Many stars.

Date: Tuesday, January 7, 2025

By: Shazia Akhtar

Dear sweet children, this is the story of a little deer who loved to look at the stars at night.

The sky was still filled with shining stars. The edge of the forest had come into view, and the little deer was beginning to feel tired.

This little deer loved the night very much, especially the stars that sparkled like tiny lamps in the sky. Every night, when everyone else in the house went to sleep, the deer would quietly sit near the window of his room. He would look up at the sky and talk to the stars as if they were his friends.

One night, the little deer asked his mother gently,

“Mother, can I count all the stars in the sky?”

His mother smiled lovingly and replied,

“No, my dear child. There are far too many stars.”

“Why not?” the deer insisted. “I can count! I know all the numbers—right up to one thousand! Listen… one, two, three, four, five, six, seven…”

And proudly, the little deer counted all the way to one thousand without stopping. His mother laughed warmly and said,

“My dear deer, now go to sleep. Tomorrow morning you have to go with your father to bring breakfast.”

But sleep would not come to the little deer. He kept looking out of the window. The sky was glowing with countless stars, twinkling softly. His curiosity grew stronger. He decided to count them himself.

“One, two, three, four, five… six… seven… eight…”

When he finished counting all the stars he could see from his window, he felt there must be many more. Without thinking much, he jumped out of the window and started walking in one direction, still looking up and counting.

“Fifty… fifty-one… fifty-two… fifty-three…”

“Ouch!

Suddenly, the deer bumped into a big stone and fell down. His foot hurt badly.

“Ouch! I had only counted fifty-five stars so far. That’s very few,” he said to himself. “I should keep counting.”

“Hey! What are you doing?” asked a deep voice from above.

The deer looked up. It was an owl sitting on a tree branch.

“Yes, Uncle Owl,” said the deer politely. “I have come out to count all the stars.”

The owl laughed loudly.

“Ha ha ha! You cannot count the stars. There are too many of them.”

There it was again—the same answer.

“I will count them,” the deer said confidently. “If there are many stars, I also know many numbers.”

And once again, he began, “One, two, three, four…

“All right, all right! Go on and let me work,” the owl said, annoyed, and moved to another branch.

The little deer kept walking and counting.

“That one is eight hundred one… that one is eight hundred two… and that one is eight hundred three…”

“Chirp, chirp! What are you counting so late at night?”

It was a small bird who had woken up to bring food for her baby.

“I’m counting the stars,” said the deer happily. “All of them!”

The bird laughed softly.

“You can’t count the stars, little one. There are far too many.”

Again the same thing!

“If there are many stars, then I also know many numbers,” said the deer.

“Listen! One, two, three, four, five, six…”

“All right, I must go now,” the bird said quickly and flew away.

The deer continued walking. As he walked, he suddenly realized something.

“Oh no… the numbers are ending. Nine hundred three… nine hundred four… nine hundred five…”

He became worried.

“I only know how to count up to one thousand, and…”

He lifted his head and looked up. The sky was still full of shining stars. The forest was coming to an end, and the little deer felt very tired.

“My counting has ended, but the stars have not,” he said softly. “Now I understand. The stars are truly countless.”

Feeling wiser, the deer ate a few leaves from a strawberry plant, drank some water from a nearby pond, and slowly walked back home.

That night, the little deer slept peacefully, knowing that some things in the world are so vast and beautiful that they cannot be counted—only admired.

Thanks