Christmas Eve day smelled of poppies, oranges and wood from the oven. Lena stirred the borscht and peeked through the frosty window. Snow covered the town like a soft blanket. Grandpa Staszek was hanging baubles, but something was missing. "The star on the top is gone," he sighed. "Check the attic, please." There was twilight and dust in the attic, but also a chest. It had a carved lid with a small star in the middle. Lena carefully lifted it with a letter knife. Inside lay a glass star, tied with red thread. Next to it, someone had left a piece of paper with a jagged edge. On it was a short sentence: 'Don't be late before midnight'. When she touched the ornament, something inside it chimed. Grandpa climbed the creaking stairs, torch in hand. "This is something I haven't seen in years," he whispered, looking at the box. "This star guided us when it covered the roads to the church." Lena raised her eyebrows and tightened her fingers on the thread. "Guided? How does a simple ornament do that?" The star flashed with cold light and chimed again. A breeze came from the court and stirred the cobwebs above the beams. Lena unwound the thread and looked carefully under the knot. There was another leaf, tiny as a ticket. "Bring me under the old lime tree at the edge of the orchard." The letters trembled, as if written in haste and frost. Grandfather nodded and went down to get his coat. "Let's go before the first star rises high." Before they could reach the door handle, something tapped lightly against the roof. Then a bell sounded, very close, though no one knocked. Lena looked up, and the star in her hands lit up suddenly. The door handle vibrated, as if there was someone waiting impatiently on the other side.