The Lantern That Hid Its Stars
Chapter 1Paper Stars
Esti held her paper lantern against a plain white wall.
She had cut little star openings around its curved sides. Through each star, she could see a small patch of white.
The lantern was only a paper decoration. Nothing would burn or shine inside it.
Her class would hang several above a table of autumn projects.
Esti had chosen deep blue paper. Her friend Leah chose green.
"Your stars look like windows," Leah said.
Esti smiled. Then she opened a bag of gold paper strips.
Chapter 2A Gold Curtain
Esti glued gold fringe around the lantern's top edge. Long strips hung down the outside.
She added another row to make it fuller.
When she carried it to the display table, the gold strips swayed. They looked lovely in her hand.
Mrs. Klein, whose hair was covered by a patterned headscarf, helped hang the lantern safely above the table.
Leah stood back with Esti.
The fringe settled against the blue paper.
Not one whole star showed.
Chapter 3Find the Windows
"Where did your windows go?" Leah asked.
Esti lifted the fringe with her fingers.
"They are still here."
When she let go, the gold strips covered them again.
"Maybe I should cut more stars."
She looked for a clear patch of blue paper. The fringe covered nearly every place she could reach.
Mrs. Klein took the lantern down before Esti tried to change it.
"What do you want people to see when it hangs?"
Esti looked at the loose strips on the table.
"The stars. And the gold."
Chapter 4One Small Lantern
Leah folded a spare blue strip into a small lantern shape. Esti cut one star opening into it with classroom scissors.
They set it against the white wall.
The star showed clearly.
Then Esti laid a long gold strip over it.
The star disappeared.
She folded the strip shorter. The gold stopped above the opening.
Both colors showed.
Esti tried two short strips. One still crossed a point of the star.
She moved it aside and looked again from across the room.
Chapter 5The Favorite Row
The little sample worked. The big lantern still wore its thick curtain.
Esti touched the second row of fringe. She had cut every strip evenly, and it had taken most of her craft time.
"I like this row best."
Leah did not reach for it.
"You can keep it on the scrap sheet."
Mrs. Klein helped loosen the added row without tearing the lantern. Esti laid it on the sheet instead of crumpling it.
The blue stars began to show.
She shortened the remaining fringe so it ended above the star openings, following the sample.
Chapter 6Seen from Below
Mrs. Klein hung the lantern again.
Esti and Leah stood where visitors would stand, then crouched a little to see it as younger children might.
Two strips still hid the upper points of a star.
Mrs. Klein lowered it once more. Esti trimmed those strips and asked for another check.
This time the gold made a short border. The stars remained open.
Leah pointed up.
"There are your windows."
Chapter 7A Place for the Extra
Esti looked at the long fringe on the scrap sheet.
It did not have to return to the lantern.
She glued it along the bottom of the class's plain project card, where it covered no words or pictures.
At the display, a younger girl looked through a blue star and waved at Leah on the other side.
Esti laughed.
The lantern had less gold than before. Now people could see what she had made.
