A Child's Dream Of A Star

: RESURRECTION DAY (EASTER)
: Good Stories For Great Holidays

BY CHARLES DICKENS



There was once a child, and he strolled about a good deal, and thought

of a number of things. He had a sister, who was a child, too, and his

constant companion. These two used to wonder all day long. They wondered

at the beauty of the flowers; they wondered at the height and blueness

of the sky; they wondered at the depth of the bright water; they

wondered at the goodness and the power
f God who made the lovely world.



They used to say to one another, sometimes: "Supposing all the children

upon earth were to die, would the flowers, and the water, and the sky

be sorry?" They believed they would be sorry. "For," said they, "the buds

are the children of the flowers, and the little playful streams that

gambol down the hillsides are the children of the water; and the

smallest, bright specks playing at hide and seek in the sky all night,

must surely be the children of the stars; and they would all be grieved

to see their playmates, the children of men, no more."



There was one clear, shining star that used to come out in the sky

before the rest, near the church spire, above the graves. It was larger

and more beautiful, they thought, than all the others, and every night

they watched for it, standing hand in hand at a window. Whoever saw

it first cried out: "I see the star!" And often they cried out both

together, knowing so well when it would rise, and where. So they grew

to be such friends with it, that, before lying down in their beds, they

always looked out once again, to bid it good-night; and when they were

turning round to sleep, they used to say: "God bless the star!"



But while she was still very young, oh, very, very young, the sister

drooped, and came to be so weak that she could no longer stand in the

window at night; and then the child looked sadly out by himself, and

when he saw the star turned round and said to the patient, pale face on

the bed: "I see the star!" and then a smile would come upon the face,

and a little weak voice used to say: "God bless my brother and the

star!"



And so the time came all too soon, when the child looked out alone, and

when there was no face on the bed; and when there was a little grave

among the graves, not there before; and when the star made long rays

down towards him, as he saw it through his tears.



Now, these rays were so bright, and they seemed to make such a shining

way from earth to heaven, that when the child went to his solitary bed

he dreamed about the star; and dreamed that, lying where he was, he saw

a train of people taken up that sparkling road by angels. And the star,

opening, showed him a great world of light, where many more such angels

waited to receive them.



All these angels, who were waiting, turned their beaming eyes upon the

people who were carried up into the star; and some came out from the

long rows in which they stood, and fell upon the people's necks, and

kissed them tenderly, and went away with them down avenues of light, and

were so happy in their company, that lying in his bed he wept for joy.



But there were many angels who did not go with them, and among them

one he knew. The patient face, that once had lain upon the bed, was

glorified and radiant, but his heart found out his sister among all the

host.



His sister's angel lingered near the entrance of the star, and said to

the leader among those who had brought the people thither:--



"Is my brother come?"



And he said: "No."



She was turning hopefully away, when the child stretched out his arms,

and cried: "O sister, I am here! Take me!" And then she turned her

beaming eyes upon him, and it was night; and the star was shining into

the room, making long rays down towards him, as he saw it through his

tears.



From that hour forth, the child looked out upon the star as on the home

he was to go to when his time should come; and he thought that he did

not belong to the earth alone, but to the star, too, because of his

sister's angel gone before.



There was a baby born to be a brother to the child; and while he was so

little that he never yet had spoken word, he stretched his tiny form out

on his bed, and died.



Again the child dreamed of the open star, and of the company of angels,

and the train of people, and the rows of angels with their beaming eyes

all turned upon those people's faces.



Said his sister's angel to the leader:--



"Is my brother come?"



And he said: "Not that one, but another."



As the child beheld his brother's angel in her arms, he cried: "O

sister, I am here! Take me!" And she turned and smiled upon him, and the

star was shining.



He grew to be a young man, and was busy at his books, when an old

servant came to him and said:--



"Thy mother is no more. I bring her blessing on her darling son."



Again at night he saw the star, and all that former company. Said his

sister's angel to the leader:--



"Is my brother come?"



And he said: "Thy mother!"



A mighty cry of joy went forth through all the star, because the mother

was reunited to her two children. And he stretched out his arms and

cried: "O mother, sister, and brother, I am here! Take me!" And they

answered him: "Not yet." And the star was shining.



He grew to be a man, whose hair was turning gray, and he was sitting in

his chair by the fireside, heavy with grief, and with his face bedewed

with tears, when the star opened once again.



Said his sister's angel to the leader:--



"Is my brother come?"



And he said: "Nay, but his maiden daughter."



And the man, who had been the child, saw his daughter, newly lost to

him, a celestial creature among those three, and he said: "My daughter's

head is on my sister's bosom, and her arm is around my mother's neck,

and at her feet there is the baby of old time, and I can bear the

parting from her, God be praised!"



And the star was shining.



Thus the child came to be an old man, and his once smooth face was

wrinkled, and his steps were slow and feeble, and his back was bent. And

one night as he lay upon his bed, his children standing round, he cried,

as he had cried so long ago:--



"I see the star!"



They whispered one to another: "He is dying."



And he said: "I am. My age is falling from me like a garment, and I move

towards the star as a child. And, O my Father, now I thank Thee that it

has so often opened to receive those dear ones who await me!"



And the star was shining; and it shines upon his grave.



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