In tonight’s bedtime story for kids, we meet a girl called Thalia and her cat Bella. As the two are cosying up for the night, they see some glimmering stars falling from the sky, to land just outside their house. Thalia gathers the stars in a jar, and soon finds out that they hold great power- each star can grant one wish. Join Thalia and Bella as they decide how to best use the magic...Relax, get sleepy, and let’s begin!
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Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Elisha Ainsley
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Cocos Sleep, a podcast of
00:00:15
Speaker 1: original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime
00:00:21
Speaker 1: a dream. Before we begin, Welcome to the Cocoa Club,
00:00:26
Speaker 1: Callie and big brother Shane. I know you've been listening
00:00:29
Speaker 1: for a while, and it's the biggest compliment that you've
00:00:32
Speaker 1: joined the club. I hope you both enjoy catching up
00:00:35
Speaker 1: on the many bonus stories and especially watch out for
00:00:39
Speaker 1: Cats on the Moon coming out in January. Cocoa Clubbers.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: On Wednesday's episode, you won't believe who's coming back. It's
00:00:47
Speaker 1: the Jupiter Twins. The weather starts acting a little strangely
00:00:52
Speaker 1: over the Leora Academy, and it's up to the Twins
00:00:56
Speaker 1: to track down the wizard who controls the weather to
00:00:59
Speaker 1: find out was going on. It leads them on such
00:01:03
Speaker 1: a magical adventure. I can't wait for you to hear it. Now.
00:01:08
Speaker 1: Back to Tonight's story. At my last birthday, my children
00:01:15
Speaker 1: reminded me to make a wish when I cut into
00:01:18
Speaker 1: my cake, but I was stumped. I couldn't think of
00:01:22
Speaker 1: anything to wish for immediately, and I realized that we
00:01:26
Speaker 1: need to regularly practice thinking of things we'd love to do,
00:01:31
Speaker 1: or have or be I wonder have you ever made
00:01:35
Speaker 1: a wish? Let's take a little time to think silently
00:01:40
Speaker 1: now about what you might like to wish for. There
00:01:44
Speaker 1: are some lovely ideas in this story too, as we're
00:01:47
Speaker 1: about to find out. So hop into bed and get
00:01:51
Speaker 1: comforty under the covers. Wriggle and jiggle as much as
00:01:55
Speaker 1: you need before your body is ready to go still.
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Speaker 1: Maybe take some bigger, deeper breaths to help slow your
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Speaker 1: heart down a little and bring feelings of calm into
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Speaker 1: your tommy chest and head. Breathe in and out. That's it,
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Speaker 1: in and out whilst you think of your wishes. Let's
00:02:27
Speaker 1: get to know a little girl called Talia who discovers
00:02:32
Speaker 1: six fallen stars. That grant has six magical wishes. Listen
00:02:38
Speaker 1: and relax as we find out how she uses hers.
00:02:44
Speaker 1: This is Talia's Jar of Fallen Stars by Alicia Ainslie.
00:02:56
Speaker 1: It was a bright, starry night. The half moon floated
00:03:02
Speaker 1: gracefully in the sky, her dark navy blue blanket wrapped
00:03:07
Speaker 1: itself around the world, and millions of tiny sparkling stars
00:03:13
Speaker 1: shone exuberantly in the air. Nine year old Talia sat
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Speaker 1: on her window sill and peeped through the curtains to
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Speaker 1: gaze out into the night. She looked around and observed
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Speaker 1: all of the houses down her street. Warm golden lights
00:03:32
Speaker 1: glowed from within their windows, and she watched as a
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Speaker 1: couple of lights were put out as the people who
00:03:39
Speaker 1: lived there retreated to bed for the evening. The street
00:03:44
Speaker 1: lights hovered above the pavements, casting shadows across the ground.
