Not far from the Milky Way, there were three little stars lined up. Coincidentally, these three little stars were born on the same month, same day, and same time, yet they were all different: one was blue, one was red, and the third and smallest one seemed colorless, with only a faint, pitiable glow.
Every evening at sunset, the three little stars would sit in their respective places and shine. But before night fell, there was one thing they had to do. What was it? They had to fetch water from the Milky Way to make breakfast for the next day. If they didn’t, and it rained at night, the clean water would be muddied and unusable for cooking.
One evening, the three little stars each carried a small bucket to fetch water from the Milky Way. They stood in a row by the river, admiring the beautiful sunset and the colorful clouds reflected in the water.
They carefully filled their buckets, the fiery red sunset reflected in the water.
“Ah… so beautiful!”
“Really! It looks like the clouds are on fire.”
“Hey, mine too.”
The three little stars chatted as they walked away from the river, occasionally glancing at their buckets. As they neared home, the afterglow of the sunset and the beautiful clouds disappeared from their buckets.
However, as night fell, the water in the buckets began to glow, reflecting the images of the stars. The red star’s bucket reflected a red face, the blue star’s bucket reflected a blue face, but the third star’s bucket seemed to have no light, only reflecting a cold face.
“Look, my face is like a blue sapphire!”
“And mine is just like a ruby.”
The two stars walked shoulder to shoulder, talking excitedly. The third little star silently followed behind them.
Soon, they reached a fork in the road where there was an old tree. They saw something dark wriggling at the tree’s roots and stopped.
“Ah! It’s a magpie. What are you doing here?”
“What happened to it?”
The red star and the blue star held their buckets to their chests, craning their necks to look.
The magpie lay on the ground, legs bent, eyes closed. On closer inspection, it was covered in mud.
“Oh no! It’s all muddy.”
“Where did it come from?”
The magpie was still alive, its wings drooping on the ground, its legs trembling.
“Poor thing!”
“But what can we do?”
The red star and the blue star said. The third little star stood by, silently watching the magpie, then said to the other two stars, “I’ll wash it.”
“But this is the water for tomorrow’s breakfast,” said the red star.
The third little star didn’t listen. He approached the magpie, set down his bucket, and said, “You can’t fly covered in mud. Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t.” As he spoke, he scooped water and gently poured it over the magpie’s face. The red star and the blue star glanced at each other, standing silently aside.
By now, the sky was growing darker, and the stars shone more brightly. The two stars wanted to go home early and shine more brilliantly than the other stars.
“Let’s go,” said the blue star.
“Alright, let’s go,” said the red star, and they walked away together, leaving the little star behind.
“Oh, there’s mud here too,” the little star murmured, gently cleaning the mud from the magpie’s eyes with his fingertips and washing it away with water.
The magpie slowly regained its strength, stretched, and opened its eyes. The magpie’s eyes sparkled with golden light. The third little star was shocked, staring intently at the magpie as the golden light grew stronger, dazzlingly bright. The magpie shook its wings, called out meaningfully, and flew away.
“Goodbye, little magpie! Fly carefully!” the little star called out kindly.
The magpie’s eyes shone brightly as it flew away swiftly. It was now completely dark, but the little star still had to fetch water from the Milky Way. He hurriedly walked back to the river with his empty bucket.
At the wide riverbank, there was no one fetching water at this time, and all was quiet. The little star felt his way in the dark, filled his bucket, and hurried back. Though the night was dark, he knew the path well and did not stumble. As he walked, he suddenly noticed a golden star twinkling in his bucket.
“Ah! What’s this?”
The little star exclaimed with joy. He stopped and looked up at the sky, searching for the golden star but couldn’t find it. Because that golden star was himself. This bright, golden star was beautiful, its light not shining from his face or body but from his kind heart. Look at the sky after sunset; among the countless stars, you’ll surely see this bright, golden little star.
－－－－－Reading Reflection－－－－－
When the magpie needed help, the blue star and the red star stood by, selfishly thinking about “going home early to shine brighter than the other stars,” while the third star eagerly helped, carefully cleaning the mud off the magpie. Thus, the originally dim third star became bright and golden because of the kindness radiating from his heart, making him truly beautiful. People are the same. Outer beauty doesn’t make someone stand out, but inner beauty makes a person shine with a unique glow.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
