The Hedgehog and the Little Lantern
Little Timko the hedgehog is afraid of the dark, but one evening he has to walk home by himself with a little lantern.
- A bit scary
Once upon a time, a little hedgehog named Timko lived in the forest. In the daytime he was very brave: he scrambled under bushes, hunted for mushrooms, and wasn’t even afraid of the grumpy badger. But in the evening, when the sun slipped behind the trees, Timko felt a shiver of fear. The darkness seemed big and black to him, and every bush looked like a stranger.
One day, Timko went to visit Granny Owl. They drank tea with raspberry jam and solved riddles, and Timko didn’t even notice that it had grown dusky outside the window.
"Oh no," he gasped. "I have to get home! And it’s already dark out there..."
Granny Owl squinted her big eyes, rustled around in the cupboard, and pulled out a little lantern.
"Take this," she said. "This is no ordinary lantern. The braver you walk, the brighter it shines."
Timko took the lantern in both paws. Inside, a warm little flame flickered.
He stepped out onto the path. All around him there was rustling, creaking, and hooting. Timko took one step, then another... and suddenly he saw it: somebody big and shaggy with long arms was standing right ahead!
Timko trembled, but he remembered Granny Owl’s words, lifted the lantern higher, and burst out laughing. It was just an old stump, and its "arms" were dry branches.
"Good evening, Mr. Stump," Timko said politely, and walking felt a little easier. The flame in the lantern burned brighter.
Further on, the path dived in between the bushes. Suddenly, something went rustle-rustle-rustle! Timko stopped and shone his light that way. A little mouse peeked out from under a leaf.
"Are you scared too?" she squeaked.
"A little," Timko admitted honestly. "But with a lantern it’s not so scary. Shall I walk you to your burrow?"
The mouse happily agreed, and off they went together. And it turns out that when there are two of you, it’s only half as scary.
Then, all around them, tiny lights began to glow. Fireflies had come! They danced above the path as if to say, "We’re shining for you too, Timko!"
Timko walked the mouse to her burrow, waved his paw goodbye, and saw a familiar little window ahead. A light was burning in it: Mama was waiting for him.
"Mama, I walked all the way home by myself!" Timko called from the doorway. "There was a stump, and a mouse, and fireflies... and it wasn’t scary at all!"
Mama hugged him and kissed his little wet nose.
That evening, Timko put the lantern on the windowsill. He lay in his little bed, watching the forest sleep outside the window, and thought that the dark is just the night, tucking everything in under a blanket so that the trees, and the animals, and even little hedgehogs can rest.
Timko yawned, closed his sleepy little eyes, and fell fast asleep.
