers,

The artists,

The doctors,

The good friends,

The helpers.

And the countless others,

Working together every single day to do good,

To inspire others to do good,

And to create more goodness in the world.

Sweet dreams.