00:03:50
Speaker 1: Talia caught sight of a little hedgehog emerging from a
00:03:55
Speaker 1: hedge and toddling its way across the road. She followed
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Speaker 1: the little hedgehog with her eyes and smiled fondly as
00:04:06
Speaker 1: it made its way into her front garden. She liked
00:04:10
Speaker 1: the idea of a cute, little prickly hedgehog taking refuge
00:04:14
Speaker 1: in her family's garden. Tarlia pulled her knees up to
00:04:19
Speaker 1: her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs, holding
00:04:24
Speaker 1: them tight. She rocked gently back and forth, dreamily, gazing
00:04:32
Speaker 1: out into the world. Her white cat, Bella, jumped up
00:04:38
Speaker 1: on to the other side of the window sills and
00:04:40
Speaker 1: sat opposite her. Bella too turned to look out of
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Speaker 1: the window, and they both admired the peaceful, still night.
00:04:51
Speaker 1: Tarlia noticed a star in the sky, sparkling brighter than
00:04:57
Speaker 1: all the others. It blinked so prominently, but it looked
00:05:02
Speaker 1: as if it was winking at her. Tarlia closed her
00:05:06
Speaker 1: eyes and pictured the star in her mind. She breathed
00:05:11
Speaker 1: in deeply and sighed out through her nose. Then she
00:05:17
Speaker 1: began to recite starlight, star bright, first star, I see tonight.
00:05:28
Speaker 1: I wish I may, I wish I might have the
00:05:32
Speaker 1: wish I wish to night. Tarlia scrunched up her nose
00:05:40
Speaker 1: and focused extra hard as she made her wish on
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Speaker 1: the star Bella. The cat let out a little mew,
00:05:51
Speaker 1: drawing Tarlia's attention back to the room. She reached forward
00:05:57
Speaker 1: and petted Bella on the head. Bella purred adoringly. All
00:06:04
Speaker 1: of a sudden, Tarlia's attention was drawn back outside by
00:06:10
Speaker 1: a strange noise. She could hear a popping sound, pop
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Speaker 1: pop pop, she heard. Tarlia pressed her face up against
00:06:23
Speaker 1: the windowpane and looked out into the street. She couldn't
00:06:28
Speaker 1: see anything that could be making the strange noise. There
00:06:33
Speaker 1: was nobody there and no cars on the road either.
00:06:37
Speaker 1: But then she heard the sound again, pop pop pop.
00:06:45
Speaker 1: Tarlia's eyes lifted to the sky, and she gasped with surprise.
00:06:51
Speaker 1: With every pop, stars in the sky were bursting and
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Speaker 1: falling down to the ground. Tarlia what in amazement as
00:07:01
Speaker 1: stars began to fall down onto the path below beneath
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Speaker 1: the light of one of the street lights. Bella, the
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Speaker 1: cat spotted the incredible incident too, and was meowing excitedly.
00:07:18
Speaker 1: Tarlia hopped down off the window sill and slipped her
00:07:22
Speaker 1: slippers on. Then she tiptoed downstairs so as not to
00:07:28
Speaker 1: disturb anyone sleeping, and open the front door of her house.
00:07:34
Speaker 1: She walked out into her garden and looked over the
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Speaker 1: garden hedge to see more clearly her eyes had not
00:07:43
Speaker 1: deceived her. There really were fallen stars glittering on the
00:07:48
Speaker 1: pavement on the other side of the road. Talia heard
00:07:53
Speaker 1: a rustling in the bush beneath her, and she looked
00:07:57
Speaker 1: down to see the hedgehog that she had spotted earlier emerging.
00:08:03
Speaker 1: The prickly little feller was peeking out its little nose
00:08:09
Speaker 1: and snuffling around to see what all the excitement was about.
00:08:15
Speaker 1: Tarlia was bursting with exhilaration, and she raced back upstairs
00:08:20
Speaker 1: to her bedroom and grabbed a jar off the side
00:08:24
Speaker 1: of the dresser. She tipped out the hair ties and
00:08:29
Speaker 1: hair clips that were stored inside until there was nothing left,
00:08:34
Speaker 1: and she dashed back down the stairs. Bella, the white cat,
00:08:39
Speaker 1: followed behind, intrigued to see the fallen stars for herself.
