At the end of a deciduous oak street, there lived a little boy named Jack. Jack has curly hair as bright as the sun, and his most precious toy – a small wooden horse named “Barton”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barton “is a hand carved wooden pony painted in a warm caramel color, with a faded red checkered scarf tied to its back. Although its tail is slightly worn and one ear is slightly drooping, in Jack’s heart, it is the most perfect pony in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every evening, when the sun turns the sky orange soda colored, Jack will step onto “Barton” and start their “big adventure” in the living room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drive! Barton, we’re going to Yunyun Mountain! “Jack tightly gripped the wooden horse’s ear and let out the sound of hooves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom always shakes her head with a smile in the kitchen and says, “Jack, be careful not to step on Yunyun Mountain. We’re about to have dinner<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But on this special Friday night, something wonderful happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Jack stepped onto “Barton” as usual and lightly patted its wooden neck, he suddenly heard a very light, very light sound – “Wow<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack was stunned. He lowered his head and looked at ‘Barton’, but the wooden horse remained quietly in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did I hear it wrong? “Jack scratched his curly hair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this moment, the Moon Granny outside the window quietly pushed aside a cloud, and a silver white moonlight just fell on “Barton”. A miracle has happened! The caramel colored wood paint on Barton’s body emitted a soft halo like stars. Its drooping ears slowly perked up, and the red checkered scarf fluttered gently in the windless room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good evening, Jack. “A warm, soft voice sounded in Jack’s ear, like toast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack widened his eyes in surprise and said, “Ba, Barton? Can you speak<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, my little knight. “The wooden horse” Barton “lightly wagged its tail, and its four wooden hooves made a crisp” dada “sound on the floor.” Actually, I’ve been waiting for you to be ready. Tonight, we’re going to a special place<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where are you going? “Jack was so excited that he didn’t even bother to put on his slippers and stepped barefoot on” Barton “‘s back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Go collect fragments of stars, “Barton said with a smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As soon as the words fell, Barton’s hooves unexpectedly left the ground! It floated lightly like a feather, carrying Jack through the half open window and flying towards the deep blue night sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The gentle breeze at night is not cold at all, but carries a faint lavender aroma. Jack lay on Barton’s neck as they flew over the sleeping Oak Street and the shimmering Moon Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look, Jack, there’s a lost little star over there, “Barton pointed ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sure enough, next to a chubby dark cloud, there was a small star flickering with a faint blue light, looking like it was about to fall asleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barton approached gently, and Jack reached out his small hand, carefully holding the little star in his palm like a butterfly. The little star rubbed against Jack’s palm, let out a satisfied “snoring” sound, and then turned into a warm light that melted into Jack’s pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You did a great job, Jack, “Barton said gently.” Every lost star needs a brave knight to escort them home<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That night, Jack and “Barton” traveled through the galaxy. They pushed the dozing meteor back into orbit, beat the lullaby of Granny Moon, and played hide and seek with a group of passing nightingales. Jack’s pocket was filled with warm starlight, and his heart was filled with unprecedented happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the sky in the east just turned pale, “Barton” carried Jack and slowly descended along the morning breeze, landing steadily on the wooden floor of the bedroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s almost dawn, my little knight. It’s time to go to sleep, “Barton’s voice grew lighter and the starlight on his body slowly dissipated like a receding tide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thank you, Barton\u2026 “Jack yawned heavily, feeling too tired. He reluctantly slid down from the horse’s back, pressed his cheek against the warm wooden nose of ‘Barton’, and then crawled into the soft bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next morning, the sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains and drew a golden line on the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack suddenly sat up from the bed, even wearing his slippers backwards, and ran barefoot towards the living room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Barton” still stood quietly in the corner, the caramel colored paint was mottled, and the red checked scarf was obediently tied to the horse’s back. Everything looked exactly the same as yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is it really a dream? “Jack walked over with some disappointment and gently touched” Barton “‘s ear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At that moment, Jack’s hand touched something hard. He lowered his head and noticed that at some point, a very thin, shimmering silver thread had appeared on the wooden tail of “Barton”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack carefully untied it and placed it in his palm. The silk thread flickered in the morning light, then turned into a small, candy like spot of light, lying quietly in his palm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack lifted his head and looked at the slightly upturned wooden corners of Barton’s mouth, unable to help but giggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He knows that this is not a dream. Because a true knight can always find their way home and keep the warmth of a star in their pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good night, Barton. See you tonight, “Jack waved his hand at the wooden horse and ran contentedly towards the kitchen, ready to welcome a new day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the corner, the old wooden horse seemed to nod slightly and gently under the sunshine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jack’s Little Trojan Horse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[21,18],"class_list":["post-320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-children","tag-children","tag-story"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320\/revisions\/323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}