Niko walked into the small forest behind the garden, where the air felt cool and soft. The leaves had gone shy and quiet, the way leaves do just before evening. Tiny mushrooms with golden caps lit the path. A river hushed somewhere, far away.
"Hello?" Niko said, very softly.
A pair of round dark eyes blinked back from a hollow in an old tree. It was a little creature with rabbit ears and a fox tail and fur the color of moonlight. It looked nervous.
"It's okay," Niko said. "I came to say hello."
The creature came out one careful step at a time. Its paws were like tiny gloves. It carried a glowing flower in its mouth, the bright kind that pretends to be a lamp at night.
"My name is Niko. What's yours?"
The little creature wrinkled its nose. It couldn't quite speak, but it held out the glowing flower. Niko took it. The flower was warm and smelled like rain on stones.
They sat together for a long, soft moment. A breeze moved one slow branch. Somewhere above, a dove cooed.
Niko looked around the forest. "Do you know everyone here?"
The little creature nodded. It led Niko to a clearing where a deer was nibbling a leaf, where a beetle made a small green light, where a snail was the prettiest spiral Niko had ever seen.
The creature touched the snail with one tiny paw. The snail bowed.
"Are they all your friends?" Niko whispered.
The creature wrinkled its nose again — but this time it was like a small smile. It curled up next to Niko and laid its head against Niko's knee.
That, Niko understood, was a yes.
The sky above the trees turned the color of blue plums. Stars came out one at a time, the way shy children do. The little creature blinked slowly. Niko blinked slowly back.
"Goodnight, friend," Niko said.
The forest answered with a hush — a hush that meant the whole world was tucking itself in. Niko's eyelids felt heavy. The glowing flower dimmed gently in his hand. The little creature was already asleep, breathing a tiny, steady breath.
Niko closed his eyes. Tomorrow he would come back. But tonight — tonight, in the quiet forest, the stars were already keeping watch.