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Viola sat on the edge of her bed, holding her teddy bear tightly against her chest. Outside, the moon shone between the clouds, and the wind made the branches of the trees sway gently. It used to be her favorite time of day, but tonight, everything felt different.
A few weeks ago, Mom and Dad had moved apart. Now Viola had two bedrooms, two toothbrushes, and two places she called home. Still, she couldn’t help thinking about the time when all three of them had lived under the same roof.
She missed the ordinary little things. Eating dinner together. Dad reading her a bedtime story while Mom gave her a goodnight kiss. Laughing about something silly at the dinner table. Now, things were never quite the same, and it made her heart feel heavy.
That evening, Viola couldn’t fall asleep. She quietly slipped out of bed, walked over to the window, and looked up at the night sky. Hundreds of tiny stars twinkled down at her, but two of them shone brighter than all the others.
Suddenly, one of the stars began to drift slowly down toward the ground. It grew bigger and bigger until it landed softly on the windowsill. It shimmered like gold and smiled kindly at Viola.
“I’ve noticed that you have a lot on your mind,” the star said in a gentle voice.
“I just miss when we all lived together,” Viola whispered. “Sometimes I feel sad when I have to pack my bag. And sometimes I miss Mom when I’m at Dad’s house. Other times, I miss Dad when I’m at Mom’s.”
The star nodded understandingly.
“That’s completely natural,” it said. “When something big changes, the heart needs time to get used to it.”
“But what if they love me less because they don’t live together anymore?” Viola asked quietly.
The star slowly shook its head.
“Love isn’t like a piece of cake that gets smaller when you share it. Love is like the stars in the sky. They can shine over many places at the same time.”
Viola looked up at the sky again.
“Look at those two bright stars,” the star continued. “One can be your mom’s house. The other can be your dad’s. They may not be next to each other anymore, but they both send their light down to exactly the same child.”
“To me?” Viola asked.
“Yes,” the star replied with a smile. “They both shine for you.”
Viola felt the heavy feeling in her tummy become a little lighter. She began thinking about all the good things that were still there. At Mom’s house, they baked cinnamon rolls on Sundays, and at Dad’s house, they built huge blanket forts in the living room. At both homes, she got a warm hug when she walked through the door, and every evening, they both said the same three words:
“I love you.”
The star slowly began to float back up toward the sky.
“You’ll probably miss them from time to time,” it said. “Many children do when their parents move apart. But remember, love never moves away. It simply finds new places to live.”
Viola smiled and waved to the star as it returned to its place among the other lights in the night sky. She climbed back under the covers, held her teddy bear close, and closed her eyes.
Before she fell asleep, she thought about the two bright stars shining from opposite sides of the sky.
They weren’t together.
But they both shone for her.
And that was more than enough.