00:08:46
Speaker 1: Talia and Bella walked out into the street and stopped
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Speaker 1: at the edge of the pavement. Tarlia looked both ways
00:08:56
Speaker 1: to check that no cars were coming, and then she
00:08:59
Speaker 1: crossed the road with Bella and the curious hedgehog in tow.
00:09:04
Speaker 1: Once they all reached the other side, they wandered over
00:09:09
Speaker 1: to the street lamp that towered above the fallen stars.
00:09:13
Speaker 1: The fallen stars lay on the ground, glittering and twinkling.
00:09:19
Speaker 1: They emitted a very subtle jangling sound, as if they
00:09:25
Speaker 1: were speaking to one another. Talia bent down to take
00:09:30
Speaker 1: a closer look at the fallen stars, and Bella and
00:09:34
Speaker 1: the hedgehog crawled up closer and gave them a sniff.
00:09:40
Speaker 1: Bella got so close to one of the stars that
00:09:43
Speaker 1: she sniffed a bunch of star dust up her nose.
00:09:48
Speaker 1: She twitched her nose irritably and promptly sneezed glittery stardust everywhere.
00:09:56
Speaker 1: The curious hedgehog scampered away behind Tarlia. Surprised by Bella's
00:10:02
Speaker 1: sneezing outburst, Tarlia giggled as Bella swiped at her nose,
00:10:09
Speaker 1: trying to get rid of the remaining ticky dust. Tarlia
00:10:15
Speaker 1: wondered what to do with the poor fallen stars. She
00:10:20
Speaker 1: couldn't just leave them there on their own. Somebody might
00:10:25
Speaker 1: step on them, so she decided to scoop them all
00:10:31
Speaker 1: up and protect them in her empty jar. She could
00:10:35
Speaker 1: keep them there until she came up with an idea
00:10:38
Speaker 1: for how to get them back up into the sky.
00:10:43
Speaker 1: One by one, Tarlia picked up each of the shimmering
00:10:48
Speaker 1: fallen stars and softly placed them in her glass jar. Tarlia, Bella,
00:10:57
Speaker 1: and the hedgehog cross back over the road back to
00:11:03
Speaker 1: Taralia's garden, with the fallen stars safely cradled in the jar.
00:11:10
Speaker 1: The hedgehog retreated back into the hedge while Tarlia and
00:11:14
Speaker 1: Bella went back indoors. Back in her bedroom, Tarlia placed
00:11:22
Speaker 1: the jar of fallen stars on the window sill so
00:11:26
Speaker 1: that they could see their home in the sky. From there,
00:11:31
Speaker 1: she whispered to the stars. Don't worry. I'll find out
00:11:37
Speaker 1: what to do with you. Hopefully I can send you
00:11:41
Speaker 1: back home soon to where you belong. As if the
00:11:46
Speaker 1: fallen stars could understand what Taralia was saying to them,
00:11:52
Speaker 1: they started to radiate with a pulsating glow. Tarlia assumed
00:11:59
Speaker 1: that the stars were saying thank you in their own
00:12:03
Speaker 1: magical way. Taalia slept that night with the light of
00:12:09
Speaker 1: the Jar of Fallen Stars casting a cozy glow round
00:12:14
Speaker 1: her bedroom. They were like the world's best night light. Bella.
