Chapter 1   New Show in Town

 

  Sophie Mouse rolled over in bed. Her dandelion-puff blanket had shifted overnight from a breeze that swept through the open window. The sweet scent of dewy trees wafted in.

  The birds chirped their morning songs and then came new sounds: a cracking of twigs and rustling of leaves.

   

  The sounds kept growing louder and louder. Sophie pulled her blanket over her head.

  What was making those sounds?

  Whatever it was, now it sounded close, like it was right outside Sophie’s window in the big old oak tree.

  Sophie sat up and rubbed her eyes. She pulled her window curtains apart and looked out.

   

   

  Rolling past her house was a big yellow wagon. Right behind it was another. And another!

  Sophie blinked three times. She had never seen such big wagons before. Could she be dreaming?

  Sophie climbed down from her bed. Still just half awake, she felt around in her closet. She grabbed her robe and put it on. Then she stumbled down the stairs and through the kitchen. She threw open the front door.

  The forest was peaceful and still.

  Sophie ran down the front path. She peered down the forest trail. The wagons were just… gone!

  “Good morning, Sophie.” Sophie’s dad appeared at the front door. Her little brother, Winston, followed close behind.

  “Dad!” Sophie exclaimed. “I saw wagons rolling past our house!”

  Winston ran outside to join her. “Where?” he cried.

  Sophie shook her head. “They’re gone now,” she replied. “But I saw them. Honest!”

   

  “Wagons, you say?” said George Mouse. His eyes twinkled, and his whiskers twitched.

  Sophie and Winston followed their dad back inside the house. “Dad, what is it?” Sophie said. “What do you know?”

   

  George Mouse sat down at the table. “Those wagons mean the Lightning Bugs have arrived!”

  Sophie’s ears perked up. “Lightning Bugs?” she said. “Like, fireflies?”

  “A very special troupe of fireflies,” Mr. Mouse explained. “They go from town to town as traveling performers. They put on an amazing light show! Here, I’ll show you.”

  He pulled out a scrapbook from the bookshelf and flipped through it. He stopped on a page with a ticket stub pasted on it.

   

  “This is from the very first Lightning Bug show I saw,” Mr. Mouse told them. “I was about your age, Sophie.” Then he laughed. “I wore a headlamp for weeks afterward, because I wanted to glow just like a lightning bug.”

   

  Sophie studied the ticket stub. A light show at night! It sounded magical.

  “Well,” Winston said, “if the Lightning Bugs are here, that means they’ll be performing here. Right, Dad?”

  Sophie gasped. “Oh, can we go, Dad?” she pleaded. “Please?”