Once upon a time in a jungle, there lived a tiny glowworm named Glowy. Glowy was shy. So he did not go out. He stayed all day inside his house. His home was a small burrow nestled under a majestic oak tree. One day, Glowy was seen by a squirrel named Tom and his two rabbit friends called Andy and Mandy. And after some interesting time, Glowy became friends with them. How Glowy became friends with them is another story. (Click here to read the story: The Shy Glowworm and Three Friends)
Since Glowy became a friend of the trio, they all played together when they could. Their lives were filled with laughter and joy.
One day, in the evening, the rabbit named Andy came running towards the oak tree and called Glowy.
“Glowy… Glowy… Where are you?”
“I am here.” Glowy appeared and asked, “Hey Andy, what is going on?”
“Tom’s little cousin is missing,” Andy said.
“What! How!” Glowy asked.
“I will tell you on the way, hurry! We are going to go search for that little one before it gets darker,” Andy said.
“I am so tiny and I can’t even catch up to you guys; I really wish I could help you. But I can’t, can I?” Glowy said.
“We don’t know how you can be helpful yet. So come on, get on my head and hold onto my ears; I will carry you there,” Andy said.
Glowy climbed onto the rabbit’s head and sat, catching its ears with his tiny hands and legs. Andy ran towards where Tom’s cousin lives.
On the way there, Andy explained to Glowy what had happened. The tiny squirrel’s parents had been going out to collect food in the daytime. The tiny squirrel and his twin brother have stayed alone in their nest. Suddenly a strong wind has blown and one of the squirrel cubs has dropped from the nest. Since they were too small to climb up, the tiny squirrel has been asking for help. But there has been no one there to help. So, when the parents come home in the evening, the tiny squirrel has not been in the nest. So now he is missing and everyone is worried.
When Glowy and Andy reached there, Tom and his squirrel family and Mandy were there. Then they all started the search party.
“Okay then, everyone is here. Thanks for coming. Let’s go in circles and search for the baby squirrel. He must be exhausted by now. And it is getting dark. So we need to hurry.” Tom addressed everyone and gave instructions.
They all sat in a line and circled around the tree where the squirrel nest was built. Once a full circle was completed, they went further away from the tree and went another circle. This way they tried to find the missing squirrel. Meanwhile, Glowy was just sitting on Andy’s head, thinking if he could go faster like his friends, he could be more helpful than sitting on someone’s head.
After going in a few circles, no trace of the squirrel was found. And it was almost dark. The squirrels slowly started losing their sight. Now only the rabbits can see. The search party was reduced to two! The squirrel parents started to cry. They could not see in the dark. They called her son in squirrel language. but they got no response.
The squirrels almost lost their hope to find their little son.
“Don’t worry, we can see in the dark; we will not give up finding your cousin Tom.” Mandy said.
“Yeah, that’s right. Isn’t that right, Glowy?” Andy asked.
“Yeah, well, I wish I could be more helpful, Tom. I am sorry,” Glowy said.
That time, everyone looked at Glowy. Glowy was surprised why they were staring at him.
“You are more than helpful, my friend!” Tom said. Glowy was still confused.
“You can glow in the dark!” Tom said, talking glowy into his hands and keeping him on his head. That is when Glowy realized how he could help. The squirrels could not see in the dark but they could see with the radiant green light coming out of glowy. Glowy just had to sit there on Tom’s head.
The two rabbits took two spots and all the squirrels took another spot, following Tom and Glowy. They extended their searching circle farther away from the tree.
The squirrels found a tree burrow on the ground. Tom looked into it. Glowy illuminated the burrow. There was the tiny squirrel, exhausted and laying down scared.
“We found him!” Tom shouted. Andy and Mandy ran towards Tom. Tom took his cousin from the burrow and gave him to his mother. Everyone was happy. The once-lost cub and his mother were all tears.
“Thank you, Glowy, you little light. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have found him in this dark. And he could be frozen or eaten by a snake or a wild cat if he was not found. We owe you. Bless you!” Glowy’s aunt said. Glowy and the rabbits took the lead and accompanied the squirrels to their homes. Then Andy and Mandy carried Glowy to his home.
“Glowy, you saw how helpful you could be. What if you have not come with me today thinking you are so tiny and different from us? We wouldn’t have found the missing squirrel.” Andy said.
“Oh, I see. You were thinking that you were not like us and you could not be a help? Oh no, my friend, everyone can be very helpful when needed in their own way. Like we rabbits can see in the dark, you can illuminate dark places. That is your strength. That is who you are. It doesn’t matter if you are different from everyone else. Still, you are important. Still, you are valuable for everyone else.” Mandy said.
“Yeah, okay then; see you around. bye bye!” Tow rabbits left.
Glowy crawled into his burrow. He was so happy that he could be helpful in a way he did not know he could. And he realized Andy and Mandy were right. “Everyone is valuable in one way or another to everyone else.” That was what Glowy was thinking when he fell asleep.