Orion tumbled through the night sky, spinning and giggling. He fell lower and lower, past the sleeping rooftops, until — splASH! — right into a cold teacup.
His golden glow hummed softly against the glass. Warm stripes of light painted the snow-dusted sill. He was small, and very alone, but he shone brightly anyway.
Soft footsteps padded into the kitchen. The child spotted the teacup and gasped. She hovered her fingers near the rim. The star flickered — she was the first anyone had ever seen so close.
She carried the teacup carefully downstairs and set it on the mantel beside the Christmas tree. The family cat leaped up, nosed the cup gently, then curled around it.
The cat purred and curled around the cup. Orion glowed brighter — his golden stripes stretched across the floor like a soft rug of light. The cat sighed happily.
One by one, the child's friends came to see. A boy placed a cracker near the cup. A girl draped a threadbare scarf around it. Another held up a paper lantern.
With every gift, Orion's glow grew warmer and deeper. The whole kitchen felt bright and golden. The child smiled and whispered, 'You're welcome here.'
But the paper lantern tipped! It touched Orion — POP! A ring of sparkles shot up past the roof and into the sky.
The sparkles carved a golden path through the dark sky — straight all the way home. Orion floated up that path, his stripes still glowing on the windowsill below.
'I'm home,' he thought. His golden stripes were painted across the windowsill, and the child waved from below.
The child stood on tiptoes and waved her arms. Her red sweater matched the sunset glow beyond the glass. The star's stripes on the sill pulsed once — a quiet hello.
Up in the sky, Orion twinkled and blinked. He had fallen down, but he had found his way back — and he was never truly alone again.