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A knock down low
Something tapped at the bottom of Mallo's door.
He opened it.
A little star stood on the step in red boots.
'I wanted to try walking,' it said.
'The sky has very few paths.'
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The first steps
Mallo showed it the garden path.
The star lifted one boot very high.
Then the other.
Walking took more thinking than shining.
Mallo slowed his own feet to match.
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A dark patch
The path dipped into a shallow muddy place.
The star stepped in.
Its boot made a soft squelch.
It stepped out and looked behind.
A red boot could leave a brown picture.
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Another picture
It tried the other foot.
Another mark appeared.
The star looked from its boots to the ground.
'I have two,' it said.
Mallo looked at the long path ahead.
'For now.'
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Up the hill
They walked to the little bench.
The star left a trail, dark at first, then fainter.
Mallo's hooves left their own shapes.
Neither trail looked much like the other.
Both had reached the bench.
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Looking back
From the bench, the cottage seemed smaller.
The star turned its points toward home.
'Is that how far my feet came?'
Mallo nodded.
The star sat very still to look at it.
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The way down
On the way back, the star found a quicker rhythm.
Step, shine. Step, shine.
Its boots no longer needed so much watching.
At the cottage, Mallo noticed the mud waiting to come inside.
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At the step
A basin and a cloth were waiting at the step.
The star lifted one boot toward him.
Mallo wiped the mud away.
A patch of bright red came back.
'I had forgotten that color,' said the star.
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Two red boots
He wiped the other boot.
Now both shone red beneath the golden points.
The water in the basin was brown.
The star peered into it.
'The path has come for a visit, too.'
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Time to rise
The sky was growing pale at one edge.
The star looked up.
'I think my place is waiting.'
Mallo stepped back from the doorway.
The red boots lifted gently from the ground.
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A small wave
Up it went, still wearing its boots.
Mallo waved.
The star wiggled one red foot.
Soon it was only a warm point above the hill.
Mallo stayed until he knew where to look.
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Morning marks
In the morning, the path was quiet.
Mallo found the little prints by the muddy patch.
He placed one hoof beside a boot-shaped mark.
Then he went home by a slightly different way.
Some pictures could stay a while.
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