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Esmeralda the firefly was in a pickle. A very dark, very un-sparkly pickle. Esmeralda was the sparkliest firefly in the entire meadow. Her light was so bright it could be seen from the far side of the river. But tonight, when she tried to shine, nothing happened. No light, no glow, not even a single little flicker. Her sparkles were gone!

She went to see her friend, Oliver the beetle, who was known for his very serious face and his even more serious thinking. "Oliver," she buzzed sadly. "My sparkles are gone. What shall I do?"

Oliver took a very deep breath and sat very still. "Hmmm," he said. "This is a case for a detective. I shall need a magnifying glass and a very silly hat."

Oliver and Esmeralda went through the whole meadow, looking for the missing sparkles. They looked under blades of grass, inside dewdrops, and on the underside of a very grumpy ladybug. Nothing. They even asked the moon, but the moon just shrugged and said it was too busy shining on the sleepy bunnies to worry about missing sparkles.

Esmeralda felt like crying. "I'll never be sparkly again!" she wailed.

Oliver, who had been thinking very seriously the whole time, suddenly had an idea. "Esmeralda," he said. "When was the last time you saw your sparkles?"

"Last night!" she said. "I was flying very fast, and I was so, so happy."

Oliver snapped his tiny beetle claws together. "Aha! You weren't just happy, you were giddy! You were flying so fast and so happily that you flew right out of your sparkles and left them behind!"

Esmeralda looked confused. "But where did they go?"

Oliver led her back to the spot where she had been the happiest the night before. It was a little clearing, covered in soft grass. There, stuck in the blades of grass like tiny jewels, were all her missing sparkles! They were twinkling softly, a little community of light left behind from her happy flight. Esmeralda buzzed with relief.

She carefully, gently, collected all her sparkles and put them back where they belonged. Oliver, with his silly hat still on, gave her a little wink. "I knew they were never truly gone," he said. "They were just waiting for you to be happy enough to find them again. And from now on, you'll know that your happiness is so bright, it just might leave little bits of sparkle everywhere you go."