Nat:         “Little man”, I said, “I want to hear you laugh again”.

But he said to me:

Luca:       “Tonight it will be a year...My star, then, can be found right above the place where I   came to Earth a year ago...”

Nat:         “Little man,” I said, “tell me that it is only a bad dream...”

But he did not answer  my plea.   He said to me,  instead:

Luca:       “The thing that is important is the thing that is not seen...”

Nat:        “Yes, I know...”

Luca:       “It is just as it is withthe flower.  If you love a flower taht lives on a star, it is sweet to               look at the sky at night.   All the stars are a-bloom with flowers....”

Nat:        “Yes, I know...”

Luca:    “And at night you will look up at the stars.   My star will be just one of he stars, for you.  And so  you will love to watch all of the stars inthe heavens...They will all be your friends.    And besides, I am going to make you a present...”

Nat:     He laughed.

“Ah little prince, dear little prince, !   I love to hear that laughter !”

Luca:     “That is my present.  Just that.”

Nat:     “What are you trying to say?”

Luca:    “In one of the stars I shall be living.  In one of them I shall be laughing.    And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night...You-only you-will have stars that can laugh!”

Nat:    And he laughed again.

Luca:    “It will be as if. in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh...”

Nat:    And then he laughed again.  Then he quickly became serious.

Luca:   “Tonight, you know...Do not come.”

Nat:  “I shall not leave you., ” I said.

Luca:  “I shall look as if I were suffering.   I shall look a litte as if i were dying.   It is like that.    do not come to see that.  It is not worth the trouble....”

Nat:   I said nothing.

Luca:    “You understand..It is too far.  I cannot carry this body with me.  It is too heavy.”

Nat:  I said nothing.

Luca:   “But it will be like an old abandoned shell.  There is nothing sad about old shells...”

Nat:     I said nothing.   He was discouraged.   But he made one more effort:

Luca:     “You know, it will be very nice.  You will have five hundred million little bells.”

Nat.   I said nothing.

Luca:  “Here it is.  Let me go by myself.”

Nat:   I  sat down because I was not able to stand up any longer.

Luca:  “There now.   That is all...”

Nat:   There was nothing but a flash of yellow close to his ankle.  He remained motionless for an instant.   He did not cry out. he fell as gently as a tree falls.   There was not even any sound, because of the sand.

                                                    * * * *

Nat:   Now my sorrow is comforted a little.   That is to say--not entirely.  But I know that he did go back to his planet, because  did not find his body at daybreak.  It was not such  a heavy body....And at night I love to listen to the stars.  It is like five hundred million little bells...