The Strange Glow
Lily was getting ready for bed when she saw something shiny under her pillow.
"What is this?" she asked, picking up a small round pearl.
The pearl was white and pretty. But then something strange happened. When Lily turned off her lamp, the pearl began to glow!
"Wow!" said Lily. The pearl glowed blue in the dark room.
Lily's cat Whiskers jumped on the bed. His eyes got big when he saw the glowing pearl.
"Where did you come from?" Lily asked the pearl. But the pearl just glowed brighter.
Lily put the pearl on her bedside table. The blue light made funny shadows on her wall. They looked like dancing shapes.
Lily tried to sleep, but the pearl's light kept getting brighter and brighter. It filled her whole room with blue light.
"This is a magic pearl," Lily whispered to Whiskers. "I wonder what else it can do?"
Whiskers meowed softly, as if he was wondering too.
Shadows in the Night
That night, Lily woke up when she heard a soft sound. Tap, tap, tap.
The magic pearl was glowing even brighter now. The blue light made the shadows in her room look bigger.
"Whiskers, do you hear that?" Lily whispered.
Tap, tap, tap. The sound was coming from her window.
Lily got out of bed. She picked up the glowing pearl. It felt warm in her hand.
She walked to her bedroom door with Whiskers following her. The shadows on the wall seemed to move by themselves!
"The shadows are dancing," said Lily. She was a little scared but also curious.
In the hallway, the pearl's light made more shadows. Some looked like animals. Some looked like tall trees.
"Hello?" Lily called softly. "Is someone there?"
No one answered, but the pearl glowed brighter when she spoke.
Lily and Whiskers went back to her room. The tapping sound had stopped.
"Maybe the pearl is trying to tell me something," Lily said to Whiskers as she climbed back into bed.
That night, Lily dreamed of blue lights and dancing shadows.
The Secret Garden
The next night, Lily put the magic pearl on her bedside table again. As soon as her room got dark, the pearl started to glow.
This time, the blue light made a path on her floor. It looked like a glowing blue road.
"Look, Whiskers!" Lily said. "Should we follow it?"
Whiskers meowed and walked along the blue light path. Lily followed him.
The light led them downstairs and to the back door. The door was closed, but the blue light went under it.
"We need to go outside," Lily whispered. She opened the door very quietly.
Outside, the night was dark. But the pearl in Lily's hand glowed so bright that she could see everything.
The blue light path went across her backyard to the old fence. There was a small hole in the fence that Lily had never seen before.
When Lily looked through the hole, she gasped. On the other side was a garden she had never seen before!
The garden had strange plants that glowed just like her pearl. Blue flowers, green mushrooms, and purple trees all shined in the dark.
"Whiskers, look at this magic garden!" Lily whispered.
Suddenly, all the glowing plants turned toward Lily and her pearl, as if they were looking at her.
Lily was a little scared, but the garden felt friendly. The pearl in her hand felt happy and warm.
"The pearl brought us here," Lily said. "But why?"
The Pearl's Home
In the middle of the glowing garden was a small pond. The water in the pond glowed the same blue color as Lily's pearl.
As Lily got closer to the pond, her pearl glowed even brighter. It felt warm and seemed to pull her hand toward the water.
"I think the pearl wants to go to the pond," Lily told Whiskers.
When Lily looked into the blue water, she saw something amazing. At the bottom of the pond were more pearls! They all glowed just like hers.
Suddenly, tiny lights like fireflies came out from the flowers. They danced around Lily and Whiskers.
One of the lights came very close to Lily's face. It wasn't a firefly at all! It was a tiny person made of light!
"Hello," Lily said softly.
The tiny light person pointed to the pearl and then to the pond.
"Does the pearl belong here? Is this its home?" Lily asked.
The light person nodded and more light people appeared. They all looked happy.
Lily understood now. "The pearl was lost, and it wanted to come home."
She knelt by the pond and gently placed her pearl in the water. The pearl floated for a moment, then slowly sank down to join the others.
All the pearls glowed brighter together, and the whole garden lit up with beautiful blue light.
The light people danced happily around Lily and Whiskers.
"I'm glad we helped you find your home," Lily said to the pearls.
That night, Lily and Whiskers walked back home. Even though Lily didn't have the pearl anymore, she wasn't sad. She knew she could visit the magic garden again.
And sometimes, on special nights, a blue glow would shine through her window, inviting her to come play in the secret garden where the magic pearls lived.