"Why does the sun shine so bright, mommy?" asked Sam, looking outside the living room window.
It was a beautiful sunny morning. Colorful butterflies were hovering over the fragrant flowers while Sam's cat Snowy was resting on the grass.
"The sun shines because it loves to share its glow with others," replied mommy, smiling back at Sam.
Sam was a 7-year-old boy who was fond of shiny objects. He loved playing outside on sunny days and staring at the beautiful night sky, sparkling stars, and glowing moon.
But one thing that Sam did not love was sharing his shiny toys. He kept them organized in a big toy rack installed in his room. Each morning Sam jumped from his bed, stood in front of his toy rack, and announced with joy,
"Yippee! I'm so happy. I have so many shiny toys."
He carefully took one toy at a time, played with it, and placed it back at its designated place. The collection kept on growing but Sam never shared his toys with anyone.
One night Sam was lying in his bed, staring out of the window at the sky full of dazzling stars. There was pin-drop silence in the room. Suddenly he heard a weird sound. It was as if someone was whistling in a low voice.
Hmmm! Must be my wild imagination. He thought to himself, closing his eyes.
"Smassssh!"
This time a sharp sound of something hitting the floor was evident. Sam’s eyes snapped wide open.
"Oh! My toys... Who has touched my toys?" cried Sam. He sprang out of his bed and headed straight to his toy rack.
His favorite Robocop, which he had gotten as a birthday gift last year, was lying on the floor near the toy rack. He immediately bent down to pick it up.
"Hello!"
Sam heard a muted voice behind him as he got up with the Robocop in his hands.
He froze where he was; closed his eyes for a moment and thought to himself, No, Sam! You cannot act like a coward. After mustering all the courage he had, Sam turned around.
"Wow!"
Sam uttered these words as a sudden wave of excitement ran through his body.
"You are so shiny" Sam whispered in awe of the ghost standing in front of him.
"I'm sorry, I dropped your toy" The ghost was now talking to Sam. It was opaque but a bright light radiated through it.
"It's alright. It did not break" Sam reassured, still taken aback. He had never allowed someone to touch his toys let alone drop them on the floor.
"Are you a glowing ghost?" Sam asked, fascinated by the shine that was now illuminating his darkroom.
"Ummm, this word ghost scares off all the children. I would love it if you called me Glowy. Can we be friends?" Glowy requested as a trail of small stars flew in the air and touched Sam's hands.
Sam extended his hands and gently collected all the stars in his small palms. The magical stars glowed for a second and then disappeared.
"Oh yes! let's be friends" Sam said with a shine in his eyes. He had always adored shiny objects and now he had a super shiny friend right in front of him.
He showed all his toys to his new friend, allowing him to hold each one. Both of them played together with the bouncy ball and the skating car.
This was the first time Sam forgot to place his toys back in their place, on the rack. Instead, he left them on the couch where he and Glowy chatted for some time before he bid farewell for the night.
The next morning Sam woke up and went straight to his toy rack, as always. Staring at his collection of toys, he murmured in a low voice.
" I'm so happy. I have so many shiny toys"
But the truth was that he was not happy. He placed his toys back on the rack but he was missing Glowy. Last night Sam had a great time sharing his toys and playing with them. The perfectly arranged toys now seemed boring. Sam was sad.
He stood in front of the window and looked outside. It was a perfect sunny morning, the shiny rays of the sun were peeping through the window but they couldn’t turn his frown upside down.
All of a sudden, something captured Sam's attention. He saw a group of children playing together. A boy threw a ball in the air and it went straight into the sharp bushes. Naturally, the ball caught on one of the edges and burst with a loud sound. Now, the children were holding the torn ball in their hands. They looked sad. But a spark of excitement immediately crossed Sam's eyes.
He ran toward his toy rack and picked up his shiny red colored bouncy ball. Then, he rushed to the front lawn holding the ball in his hands.
"Hey, guys! Let's play with my ball" Sam said, throwing the ball towards the group of children.
"Oh wow! Your ball is so shiny" exclaimed one of the boys, catching Sam's ball. He threw the ball towards his other friends who looked at Sam with amazement.
Soon, the lawn was filled with laughter and giggles. Sam and his friends were having a lot of fun playing together with the ball.
That night, placing the ball back at its place, Sam had a broad smile on his face. He was very happy. He lay in his bed thinking about how he enjoyed sharing his toys with Glowy and then, with his new friends.
As his train of thoughts continued, suddenly the room got illuminated by a bright light. Sam sprang from his bed, eager to meet Glowy once again. Today, Glowy was shining more than last night. A group of stars flew toward Sam and settled on his small hands.
"Wow! They are so beautiful," said Sam, holding the stars in his hand before they disappeared. He felt a sudden spark of joy inside him.
"Sam, do you want to keep these stars with you forever?" Glowy asked in a gentle voice.
"Yes. Of Course!" Sam replied excitedly.
"These are the stars of kindness my friend. They will appear whenever you act kindly and spread happiness by sharing your things with others" Glowy said.
"But will I be able to see these glowing stars and hold them in my hands?" asked Sam.
"You will not see them with your eyes but will feel them glowing inside you. You will feel super happy" Glowy answered moving closer towards Sam.
This time, Sam reached out and touched Glowy with his finger. With a splash of light, Glowy disappeared. Shiny stars encircled Sam as he stood there feeling delighted.
Glowy had taught him a lesson. A lesson to share his toys just like the sun that shares its rays to illuminate the Earth.
Sam was a happy boy now and had lots of friends. Each day he took out a different toy from his rack and shared it with his friends. They laughed, played, and enjoyed themselves for hours.
Sam still went straight to his toy rack every morning. Looking at his toy collection, with a broad smile on his face, he announced;
"Yippee! I'm so happy.
I have so many shiny toys and many friends to play with."
