Speaker 1: Hello Max, and hello to you, little dreamer. Inside the
story light jar tonight, a new light is waking up.
It is a steady, glowing amber. It looks like a
drop of golden syrup, heavy and slow, or perhaps the
light from a lantern on a safe, quiet path. It
looks very bright and very still. It is that is
because this is the listening glow tonight. The amber light
brings us a word that is as solid as a
rock and as clear as day. The word is truth.
Truth is when you say, what's really there, isn't it? Yes, Max.
Truth is the magic of seeing the world exactly as
it is. Sometimes people try to cover the truth with
fancy words or pretend stories, but the truth is always there,
waiting underneath. It is brave to speak it. And when
we do, oh, it feels so good. It feels like
taking a deep, fresh breath of morning air.
Speaker 2: Per deep fresh breath. That is a perfect description. I
know a story about a whole kingdom that forgot how
to take that breath. It is a story about a
very fancy emperor, some very tricky weavers, and a small
boy named Leo who was the only one brave enough
to trust his own eyes.
Speaker 1: Is it a story about a magic spell.
Speaker 2: Not exactly a spell, Max, but a very big trick.
It is a story about how heavy a secret can be,
and how light you feel when you finally let the
truth fly free.
Speaker 1: Let's get ready to listen. Let's make our bodies heavy
and comfortable, sinking down into the mattress like a stone
settling into soft sand. The amber light is swirling in
the jar. It's ready to take us to a palace
made of gold and whispers.
Speaker 2: The story. Light is rising, Max, Watch it float up
from the jar. It is painting the attic walls in soft,
honey colored light. It feels warm on my face, like
the afternoon sun coming through a window.
Speaker 1: Are you cozy, Max? To hear this story, we need
to be very still. We need to quiet our minds
so we can hear the truth. I'm ready. I'm snug
as a bug, wonderful little dreamer. You settle down too.
Let's take a steady, truthful breath to begin, breathing in
the warm amber light and breathing out any little worries.
Speaker 2: Perfect. The attic is fading away. The air is smelling
of expensive perfume and old dusty velvet. Listen the kingdom
is whispering us to sleep. Once upon a time, in
a land of tall towers and shiny mirrors, lived Emperor Barnaby. Now,
Emperor Barnaby was not a bad man, but he was
a very vain man. He loved clothes more than anything
in the world. He had a coat made of blue
velvet for the morning, he had a cape made of
red satin for the afternoon, and he had a robe
made of silver silk for the evening. He loved to
look in the mirror, turning this way and that, and
hear people say, oh, Emperor, you look magnificent.
Speaker 1: He sounds like he likes to dress up a lot.
Speaker 2: He did max He loved it so much that he
forgot about the important things, like being kind or being honest.
He only cared about what things looked like. He spent
all his time in his dressing room, while the kingdom
outside went on without him. One day, two strangers came
to the palace. They were weavers, but they were not
making ordinary cloth. They told Emperor Barnaby they could weave
the most magical fabric in the world.
Speaker 1: Said this fabric had a special power. They said it
was invisible to anyone who was silly, or anyone who
was not good at their job. They said, only the
very smartest, most special people could see the patterns.
Speaker 2: Of course, this was not true. It was a lie.
There was no cloth at all. But the emperor listened.
He thought, I must have this suit. Then I will
know which of my ministers are smart and which are silly.
So he gave the weavers bags of gold. He gave
them the finest silk thread. He gave them gems. And
the weavers put the gold and silk in their pockets,
and they set up empty looms.
Speaker 1: Just pretending.
Speaker 2: Yes, Max, they were pretending. They moved their hands through
the empty air. They moved the empty shuttles back and forth.
The sound was rhythmic and hypnotic. It sounded like work,
but there was nothing there, just empty, thin air.
Speaker 1: Let's pause for a moment, little dreamer, imagine the sound
of those empty looms. It is a slow, steady sound.
Let's take a breath, imagining we are breathing in the
invisible air, breathing in the quiet truth, and breathing out
the noise of the lie.
Speaker 2: Emperor Barnaby was very curious. He wanted to see his
new clothes, but he remembered the rule only smart people
can see it. He felt a little flutter of worry
in his tummy. What if he couldn't see it? So
he sent his oldest, wisest minister to check. The minister
walked into the room. He looked at the empty looms.
He blinked his eyes, he rubbed his glasses. He saw.
Speaker 1: Absolutely nothing, because there was nothing there exactly.
Speaker 2: But the minister thought, oh no, if I say I
see nothing, everyone will think I am silly. Everyone will
think I am not good at my job. He was afraid,
and fear is heavy max. It pushes the truth down
deep inside. So the minister smiled a fake smile. He
pointed at the empty air and said, oh, it is beautiful.
Look at those colors, look at those patterns.
Speaker 1: He told a lie because he was scared, and the
weavers nodded and said, yes, isn't it lovely? They pointed
to the emptiness as if it were red and gold
and blue. The minister went back to Emperor Barnaby and
told him, your majesty, the cloth is magnificent.
Speaker 2: More time passed. The whole palace was talking about the
magic cloth. Everyone whispered about how beautiful it was, even
though no one had seen it. The air in the
castle became thick with pretending. It is tiring to pretend, max.
