Once upon a time, there were cold, dark days for long, long months of the year. In fact, the darker times remained for the entire time Persephone stayed underground with King Pluto.
The Sun came to visit only for a short while each day, and the people missed him and longed for him to return. The people felt themselves growing sadder and sadder with each passing day, and longed for the light of the Sun to return for good, bringing with him warmth, and love and joyful times.
The darkness also brought the cold winter winds, and Blow Wind was often about, chilling the skies and forcing people inside their homes. The people would peek through the windows bright and early each morning, searching for the first glimmer of the Sun’s rays and when he came, they were so happy to see him.
The children were the saddest of all the earth's creatures. They longed to run and jump and skip and hop about, for hours and hours on end, living exuberantly as the Sun said they should, but the Sun disappeared all too soon and their time for play became too short.
“Oh, I do wish the Sun could stay a while longer, and help us see our way"
One day, a little boy called Oliver gathered his friends about and told them a good idea. He wanted to sing a song to call back the Sun. He taught the song he had written to all his friends, and they made a promise to sing it together the very next day. Just before dusk, the group of children gathered by the green bushes and lifted their heads to the Sun.
“Won’t you come and shine on me, Golden Sun
C E G G G A G, AFG
Wrap your arms around us tightly, Golden sun.
G G F FF F E D , EDC
We will grow so tall like a eucalyptus tree
C E G G A A A GGGF E
And never be small, like a teeny tiny bee
E DDD C (lower- B B) CCC (lower- B A)
Stay a while, keep your smile on bright
(Lower- A A) G G G A A G
We miss you when you take your golden light."
G F F F F E D E D C
The Sun tilted his head towards the singing, smiling softly as he listened to the beautiful voices of the children. And the green bushes surrounding the children began to tilt and sway in time to the music.
“Dear children, I promise to be back soon” said the Sun, as he went to sleep behind the moon. But just then, a strange thing began to happen. Teeny tiny golden drop lights began to pop out of the green bushes, here, there and everywhere, lighting the way for the children to walk home through the darkness.
Oliver carefully cut a branch of the bush and carried it in front of him like a lantern. He put it in a vase on his side table next to his bed, and late that night, as he slept, the golden lights grew as bright as the Sun himself. When Oliver and his friends woke up, they were surprised to see golden drop lights all over the bushes, shining brightly through the day and into the night.
We know these little winter lanterns as wattle trees, and each winter, the wattle flowers light their own glowing lanterns for us. The wattle lanterns help us to stay bright and happy whilst the Sun takes his long winters nap, and when the wattle begins to fall and the wattle lights begin to fade, we know that the sun will soon be on his way back from his winter rest.
The copyrights of this story belong to Amber Greene,
however please feel free to use it with your own children and groups!
I hope you enjoy!!
