Elara lived in the star-island village of Millezza (pronounced milletsa, with the accent on the et). I’m sure you never heard of her or her hometown. Because they’re located at the Northwest corner of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Of course, I know you’ve heard of the Milky Way Galaxy.

After all, anyone who lives on planet Earth knows our entire solar system is contained within the Milky Way Galaxy.

I’m just sayin’ you never heard of Elara or Milletsa. Let’s leave it at that. Yeesh.

Anyway…

Elara had a passion for bouquets. But her bouquets were made of the stardust she gathered during her walks through the Millezza Meadows. After she collected her celestial clippings, she’d take them back to her stardust studio to arrange them.

Every little speck shined and shimmered beyond imagination. And far beyond the color spectrum you and I can see. But, to Elara, it was all quite normal. She had been creating her bouquets for thousands of years.

So, it was all in a day’s work.

And, on one of those days, a space traveler, named Evan, landed in Millezza Meadows just as Elara was about to head home with her daily finds. You and I might think that was mighty strange. But Elara had entertained other travelers before. So, she had sort of come to expect visitors once in a while.

As it turned out, Evan was a writer. And he fancied himself to be a musician, too. And he loved to travel through the Milky Way Galaxy writing songs and stories about the stars and the heavens.

Elara invited him to join her for dinner. And without hesitation he simply said, “Excellent.”

That evening, when he arrived at her bungalow, Evan was delighted to see the wide variety of bouquets in lead glass crystal vases. One glowed a deep indigo blossom from within and its edges were dusted with silver like iridescent stardust. Another one shined like a deep, rich violet neon sign. It had tiny threads of luminous gold weaving all around. And it reminded him of a cosmic dawn he had passed through on his travels.

But one stood out from the rest.

Not because of bright colors. In fact, maybe it stood out so much because of the absence of bright colors. And Evan couldn’t take his eyes off it. It drew him in like a cosmic funnel of enigmatic joy. Translucent shards of white light floated, counterclockwise above the crystal vase. But an unseen force held them in their orbits.

Evan felt the irresistible urge to reach out and touch the lights. And as he did, the tiny shards danced across his fingers and around his hand. And they glowed even brighter and lit up his face in full spectrum light.

Elara could see the bouquet’s effect on Evan. So, she told him how the stardust in that arrangement came from the purest and most distant reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy. And she explained how the shards of light had the power to fill creative, inquisitive minds with knowledge and wisdom and stories. It was almost as if they tapped into the mind of the Creator of the cosmos. And she told Evan she believed they actually did.

Then, much to his surprise, she gave him the bouquet.

And once again, without hesitation, Evan simply said, “Excellent!”

Elara carefully packed the Milky Way Bouquet into a box made of Millezza Meadows mahogany. And Evan put it carefully on board his ship. He understood that he had found something and someone as bold and boundless as the heavens he loved so much.

She understood how much she was giving away.

And they both understood how the gift would be a bridge between their hearts and minds.

Now you know the story behind the tenth song on the Lullabye Bye collection of lullaby songs for kids. And every word of it is as true as your best mid-winter dream.

By the way, you can hear a sample of “Milky Way Bouquet,” as well as all the other songs in the Lullabye Bye collection, here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV4pKjLJWgg)

Then, don’t stop to pick any bouquets. Just jump on over to the Rhyme and Reason Bookshop to get your special kids their very own Lullabye Bye coloring, drawing songbook. And I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. There’s a link, in the book, to download all the songs?

So, download your Lullabye Bye book in the Rhyme and Reason Bookshop right now.

Stay tuned…