It takes so much energy to remember a lie. It
makes everyone feel sleepy and confused.
Speaker 1: It sounds like a fog made of words.
Speaker 2: It was a fog. Finally, the day came for Emperor
Barnaby to wear his new clothes. He walked into the
weaving room with all his court He looked at the
empty looms, and his heart sank. He saw nothing, just
the dusty floor. He thought, Am I silly? Am I
not fit to be emperor? But he couldn't say that,
so he clapped his hands and said, wonderful. It is
the best suit I have ever had.
Speaker 1: The weavers asked him to take off his warm robes.
The emperors stood there in his underclothes, shivering a little
in the cool air. The weavers pretended to hold up
the new trousers. They pretended to button the new coat.
They pretended to tie a long, heavy train around his waist.
Speaker 2: The emperor turned in front of the mirror. He twisted
and turned. How does it look, asked the weavers. Perfect,
said the courtiers, It fits like a glove, but the
Emperor felt a draft. He felt the cold air on
his arms, He felt the goose bumps on his legs.
His body knew the truth, even if his mouth wouldn't
say it.
Speaker 1: He must have been very cold.
Speaker 2: He was max but he stood tall. He marched out
of the palace to begin the grand parade. The streets
were lined with people. Everyone had heard the story of
the magic clothes. Everyone knew that if they didn't see them,
they would be called silly. So as Emperor Barnaby walked by,
shivering in the breeze, the crowd cheered. Look at his coat,
they cried, Look at the beautiful train.
Speaker 1: The noise was loud, but underneath the noise everyone felt
height and worried. They were all holding their breath, afraid
to speak. Let's take a moment to help them relax,
little dreamer, Let's take a truthful breath, a breath that
says I am safe, breathing in knowing what is real,
and breathing out, letting go of the pretending.
Speaker 2: The Emperor marched on, but near the front of the crowd,
sitting on his father's shoulders, was a little boy named Leo.
Leo was young He didn't know about being a minister.
He didn't care about being smart or silly. He was
just tired, and he was just looking with his own
two eyes.
Speaker 1: He was just seeing the truth.
Speaker 2: Leo rubbed his sleepy eyes. He looked at the emperor
marching by. He saw the goose bumps on the Emperor's skin.
He saw the Emperor shivering, and Leo frowned. He didn't whisper,
he didn't hide. He just spoke out, clear as a
bell in the quiet morning air. But he isn't wearing
anything at all.
Speaker 1: The crowd went silent, The cheering stopped. The only sound
was the wind in the trees. Leo's father tried to
hush him, but Leo just pointed again, he has nothing of.
He is cold.
Speaker 2: Then a wonderful thing happened. One person whispered, the boy
is right. Then another person said he has nothing on,
and then another and another. The truth spread through the
crowd like a warm wave of sunlight. It melted the fear,
it melted the pretending. Suddenly everyone started to laugh, not
a mean laugh, but a relieved laugh. He has nothing on,
They shouted together.
Speaker 1: What did the emperor do?
Speaker 2: Emperor Barnaby stopped walking. He heard the truth, and he
knew it was right. He looked down at himself. He
realized how silly he had been, But instead of being angry,
he felt relieved too. He didn't have to pretend any more,
he didn't have to hold his breath. He stopped shivering
and wrapped his arms around himself.
Speaker 1: One of the grandmothers in the crowd stepped forward. She
had a thick, warm, wooly blanket. She didn't bow, she
just walked up to the Emperor and wrapped the blanket
around his shoulders. Here, lad, she said, kindly, that's the truth.
You're cold.
Speaker 2: The Emperor pulled the blanket tight. It was heavy, it
was scratchy. It wasn't made of magic silk or invisible gold,
but it was real. It was warm, and for the
first time all day, Emperor Barnaby felt truly comfortable. He
smiled at little Leo. Thank you, The Emperor said, you
have the sharpest eyes in the kingdom.
Speaker 1: The weavers slipped away, never to be seen again, but
the Emperor didn't mind. He had his warm blanket. He
walked back to the palace, not marching, just walking, and
the whole kingdom felt lighter because the heavy weight of
the lie was gone.
Speaker 2: And Leo, Leo just put his head on his father's
shoulder and fell fast asleep. He had spoken the truth,
and the truth is very peaceful. It clears the air
so dreams can come down.
Speaker 1: That is the story of the child who spoke true.
We learned that hiding the truth makes us cold and worried,
that speaking the truth makes us warm and safe. It
brings us blankets when we are cold.
Speaker 2: And with that, the amber glow is lifting from my beard.
It is drifting back up, soft does a dandelion seed,
and settling back into the jar.
Speaker 1: The listening glow has done its work. The story is told.
The truth is out. You are safe here, little dreamer.
You don't have to pretend to be anything but a
sleepy child in a warm bed.
Speaker 2: Let's take one last truthful breath together, breathing in the warm,
solid truth of sleep and breathing out into the quiet night.
Speaker 1: Good night, Max, Good night, sleepy listener. That was a
good one, Loomy, I think I'm just about a sleep.
Good night. If you're listening along, you can find more
gentle sleep tips and calming routines for children at storylight
kids dot com. Good night, m.