Little Pascal ran with abandon through the garden. He had been outside the whole day. He had played hide-and-seek, watched the fish in the pond, observed the bees and the birds, and generally waited for summer.

Now he arrived breathlessly beside his mother and nudged her, 'Let's play tag,' he said.

But his mother admonished him, 'It's time for bed, come back into the house with me. Off to have your bath and dinner, and then it's time to sleep!'

'But I'm not the slightest bit tired yet,' he complained. 'I would rather run another loop around the pool.'

But his mother insisted and Pascal came back into the house.

He was in a bad mood during his bath, which he normally found fun — but not today. He ate his porridge without enjoying it and then laid himself down in bed without objection. He had a plan: When everything was quiet, he would go back down to the garden.

As soon as everyone was asleep, he quietly got up. First, he stalked down to the pond. Surely he'd find a few fish and frogs there. But apart from a few lily pads, there was nothing to see. He went off to the pool, but there wasn't anything to see there either. Pascal was disappointed and stamped his feet on the ground. He would have liked to have played tag with the birds and bees.

'What are you looking for out here?' A mouse who sat behind the trough smiled at him. Its eyes sparkled mischievously.

'This is our garden,' protested Pascal.

'Then catch me,' chuckled the mouse. 'Catch me, if you can!' Then it turned around and vanished as quick as a flash into the garden.

Taken aback, Pascal looked out after it. He could barely believe that the cheeky mouse could run so fast with such short legs.

A gust of wind rattled the cottage door. With a quiet click, the old lock sprang open and the door opened a crack. If he went through the door, he would be with his toys. But in the meantime it had grown dark and Pascal couldn't make anything out in there. He asked himself if they were even there. Maybe everything disappears at night and that's why there was nothing to see anymore. He was a bit frightened — but he was curious too.

Suddenly, a little orb of light floated in front of the door. Pascal wanted to have a better look at this strange light, so he bravely dared to go a bit closer. It was now so dark that he couldn't even see his own hand before his eyes. But then the moon came out from behind a cloud and he recognized the contours of the garden.

'Everything is still there,' cheered Pascal quietly. 'Night-time doesn't swallow things, it only hides them.'

While Pascal was looking around, the orb of light flew directly in front of his nose. He made a grab for it but didn't catch it. The light seemed to want to play with him because every time Pascal came closer, it flew a bit to the side.

'I'll get you,' grumbled Pascal and then he spun around wildly in circles.

After a while he came to a stop, feeling exhausted and dizzy. The bright little orb of light waited a moment, but it was clear that Pascal no longer wanted to play so it flitted away.

Worn out, Pascal fell to the grass and yawned. He decided he wouldn't go another step that night and then lay his head in the grass.

When he turned over, he realized that he was lying peacefully in bed and that it had all been a dream. Contentedly, and with a smile on his lips, he slept on and looked forward to tomorrow when he would look for the shining orb of light again and catch it! Without a doubt!

_{By C. Wittmann, Passau}