00:12:22
Speaker 1: The cat observed the stars all night long to make
00:12:26
Speaker 1: sure they didn't go anywhere. The next day, Tarlia set
00:12:33
Speaker 1: to work trying to find out what to do with
00:12:37
Speaker 1: the fallen stars. Unsure of where to begin, Talia asked
00:12:44
Speaker 1: her older brother Magnus for help. Magnus was eleven years
00:12:50
Speaker 1: old and he had just recently started secondary school. He
00:12:56
Speaker 1: was the smartest person that Taralia knew, so she was
00:13:00
Speaker 1: sure that he would be able to help. Tarlia showed
00:13:06
Speaker 1: Magnus the jar of fallen stars and he stared at
00:13:10
Speaker 1: them in amazement. He tapped on the glass and the
00:13:16
Speaker 1: stars began to glow brighter. In response. He stepped back
00:13:21
Speaker 1: and said, Wow, Talia, you are so lucky to have
00:13:28
Speaker 1: found so many fallen stars at once. You could wish
00:13:33
Speaker 1: for so many things on all these stars. Talia was confused,
00:13:42
Speaker 1: what did he mean. She knew that she could wish
00:13:46
Speaker 1: upon stars in the sky, but did they not lose
00:13:50
Speaker 1: their wishing magic once they had fallen to earth. Magnus
00:13:57
Speaker 1: informed her that, on the contrary, fallen stars were even
00:14:03
Speaker 1: more powerful than stars in the sky. He told her
00:14:08
Speaker 1: that if you wish on a fallen star, then your
00:14:12
Speaker 1: wish is certain to come true. Tarlia looked at the
00:14:19
Speaker 1: jar of fallen stars with wonder. She counted them up one, two, three, four, five, six.
00:14:30
Speaker 1: There were six fallen stars in the jar. That meant
00:14:35
Speaker 1: there were six wishes to be used. Magnus begged Tarlia
00:14:42
Speaker 1: to let him wish on one of the stars. He
00:14:46
Speaker 1: had always wanted his very own bike so that he
00:14:49
Speaker 1: could go for rides with his friends, and with the
00:14:53
Speaker 1: magic of one of the stars, he could achieve his dream.
00:14:59
Speaker 1: Tarlia didn't hesitate. Of course, he could have one of
00:15:04
Speaker 1: the stars to wish upon. She reached into the jar
00:15:09
Speaker 1: of stars, then picked one of them out and handed
00:15:13
Speaker 1: it over to Magnus. He held the fallen star in
00:15:17
Speaker 1: his hand and gazed at it, totally mesmerized by its magic.
00:15:25
Speaker 1: He held the star firmly in his palm and felt
00:15:29
Speaker 1: its warm, mystical energy radiate out into his body. He
00:15:37
Speaker 1: closed his eyes and made his wish. I wish for
00:15:44
Speaker 1: a green bike with orange handlebars and a black seat,
00:15:50
Speaker 1: he whispered to the star hopefully. Tarlia watched on as
00:15:56
Speaker 1: the star began to sparkle in his clenched hand. Then,
00:16:02
Speaker 1: in a puff of smoke, the star disappeared. Tylia and
00:16:09
Speaker 1: Magnus looked around the room, but there was no sign
00:16:13
Speaker 1: of a bike, and there was no sign of the
00:16:16
Speaker 1: star he had wished on either. Magnus's shoulders dropped, defeated
00:16:23
Speaker 1: thee Maybe the wish hadn't worked after all. Then out
00:16:30
Speaker 1: of nowhere they heard a ringing sound. It was the
00:16:34
Speaker 1: sound of a bell. They both rushed to the window
00:16:39
Speaker 1: and looked outside. To their utter disbelief, there stood on
00:16:46
Speaker 1: the front lawn was a green bike with orange handlebars
00:16:52
Speaker 1: and a black seat. Magnus ran downstairs and out into
00:16:59
Speaker 1: the garden. Delightedly. He whooped for joy as he hopped
00:17:04
Speaker 1: on his new bike. And started peddling around the garden.
00:17:10
Speaker 1: Talia watched on and laughed with glee. She couldn't believe
00:17:15
Speaker 1: that Magnus's wish had come true. Tarlia looked back at
00:17:22
Speaker 1: the jar of fallen stars. There were now only five
00:17:27
Speaker 1: of them left. Five wishes were left for her to use,
00:17:33
Speaker 1: but how should she use them. Tarlia spent the rest
00:17:39
Speaker 1: of the day thinking carefully about what to use the
00:17:43
Speaker 1: remaining fallen stars for. She could wish for anything she wanted.
00:17:50
Speaker 1: It was a great privilege, and she wanted to make
00:17:54
Speaker 1: the best out of it. Tarlia went through her day
00:18:00
Speaker 1: trying to think if there was anything that she wanted.
