Leo pulled his blanket over his head. The star-shaped nightlight hummed softly. His room felt too big and too dark.
One eye peeked open. On the wall, little star-shaped shadows appeared. They wriggled. They danced.
Leo sat up. He waved his hand. The shadows waved back! One did a loop-de-loop past his ear. He giggled.
Leo made a silly face at the wall. The shadows copied him — then made even sillier faces. One winked. Leo laughed out loud.
The little boy grinned. His shadow friends were the best ever. He wanted to keep playing all night.
Leo tried to catch a shadow with his hands. It dodged away! He chased it across the wall. Tap, tap, tap went his fingers.
Leo made a dragon face. Roar! The shadows made fire-breathing dragons. They filled the whole wall with roaring silhouettes.
The shadows whispered back. Leo leaned close to listen. He could hear them giggling, even in the dark.
Leo crawled back into bed. The shadows kept dancing on the walls. He pulled his blanket up, but left one eye open.
The star-shaped nightlight hummed. The shadows danced. Leo smiled and closed his eyes. Everything was okay.
