Zayd and the Three Bears

There was once a little astronaut who lived in Texas - the lone star state. He loved the night stars and spent each evening laying in his backyard looking up at Orion's Belt. It was his favorite constellation because as the winter turned to spring, it always appeared just above his chimney. One night, while thinking deep thoughts and gazing at the constellations, he saw a shooting star! The center of Orion's Belt had taken off and was flying through the sky!

He jumped up, threw on his backpack, and started running after the star. He followed it through his neighborhood, past the zoo, and into the busy downtown of the city. He chased it for miles and miles and was able to keep up because he was a very quick little boy.

Finally, the shooting star began making its descent towards Earth. He followed the path it had illuminated in the sky until he just couldn't see it anymore. As he walked around Hemisfair Park, he wondered if he would ever get to hold the shooting star that had touched down in his very own city...

Just then, he heard three lady bears commenting on the same shooting star!

"It was just the fastest star I've ever seen!" said Merri-Bear.

"It was the sparkliest star I've ever seen!" said Sarah-Bear.

"And it made the most perfect arc I've ever seen!" said Ella-Bear

"Excuse me, lady bears," said the polite little astronaut. "Did you happen to see where the star landed? I would like to get a closer look"

"We did!" The lady bears exclaimed in unison. "We were trying to follow it's path but it is too dark to find our way to its landing spot."

Luckily, the little boy had just the thing and pulled his astronaut lantern out of his backpack. "We can use this to light the way!" "Hooray," the new group shouted and began to make their way through the park. They walked and walked, in a single-file line behind the light of the astronaut lantern.

Eventually, they came to a clearing, pushed past some trees, and were surprised to find...the Alamo! With a perfect shooting star resting atop it! The group clambered up the cottonwood trees and on to the roof of this famous Texas structure. They were amazed to be so close to such a beautiful object from space. It was indeed the shiniest and the prettiest star any of the admirers had ever seen.

Zayd wanted to take the star and put it in his backpack for show and tell at school. Merri-Bear wanted to take the star and use some of its sparkliness to make the rivers in Texas sparkle with luster. Ella-Bear wanted to hang the star high in her dining room so her family and loved ones could eat below it's marvelous light. Sarah-Bear wanted to write a long ode to the star right along its edges, and share this poetry with the world. Everyone in the group knew they wanted the star for themselves, but they also knew how much their friends wanted it. While they stood around it, making plans for how they could keep the star for themselves, they were all overcome with the same wonderful idea.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" asked the astronaut.

"Yep! But how can we make this work?" asked the lady bears.

"I have just the thing," replied the little boy.

And he pulled a giant parachute from his bag. Merri-bear and Sarah-bear laid out the parachute on top of the Alamo roof, while the astronaut and Ella-Bear carried the precious star to the center. They each grabbed a corner of the silky parachute, looked each other in the eye, counted to three, and launched the star back into the night sky. 3, 2, 1, BLASTOFF! The sparkly star flew through the air in a perfect arc, landing precisely back in the center of Orion's Belt, where it shone like never before. The star was so happy to be back home, and the new friends were all glad to know that they could still enjoy the constellations every night before bed.