00:18:05
Speaker 1: She could wish for a wardrobe full of new clothes,
00:18:09
Speaker 1: or wish for a new cat friend for Bella, but
00:18:14
Speaker 1: she already had enough clothes that she liked, and Bella
00:18:18
Speaker 1: was quite content with being the only cat in the house.
00:18:24
Speaker 1: Tarlia had always wanted to learn how to play the guitar,
00:18:30
Speaker 1: so she could wish for perfect guitar playing skills, but
00:18:36
Speaker 1: she wanted to learn how to do it herself. She
00:18:40
Speaker 1: didn't want to cheat or fast track her learning. She
00:18:44
Speaker 1: wouldn't feel any accomplishment that way. She could wish for
00:18:51
Speaker 1: a super smart brain so that she would gain the
00:18:54
Speaker 1: top grades in her class at school, but again, there
00:19:00
Speaker 1: was no fun in it if she hadn't worked for it.
00:19:05
Speaker 1: Tarlia went to bed that night and sat on the
00:19:08
Speaker 1: window sill as usual, this time with Bella, the cat
00:19:13
Speaker 1: at her feet. She held the jar of fallen stars
00:19:17
Speaker 1: in her arms. She was beginning to notice that the
00:19:22
Speaker 1: stars shined brighter at night. Tarlia looked up into the
00:19:28
Speaker 1: sky and saw the big star that she had noticed
00:19:32
Speaker 1: the night before. Next to the big star was a
00:19:37
Speaker 1: new star, one that she hadn't noticed before. It shone
00:19:43
Speaker 1: just as brightly, if not more so, and it blinked
00:19:48
Speaker 1: so much that it looked like it was winking at her.
00:19:54
Speaker 1: Tarlia looked down and noticed the little hedgehog emerged from
00:19:59
Speaker 1: the hedge and wander around her garden. The little fellow
00:20:04
Speaker 1: hadn't left yet. In fact, he seemed to quite like
00:20:09
Speaker 1: it at their house. Tarlia wondered what it must be
00:20:13
Speaker 1: like to wander around looking for a new place to
00:20:17
Speaker 1: lie down and rest each evening. That's when she had
00:20:23
Speaker 1: an idea for one of her wishes. Tarlia picked out
00:20:29
Speaker 1: one of the stars from the jar and held it
00:20:32
Speaker 1: in her hand. She closed her eyes and whispered to
00:20:37
Speaker 1: the star, I wish that the hedgehog in my garden
00:20:44
Speaker 1: had its own little house to sleep in every night.
00:20:50
Speaker 1: In a poof, the star disappeared, and when Tarlia looked
00:20:55
Speaker 1: back outside, she saw that a small wooden house had
00:21:00
Speaker 1: popped up in the corner of their garden, right next
00:21:04
Speaker 1: to the hedge The hedgehog was crawling over to it eagerly.
00:21:11
Speaker 1: The small wooden house had a ramp that led up
00:21:15
Speaker 1: to its circular front door and a pointed, thatched roof
00:21:20
Speaker 1: on the top. The hedgehog scurried inside, and she saw
00:21:25
Speaker 1: it settle itself down in the dark hole within no doubt,
00:21:31
Speaker 1: getting comfortable in its nice, warm bed. Tarlia smiled and
00:21:38
Speaker 1: thanked the fallen stars for their help. She glanced back
00:21:43
Speaker 1: up into the sky and gasped. Next to the two
00:21:48
Speaker 1: brightly shining stars was a new one. The third star
00:21:54
Speaker 1: glistened and shone proudly in the night sky. Tarlia made
00:22:01
Speaker 1: a realization. When the fallen stars had been wished upon,
00:22:08
Speaker 1: they returned back up to their rightful place in the sky.
