Counting Stars: The Little Rabbit

The little rabbit was a severe insomniac. Lately, she often found herself unable to sleep at night, becoming wide awake at midnight and sometimes unable to sleep the entire night. This made the little rabbit drowsy and lethargic during the day. One day, the little bear invited the little rabbit to watch a movie, but the little rabbit dozed off during the exciting comedy. After the movie, the little bear asked, "Little rabbit, have you not been resting well lately? Your eyes are surrounded by dark circles, and you even fell asleep during the movie."

"Yes, I often can't sleep at night recently, but I'm very tired during the day," the little rabbit admitted, telling the little bear everything.

The little bear thought for a moment and then said, "I have a good method. At night, just lie in bed, close your eyes, and silently count: one carrot, two carrots, and so on. You will definitely fall asleep."

The little rabbit nodded skeptically. That night, the little rabbit lay in bed. As usual, she became wide awake. But to be in good spirits the next day and not have dark circles, she closed her eyes tightly and silently counted, "One carrot, two carrots..."

But after a long time, the little rabbit still wasn't sleepy and even started to feel a bit hungry. She thought it would be great if there were really that many carrots. The little rabbit, feeling no sleepiness, jumped out of bed to find something to eat. Suddenly, she saw countless stars through the window. "Maybe counting stars will be more interesting than counting carrots," she thought. She hopped outside onto the grass. The night forest was so quiet, and the little rabbit sat quietly on the grass, counting the stars, "One, two..."

As usual, the little rabbit didn't fall asleep that night. The next morning, she went to the park with even darker circles under her eyes to take a nap. However, she discovered something interesting last night. She noticed that there were countless stars in the sky, and some of them formed beautiful patterns together.

At this moment, the little bear saw the little rabbit dozing on the bench. He patted her, "What's wrong, little rabbit? Counting carrots didn't work?"

"Counting carrots made me hungrier, so I went outside to count stars. But... counting stars didn't help me sleep either," the little rabbit said with a hint of frustration. Before the little bear could respond, the little rabbit quickly added, "But I discovered something interesting."

"What did you discover?" the little bear asked curiously.

The little rabbit, pretending to be mysterious, said, "Come to the meadow with me tonight to count the stars, and I'll tell you."

The little bear agreed with a smile. That night, the little rabbit went to the meadow early, and the little bear arrived shortly after. The night forest was so serene. Excitedly, the little rabbit shared her discovery with the little bear, "Look at those stars over there. Don't they look like a carrot?" She gestured with her fingers, worried that the little bear wouldn't see it.

After the little bear nodded, the little rabbit pointed again, "Look at those stars. Don't they look like you, little bear?" The little bear nodded emphatically; they really did look similar. The little bear curiously observed the stars, and the little rabbit kept pointing out different patterns: some looked like cakes, others like trees.

The little bear checked the time and said, "It's getting late, little rabbit. It's time to sleep."

But the little rabbit still wasn't sleepy. The little bear said, "I have another idea that will surely help you fall asleep." Though skeptical, the little rabbit let the little bear continue.

"I'll tell you a bedtime story, a sweet little story that will surely make you sleep soundly." The little rabbit nodded happily.

"Once upon a time, there was a little rabbit..." The little bear began to tell the little rabbit a bedtime story. The story was about a little bear and a little rabbit who watched the stars together and ended up happily together. The little rabbit listened, mesmerized. After finishing the story, the little bear pointed to the stars and showed the little rabbit, "Look, what pattern do those stars form?"

The little rabbit looked in the direction the little bear was pointing and saw that many stars formed the words "I love you." Shyly, she threw herself into the little bear's arms, "I love you too."

After that, the little rabbit slept soundly every night and no longer had dark circles. She wasn't groggy during the day anymore because every night, the little bear would hold her and tell her sweet bedtime stories.