bedtime · Ages 6-8

Who Left Footprints Across the Ceiling?

A child imagines ceiling shadows as mysterious footprints, then follows them into a peaceful story made by passing clouds.

The whole story

1. At bedtime, Mina tucked her blanket beneath her chin in her little bedroom. Then she saw three dark footprints on the ceiling.

2. They were too small for grown-up shoes and too wide for a mouse. Mina raised her red flashlight, but the footprints stayed soft and still.

3. The footprints crossed the ceiling toward the window. Mina placed one purple-socked foot on the rug, ready to follow.

4. By the window, a pale cloud covered the moon. Its shadow made a new footprint beside the old ones.

5. Another cloud passed, and the footprints curled into a path. Mina imagined a quiet sky-walker leaving them behind.

6. She followed the path with her eyes. It led over a silver hill, around a cloud tree, and into a meadow soft as a pillow.

7. In the meadow, the sky-walker had left a round blue pond. Mina rested beside it while the clouds made the water shine.

8. The cloud path faded, and Mina tucked her feet under the blanket. The mysterious footprints were only ceiling shadows, but they had carried her into a peaceful story made by passing clouds.

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