Shining Night Read online

  Praise for Alena and Wynter Pitts and the Lena in the Spotlight Series

  “Tween girls LOVE fiction, but it doesn’t always teach them the best values. That’s why I’m so excited about Wynter Evans Pitts writing with her daughter Alena. This is a book series that will entertain your daughter’s love of reading, but also introduce godly living. Enjoy!”

  —DANNAH GRESH

  “Alena Pitts is an absolute treasure! She and her parents have a heart for ministry and for advancing God’s kingdom. One of the best decisions we made in casting for the movie War Room was in choosing Alena to be Danielle. She not only brought an outstanding performance to the film, but she and her family were a joy to work with. We can look forward to great things from this little world changer.”

  —STEPHEN KENDRICK

  Every little girl dreams and Alena Pitts has written a delightful book series that will help any girl do just that. Taking a cue from her own life as a young actress, Alena weaves a story that will take her reader on a fun adventure while simultaneously encouraging her to both dream and keep first things first. The concepts of faith, family, and following your dreams are all laced together into a tale that is sure to keep any girl turning the pages while she also learns life lessons and is reminded of God’s love.

  —CHRYSTAL EVANS HURST CO-AUTHOR OF KINGDOM WOMAN

  Other Books by Alena Pitts with Wynter Pitts

  Lena in the Spotlight Series

  Hello Stars (Book One)

  Day Dreams and Movie Screens (Book Two)

  ZONDERKIDZ

  Shining Night

  Copyright © 2018 by Alena Pitts and Wynter Pitts

  Illustrations © 2018 by Zondervan

  Requests for information should be addressed to:

  Zonderkidz, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

  ISBN 978-0-310-76061-0

  Epub Edition March 2018 9780310760672

  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  Zonderkidz is a trademark of Zondervan.

  Cover illustration: Annabelle Matayer

  Interior illustration: Jacqui Davis

  Interior design: Denise Froehlich

  Printed in the United States of America

  18 19 20 21 22 /LSC/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Auntie Silla, I love you!

  Alena

  Contents

  Praise for Alena and Wynter Pitts and the Lena in the Spotlight Series

  Other Books by Alena Pitts with Wynter Pitts

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Excerpt from Hello Stars: Chapter 1

  Chapter 1

  “Lena! There is a package for you!” Amber was standing in the middle of the kitchen floor staring at me. She was holding a brown box and flashing a toothless grin. After a long day at school I was excited to finally be home. I carefully used my one free hand to push through the door.

  I released my lunchbox from my two front teeth and let it fall to the floor. Followed by my backpack, grey sweatshirt, water bottle, and the blue and orange history book that Ms. Blount forced me to bring home. I let out a deep sigh. It felt good to have the use of both my hands and mouth once again.

  “Can I open it? Please, please, please?” Amber’s grin widened as she begged, teasingly shaking the box right in front of my face.

  “Nope!” I leaned forward and pretended I was going to grab it out of her hands. Instead I reached both arms out and tickled her belly until she had no choice but to loosen her grip on the box and let me have it.

  “Okay, Lena!” She tried to catch her breath as she placed the box in my hands.

  I took one look at it and squealed, “It’s from Mallory!”

  Mom heard the commotion and walked into the kitchen with a curious look on her face. When she saw me holding the box, she smiled.

  “Hi, Lena. How was school?” she asked. “I see you got your package. Did you see that it’s from Mallory?” she added.

  “I did! I wonder what it is,” I said.

  “Open it after you get all your things up off the floor!” Mom sneakily grabbed the package from my hands without even giving me a chance to stop her.

  My eyes popped open wide with surprise and my mouth dropped open. “Mom!” I squealed playfully.

  She and Amber exchanged a high-five and giggled.

  “Gotcha!”

  She was tickled by her ability to move so quickly.

  Mom placed the package on the table and headed toward the refrigerator.

  “Girls, come get your snack!” she called out for Ansley and Ashton to join us in the kitchen. Normally, after-school snacks are my favorite, but today I was much more interested in finding out what was in that box!

  I hurried to pick up everything I’d dropped just a few moments ago.

