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The old oak tree in Lily’s backyard wasn’t just any tree. It was a listening tree. Lily knew this because whenever she whispered her secrets into its rough bark, the leaves would rustle as if whispering back. And on this particular evening, as twilight painted the sky in shades of lavender and apricot, the tree seemed to hum with an extra special secret.
Lily sat on the swing, pushing herself higher and higher, until her toes almost tickled the lowest branches. Above her, the first stars began to prickle the darkening canvas of the sky. She counted them, one by one, a game she played every night. One, two, three… twelve. Suddenly, something winked. Not a star winking, but a star moving.
It wasn’t a shooting star, though Lily had seen those before—quick streaks of light that vanished as fast as they appeared. This was different. This was a tiny, shimmering speck, falling slowly, elegantly, like a dewdrop glistening off a spiderweb. It descended not with a fiery whoosh, but with a soft, almost imperceptible, humming sound.
Lily gasped, her swing coming to an abrupt stop. The tiny light grew larger, brighter, spiraling gently downwards, directly towards her backyard! Her heart beat like a hummingbird’s wings. Was it a firefly? A new kind of butterfly? No, it was far too luminous for either.
With a soft plink, it landed not in the grass, but precisely on the warm, smooth stone of her bird bath. Lily scrambled off the swing, her bare feet padding across the cool lawn. She peered into the bird bath, expecting to see a pebble or a leaf. Instead, nestled amongst a few floating petals, was something truly extraordinary.
It was a crystal. But unlike any crystal she had ever seen. It was no bigger than her thumb, shaped like a perfect teardrop, and it pulsed with a gentle, rainbow light, as if it held a thousand tiny stars inside. It shimmered with all the colors of a sunset and a sunrise, all at once. Lily reached out a cautious finger, barely daring to touch its radiant surface.
As her fingertip grazed the crystal, a tiny, musical chime echoed, so soft it seemed to come from inside her own ears. And then, the crystal began to glow brighter, pulsing with a steady, rhythmic light. From behind it, something stirred.
A tiny, winged creature, no bigger than a hummingbird, unfurled shimmering, dragonfly-like wings. Its body sparkled with stardust, and its eyes, two points of emerald light, blinked at Lily. It looked like a miniature person, or perhaps a sprite, dressed in robes woven from moonlight and dew.
“Oh dear, oh dear, oh very dear,” the creature squeaked, its voice like tiny bells ringing. “You touched it! You really touched it! Now, what are we going to do?” It flitted around the glowing crystal in a frantic, dizzying circle. “That’s a Starseed, you know! A very important Starseed!”
Lily, still speechless, could only stare. A Starseed? And a talking sprite? This was definitely not a normal Tuesday evening. Her old oak tree hadn’t whispered anything about this!