00:22:14
Speaker 1: So all she had to do to return them all
00:22:17
Speaker 1: home was make wishes on them. Tarlia went to sleep
00:22:23
Speaker 1: that night with big plans for the next day and
00:22:28
Speaker 1: the rest of the Fallen Stars. When she awoke, Tarlia
00:22:34
Speaker 1: set to work looking for people who could use some
00:22:38
Speaker 1: help from the magic of the Fallen Stars. As it
00:22:43
Speaker 1: was a sunny day, Tarlia and her family walked into
00:22:48
Speaker 1: town to get ice creams. As they entered the ice
00:22:52
Speaker 1: cream parlor, Tarlia noticed her man talking to the lady
00:22:58
Speaker 1: at the till. The man spoke in hush tones, but
00:23:04
Speaker 1: Tlia would just about make out what he was saying.
00:23:10
Speaker 1: The man was very hungry and had ordered some food. However,
00:23:15
Speaker 1: when he had come to pay, he had realized that
00:23:18
Speaker 1: he had forgotten his wallet and had no money on him.
00:23:23
Speaker 1: Tarlia felt sorry for the man. He clearly had made
00:23:28
Speaker 1: an honest mistake and found himself in a spot of
00:23:32
Speaker 1: bother He needed a dash of kindness in his day. Luckily,
00:23:40
Speaker 1: Tarlia had packed a couple of the Fallen Stars into
00:23:44
Speaker 1: her pockets that morning for opportunities such as this. Tarlia
00:23:51
Speaker 1: pulled out a star and held it in her hand.
00:23:55
Speaker 1: She whispered her wish to the star, and it disappeared
00:24:00
Speaker 1: in a poof of glittery smoke. All of a sudden,
00:24:06
Speaker 1: the man's pocket began to fill up with money, lots
00:24:11
Speaker 1: and lots of money. Talia watched on as the man's
00:24:17
Speaker 1: eyes grew wide, and he reached into his jean pocket
00:24:23
Speaker 1: to check if his eyes were playing tricks on him,
00:24:27
Speaker 1: But when he held the money in his hands, he
00:24:31
Speaker 1: realized that it was really happening. The man scooped up
00:24:37
Speaker 1: the money in his hands and kissed it gratefully, with
00:24:41
Speaker 1: tears in his eyes. He shouted the words thank you,
00:24:47
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you into the air, and Tarlia watched
00:24:54
Speaker 1: on with a happy heart. The man was now able
00:25:00
Speaker 1: to pay his bill with no problem. She was glad
00:25:05
Speaker 1: that she'd been able to use the fallen Star's magic
00:25:08
Speaker 1: for a good deed. As Talia and her family walked
00:25:14
Speaker 1: up to their table in the ice cream parlor, she
00:25:18
Speaker 1: caught Magnus's eye and he gave her a thumbs up. Later,
00:25:25
Speaker 1: while Talia, Magnus, and their parents were enjoying their ice creams,
00:25:32
Speaker 1: Talia heard a little voice begin to sob. She looked
00:25:38
Speaker 1: over her shoulder and saw a little girl who couldn't
00:25:42
Speaker 1: have been older than three years old, had popped her balloon.
00:25:48
Speaker 1: It had been a special balloon that floated in the air,
00:25:53
Speaker 1: and it was shiny silver with pictures of princesses on it.
00:26:00
Speaker 1: Girl looked very disappointed as she held the drooping string
00:26:05
Speaker 1: and stared at the deflated balloon on the ground. Tarlia
00:26:12
Speaker 1: jumped into action. She pulled another of the stars out
00:26:17
Speaker 1: of her pocket and whispered a wish to the star.
00:26:22
Speaker 1: The star disappeared, and just as it did, the little
00:26:26
Speaker 1: girl's balloon magically reinflated itself and floated back up into
00:26:33
Speaker 1: the air. The little girl's face lit up with delight
00:26:39
Speaker 1: and amazement, and she jumped up and down, laughing. Tarlia
00:26:45
Speaker 1: laughed too as she looked on. It felt really nice
00:26:50
Speaker 1: to do so many good things for other people. Seeing
00:26:54
Speaker 1: other people happy made her feel happy too. But Tarlia's
00:27:01
Speaker 1: work wasn't finished yet. She still had two more stars
00:27:06
Speaker 1: to return to the sky, which meant two more people
00:27:11
Speaker 1: to grant wishes for. On their way home, Tarlia's parents
00:27:18
Speaker 1: chatted about how much they wanted to go on holiday
00:27:22
Speaker 1: this year, but they simply couldn't afford it at the moment.
