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Good Knight Stories © 1967

Twinkling Lights

Story Seven

Ardath and Arthur had such a good rest in the afternoon that they were not at all tired although it was evening. They were joyful at grandfather's suggestion and headed for the garden walls, again, as soon as they were outside the house. Ardath go to the garden wall firs. She jumped up on one side, stood for a moment, then very slowly stepped down on the other side looking intently at the rose bushes. Arthur followed her, also looking toward the rose bushes.

Over and above the roses, tiny lights kept twinkling and moving about in a pretty design. Grandfather, Father and Mother watched the children, delighted with their wonderment. The very air was filled with happy surprise.

"How did those little lights get out here in the garden? Arthur wondered, aloud when he found his voice which seemed to have been lost for a long time. He turned around, expecting someone to answer his question, but o one said anything. The little lights were all around him. The longer he looked, the more twinkling lights seemed to appear.

Without saying a word, Grandfather extended his hand and a tiny bug with striped wings flies onto it as though it knew what it was supposed to do. The children watched the bug crawling over Grandfather's palm and noticed that at the very back of it, between the wings a little lamp kept flashing on and off again. It did not seem so bright as the bugs flitting about in the twilight, but it was unmistakably a flashing light. Neither of the children could have guessed not even believed that the twinkling lights were flashed by little bugs.

"What kind of bug is it?" Ardath ventured while Arthur put his face close to Grandfather's hand and watched the bug crawl up his arm.

"Why do the bugs fly in the garden at night? Why didn't we see the bugs this afternoon when we were in the garden? Do the bugs light switches to turn off and on?" the questions flew faster than the bugs.

"One question at a time, please?" Grandfather said as he lifted his arm and the bug flew away twinkling its little light like a star. "First question, ‘what kind of a bug is it?' Suppose we just call it a ‘lightening b ug'. That is an easy name to remember, isn't it?"

Grandfather said he suspected the bugs rested in the day-time, but if they did fly around in the daytime, they could not be seen. "To see light there must be a contrast of darkness and light", he explained. "They do have light switches, but only they and God know how to turn them on." Arthur thought that sometime he would like to know, too, how the little light switches turn on.

"Sometime, I'll tell you how the first flash lights were made from giant lightning bugs," Father offered.

"Tell us, now," both children urge. Ardath added as a question, "Will you please tell us now?"

"Not, tonight," Father said kindly, but firmly. "Remember, Grandfather said we are going to bed early, tonight. Early is right now. At any other time it would be late. We have a lot of remembering to do tonight. We must remember all the things we talked about in the living room and our promises to one another and to God.

Grandfather took each child by the hand and they stepped over the garden wall onto the lawn. "Tonight, my good children," he announced "Your father and mother will hear your prayers and put you to bed. Tomorrow night, it will be my privilege and pleasant duty to do so. Each night util your parents return to take you back to Phoenix with them, we will meet in my "Study" room, promptly at eight o'clock. We will talk to one another or tell stories for a whole hour. This will be our ‘good-night hour'."

It had grown almost dark out of doors, but there were still streaks of light from the setting sun in the west, to be seen as they all crossed the lawn to the big stone house. In the front hall Grandfather left the children to go up the broad, winding stairway with their parents.

"Good-night to all of you," he said earnestly. Everyone knew he wanted them to have a good, restful night. "Good-night" he said again, "Good-night, we'll meet in the morning light. May angels guard you while you sleep. Good-night, good-night, good-night."
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