Shine Moon Shine CBeebies Bedtime Stories

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Oh, hello. I'm Sheila.

I was just looking up at the moon.

It looks so big and round and bright.

Sometimes when you stand on tiptoe and reach up,

you think you can nearly touch it.

Well, there's a moon in tonight's story,

it's by David Conway and Dubravka Kolanovic.

And the story is called Shine Moon Shine.

One snowy night in a great big city,

the moon fell from the sky

and landed on top of a very tall building.

The people in the neighbourhood tried to put the moon back into the sky

but every time they tried, the moon fell again.

That night, a young boy named Ata sat with the moon to keep it company.

the moon warmed towards Ata for his kindness

and told him why it had fallen out of the night sky

and why it did not want to return.

"It's so dark up there," the moon told Ata.

"It makes me feel so lonely."

Ata wanted to help the moon so the following morning

he got up early and captured sunbeams in a bucket

and that night, he carried them to the very tall building.

Ata climbed the stairs higher and higher,

and when he reached the top where the moon sat pale and pensive,

he released the sunbeams into the inky sky.

When this was done, the dark night didn't look so dark any more.

But the sunbeams didn't stay, and as quickly as they had appeared,

they melted away.

The next day, Ata found a box of old torches

and carried them to the very tall building.

Again, Ata climbed the stairs higher and higher,

and when he reached the very top,

Ata filled the night with beacons of light.

When this was done, the dark night didn't look so dark any more.

But, the beacons of light began to wane and slowly grew dimmer.

Then one by one, they all went out.

On the third day, Ata found a ladder

and carried this to the very tall building.

Once again, Ata climbed the stairs higher and higher,

and when he reached the very top, Ata pushed his hands

through the cold dark night and made holes to let the daylight in.

But the holes in the tender night didn't stay

and slowly began to close until the sky was very dark again.

Ata sat in the roof's cold snow,

sad that the night could not have a moon,

and sad that the moon would never have a home.

As the tears fell from his eyes and landed on the soft white snow,

they became cold, so cold, that they began to freeze.

When Ata noticed this he stopped crying

and picked up one of his frozen tears.

As it glistened in the darkness, he had an idea.

Ata gathered up his frozen tears from the soft white snow

and threw them far and wide into the inky sky.

"If you go back home now," said Ata to the moon,

"You'll never be lonely again."

The moon trusted Ata

and slowly but surely sailed away up into the darkness.

Then Ata cried at the top of his voice, "Shine, moon, shine!"

As Ata said this,

the moon's bright beams poured into the frozen tears,

filling them with such rich moonlight

that they lit up the night in a spectacular display.

All the people in the neighbourhood cheered and sang and clapped

and danced as the moon illuminated a new night sky.

For now the night didn't look so dark any more

and thanks to Ata and his frozen tears,

the moon was never lonely again.

That story was called Shine Moon Shine.

Well, now the moon is happy, it must be time for you to go to bed.

I'll see you soon for another story.

Night-night. I'm just going to go and say goodnight to the moon.

Goodnight, moon.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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