00:27:28
Speaker 1: Tarlia's mother professed how much she wanted to go somewhere
00:27:33
Speaker 1: hot and sunbathe on the beach and play in the sea. Meanwhile,
00:27:40
Speaker 1: her father admitted that he would love to go somewhere
00:27:44
Speaker 1: with lots of activities to do, such as snorkeling and
00:27:49
Speaker 1: hiking up mountains. They both wanted some time off work
00:27:55
Speaker 1: to relax as a family. Maybe next year, they said.
00:28:03
Speaker 1: Once they were all home, Tarlia looked into the jar
00:28:07
Speaker 1: in her bedroom. Only two stars remained. She could probably
00:28:14
Speaker 1: use just one star to help out her parents and
00:28:18
Speaker 1: give them the rest and relaxation that they needed. They
00:28:23
Speaker 1: worked so hard to provide for Talia and her brother,
00:28:28
Speaker 1: they definitely deserved a holiday. Talia picked out a star
00:28:36
Speaker 1: and held it in her hand. She shut her eyes
00:28:40
Speaker 1: tight and made a wish. I wish that my parents
00:28:47
Speaker 1: could go on the holiday of their dreams, she whispered.
00:28:54
Speaker 1: The star began to glitter and shimmer, and it faded
00:29:00
Speaker 1: away in a plume of sparkly smoke. Tarlia went back downstairs.
00:29:08
Speaker 1: She didn't know how this wish would play out. She
00:29:13
Speaker 1: hoped that her parents hadn't disappeared already on their holiday,
00:29:20
Speaker 1: But when she crept downstairs. She found her parents sitting
00:29:26
Speaker 1: in the living room like normal. Then the phone began
00:29:31
Speaker 1: to ring. Tarlia's father picked up the phone and said hello.
00:29:40
Speaker 1: He listened to the voice on the other end of
00:29:43
Speaker 1: the phone, and his eyes began to bulge with disbelief.
00:29:50
Speaker 1: Are you sure it's for us, he asked, bewildered. He
00:29:56
Speaker 1: finished talking to the person on the phone and then
00:30:00
Speaker 1: hung up the call. He rushed over to Tarlia's mother
00:30:06
Speaker 1: and explained that he had just received a call from
00:30:10
Speaker 1: his boss. His boss had offered them all a free
00:30:16
Speaker 1: holiday to Fiji as a treat for him working so
00:30:21
Speaker 1: hard recently. Tarlia's parents couldn't believe their luck. They cheered
00:30:32
Speaker 1: and hugged each other and called for the kids to
00:30:35
Speaker 1: join them. They told Tarlia and Magnus the good news,
00:30:41
Speaker 1: and they all celebrated together. They would fly the very
00:30:46
Speaker 1: next week, so they had all better start packing soon.
00:30:53
Speaker 1: Tarlia looked at the relieved, joyful expressions on her parents faces.
00:31:01
Speaker 1: They did work so hard and they deserved to break.
00:31:07
Speaker 1: Talia was very grateful to the Fallen Stars forgiving her
00:31:12
Speaker 1: family this opportunity. That night, Tarlia sat on her window sill,
00:31:21
Speaker 1: with Bella by her side and the last fallen star
00:31:26
Speaker 1: in her lap. She looked out at the night sky
00:31:31
Speaker 1: and saw that the other fallen stars had returned back
00:31:36
Speaker 1: up into the sky, and they were shining so brightly
00:31:42
Speaker 1: and cheerfully next to each other. Tarlia just needed to
00:31:49
Speaker 1: find one more wish to make, and then the last
00:31:54
Speaker 1: star could rejoin its friends. Magnus knocked on her door
00:32:03
Speaker 1: and came into her bedroom. He asked, have you decided
00:32:09
Speaker 1: what to use your last wish for yet? Tarlia shook
00:32:14
Speaker 1: her head. She didn't know what to wish for, but
00:32:20
Speaker 1: she wanted to use it for something good. Magnus asked
00:32:26
Speaker 1: Tarlia what she had wished for already. She explained how
00:32:33
Speaker 1: she had asked for a hedgehog house for their little
00:32:37
Speaker 1: prickly friend in the garden, and how she had asked
00:32:41
Speaker 1: for money for the man in the ice cream parlor,
00:32:46
Speaker 1: she had fixed the little girl's balloon, and she had
00:32:50
Speaker 1: wished for her parents to go on a much needed holiday.
