The girl woke up and saw the sunrise on her pillow.

“Oh I love the sunrise!
And it shines so bright on my pillow,
I will look at my pillow first thing everyday and be happy.”

As the sun traveled the sky,
Its rays kissed the pillow in many different ways,
But when the girl returned to her room in the afternoon,
The pillow was not as bright.

“But why is my pillow not as bright?
Does the sun love it less this time of day?”
She did not shine when she left her room.

                                    ***

The little girl went to the backyard
And kicked her ball as hard as she could.
The ball bounced far off a tree and made a great bouncing noise!

“Oh ball, you bounce so far and sound so funny!
I will kick you every afternoon,
Watch you fly and hear you bounce and be happy.”

She kicked the ball again and it flew into the woods,
But she could not see or hear it bounce.

“Why did I not hear the ball bounce,
And why did the ball not fly back to me?”
She did not bounce as she left her yard.

                                     ***

That night the little girl chased fireflies
And she caught one in her mason jar,
A beautiful fire-fly floating in light.

“Oh Ms. Firefly, you float so softly
And your light shines so sweetly,
I will open my jar and we will float and shine together.”

She opened the jar and the fire-fly floated into the night,
Its shine growing dimmer and softer as it moved away.

“Why did you leave me firefly?
I thought we would fly and shine together?”
She did not fly on her way back to bed.

                                       ***

That night as the girl lay down in bed,
She felt the warmth of the rising sun fill her,
The excitement of a bouncing ball inside her,
The flight of a fire-fly lift her.

“Oh, the sun rises and I am its warmth!
The ball flies and I am its bounce!
The firefly flies and I am its light!

“I am the love in all my lovely things
I am the brightness and I am the wings.”

She lay her head down, and the little girl fell fast asleep.