Night fell. The sky turned deep blue, and the moon peeped out from behind a cloud.
Little Rudko the deer lay in his bed of soft grass. His eyes were wide open, and his tail twitched.
"Sleep, Rudko," whispered Mama Deer. She tucked his leafy blanket around him and slipped out.
But Rudko couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned. Count sheep? No, boring! Instead, he began to remember… the good things he had done that day.
That morning, he shared a juicy apple with Spike the hedgehog. Spike was so happy! His eyes sparkled and sparkled. Rudko counted: one!
Then, a tiny bunny fell into the stream. Rudko reached out a hoof and helped him out. The bunny wiggled his ears: "Thank you, Rudko!" Two!
Another thing: Old Mrs. Squirrel couldn't reach a nut on a high branch. Rudko jumped up, knocked it down with his hoof, and gave it to her. "Oh, what a polite deer!" she said. Three!
Rudko remembered singing a lullaby for a baby bird who had lost its mother. The bird fell asleep right in his hoof. Four!
And in the evening, he helped a little mole find his way home. Five!
Rudko yawned. Each memory made his chest feel warmer and warmer. His heart beat softly: thump-thump, thump-thump.
Rudko closed his eyes. Good deeds circled around him like fireflies: one, two, three, four, five… The fireflies grew softer and softer, quieter and quieter.
"I was good today," whispered Rudko, and he turned on his side. Five good deeds, five little sunbeams in his heart. Silence. Only the moon smiled outside the window.
And Rudko was already asleep. Happy.