00:32:55
Speaker 1: Not to mention, Magnus had got his dream bike. Magnus
00:33:02
Speaker 1: listened and frowned. He looked at the remaining star in
00:33:08
Speaker 1: the jar and said, Talia, you haven't made one single
00:33:16
Speaker 1: wish for yourself. You should wish for something that you
00:33:21
Speaker 1: want that can be your last wish. Tarlia shook her
00:33:28
Speaker 1: head and said that she had thought about it already,
00:33:32
Speaker 1: but she didn't want or need anything. She already had
00:33:36
Speaker 1: everything she could wish for, and anything else that she
00:33:39
Speaker 1: wanted she was willing to work for instead. Tarlia was
00:33:46
Speaker 1: willing to be patient. Magnus returned to his bedroom and
00:33:53
Speaker 1: left Tarlia on her own again. The remaining star jingle
00:34:00
Speaker 1: in the jar as if it was encouraging her to
00:34:04
Speaker 1: make her final wish. Tarlia sighed and looked at her
00:34:11
Speaker 1: beloved white cat, Bella. That's when she had an idea
00:34:19
Speaker 1: of what to do with the final wish. Bella had
00:34:25
Speaker 1: been there when Tarlia had found the fallen stars and
00:34:29
Speaker 1: helped her collect them. It didn't seem fair that Bella
00:34:35
Speaker 1: hadn't had an opportunity to make a wish on one
00:34:38
Speaker 1: of the stars too. Tarlia reached into the jar one
00:34:45
Speaker 1: last time and picked out the last fallen star. She
00:34:52
Speaker 1: held it out to Bella and whispered, make a wish, Bella,
00:34:58
Speaker 1: This one is free you, Bella, gazed at the star
00:35:04
Speaker 1: in Tarlia's hand and its star dust reflected in her
00:35:10
Speaker 1: glassy black eyes. Then the star disappeared, and Tarlia watched
00:35:18
Speaker 1: as a final star burst into the sky alongside the others.
00:35:26
Speaker 1: Tarlia had succeeded in her mission. She had managed to
00:35:31
Speaker 1: return all of the fallen stars to their place in
00:35:36
Speaker 1: the night sky. She was elated. They look beautiful, don't they?
00:35:49
Speaker 1: She heard a sweet, husky voice say. Tarlia turned to
00:35:55
Speaker 1: look at Bella. The fluffy white cat was staring out
00:36:00
Speaker 1: at the stars whimsically. Tarlia was confused and murmured, Bella,
00:36:10
Speaker 1: did you just say something? Bella? The cat looked up
00:36:16
Speaker 1: at Tarlia and smiled, I did, The little white cat replied,
00:36:24
Speaker 1: I'm going to be saying a lot more too, from
00:36:28
Speaker 1: now on. Tarlia started to laugh uncontrollably. Bella had wished
00:36:38
Speaker 1: for the ability to speak. This was going to be
00:36:44
Speaker 1: so much fun. Taralia and Bella thanked the stars for
00:36:52
Speaker 1: their wishing magic and spent the rest of the evening
00:36:57
Speaker 1: chatting away. Lots of wonderful things had come from their
00:37:03
Speaker 1: mystical discovery two nights ago, but the best thing by
00:37:10
Speaker 1: far was Tarlia's new talking cat, Bella