In the deep blue sea, among coral gardens, lived a little mermaid named Zlata. She had golden hair and a tail the color of ocean waves.
Zlata loved to listen to the stories of old Crab Makar. He once got caught in a fishing net and saw the surface.
"Up there, at night, stars shine," said Makar. "Thousands of little lights."
Zlata sighed dreamily. She wanted so much to see those stars! Every evening she swam up near the surface, but she was afraid to poke her head out of the water.
"What if it's scary up there?" she thought.
One evening, Silver the dolphin offered, "Swim with me! I'll show you the stars."
Zlata gathered her courage. They swam up, up, up. Finally, Zlata's head broke the water.
The sky was dark and huge. The stars really did shine, but they seemed cold and far away. The wind tugged at her hair. The air felt thick and heavy.
"Look, people live over there," said Silver, pointing to the shore with lights.
Zlata looked. But suddenly she felt sad. She remembered her cozy coral bed, the warm water, the soft glow of underwater jellyfish lanterns.
"Silver," she whispered, "we have stars too. Only ours shine underwater."
The dolphin smiled. "You're right. Phosphorescent plankton is no worse than stars."
They dove back down. Zlata swam to her coral reef. Green, blue, and purple lights of plankton sparkled all around. They danced like little living stars. She could touch them, swim through them.
Zlata held out her hand. Tiny glowing specks played on her fingers.
"My stars are much closer," she murmured.
She snuggled against a warm stone covered in soft moss. Underwater lights twinkled around her. Father Triton swam by and gently fluffed her seaweed pillow.
Zlata closed her eyes. She didn't want to swim anywhere else. Here, at home, it was cozy and calm. Underwater stars swayed with the waves and sang a quiet lullaby.
The little mermaid smiled in her sleep and drifted off in her coral garden.