  Ansley came running into the kitchen carrying Austin, one arm wrapped tightly around his belly. Austin was wearing a red bandana around his left paw. He looked helpless yet happy with his legs loosely dangling near Ansley’s waist. Amber marched behind her wearing her light blue pretend doctor’s coat with a white and red plastic stethoscope hanging from her neck. It suddenly made sense. My sisters were playing veterinarian and Austin was, of course, the sick puppy. I smiled.

  “Hey, guys.”

  “Hey, Lena. Did you see your big box?”

  “Yup! I’m going to open it in a second.”

  I rustled Austin’s fur a little and tossed my water bottle and entire lunchbox into the sink. I’ll empty it later, I thought to myself. I grabbed my backpack, sweatshirt, and textbook, and ran them down the hall to my bedroom. I threw it all right on top of my unmade bed and three-day old socks and pajamas. Ohhh, I should clean up before Mom sees this. I thought about cleaning it up for a second but decided I didn’t want to wait any longer to see what Mallory had sent. I headed back to the kitchen instead.

  “Can I open it now, Mom?” I asked, with one hand already tugging at the tape on the side.

  Mom nodded and smiled.

  Amber, Ashton, Ansley, and even Austin gathered around and waited with excitement as I wrestled with the box until it was finally open enough for us to see a glittery blue box hiding inside.

  “It’s . . . another box!” Amber announced.

  Once the blue box was completely free, I could see a tiny white envelope attached to it with three pieces of flowery printed tape. My name was printed in large purple bubble letters across the top.

  “It’s so cute!” my sis
ters and I squealed.

  Mom peeked over our shoulders and said, “Aww, yes, it is.”

  “Come on, Lena, open it!” Ansley demanded.

  I pulled the card up close to my chest and paused. With four sets of eyes staring at me, and Austin nibbling on my kneecaps, it suddenly felt like maybe I should open the note in private where I could concentrate better.

  Mallory had been such a good friend to me. Almost like a big sister. I always took her advice seriously, but I wasn’t sure how having to leave the tour so suddenly had affected our friendship. When my grandmother got sick, I knew she understood that it was an emergency. But even though she was sympathetic, I still felt bad. She had done so much to make sure that Mom and I and our entire family were comfortable on the road with her. Everything from our own tour bus to the special snacks and treats at each of the venues we appeared. It all seemed like a waste now.

  Mom had offered to have me go back once we knew that my grandmother was going to be okay, but Mallory insisted that we stay home and spend time with our family. She’d told me she was really close with her grandmother too, and she understood how scary it could be when they get sick. She even called a few times to pray with us. And when we told her that everything was going to be okay, she cheered, “Thank you, Jesus!” on the other end of the phone.

  There was no doubt that she cared about the family, but I had not heard from her since then.

  That was at least a month ago.

  I couldn’t help but wonder why she was reaching out now and not just with a phone call or an email but with a big package.

  “Well, Lena. Open it!” Ansley interrupted my thoughts.

  I let out a deep breath and opened it.

  The notecard was even smaller than the envelope and the front and back were covered in Mallory’s handwriting.

  “She writes so pretty!” Amber acknowledged.

  “She writes a lot,” Ashton blurted out.

  We all agreed with both.

  I stood quietly and read each word on the front side to myself.

  When I finished, I could feel the curiosity building in each of my sisters, so I read it again, out loud this time, before flipping to the back.

  Dear Ms. Lena Daniels, ☺

  Hey girl! How is life? Sorry I have not been in touch lately, but things have been busy. I am working on some new music! Can’t wait for you to hear it. Well, the tour ended with a great finish. Since you had to leave, we decided to just play a scene from the movie and a little clip from the first interview we did together! That seems like so long ago now. Can you believe how well the movie is doing? Mr. Fenway says he thinks we will be nominated for an award! How crazy would that be? Whenever I think about it, I am so grateful that you sent your tape in to audition even if you had red goo stuck on your teeth! I just love how you never let your fears stop you from trying something new. Never stop doing that. Doing something, even when we are afraid, is what it means to have courage. Lena Daniels, you are one courageous girl! God has given you something beautiful to share and I pray you never forget that. Always be willing to tell others about Him. I love thinking about how He showed His love for you during the filming of Above the Waters, on tour as you stood on stage in front of thousands of strangers, and at home while you are loving on your grandmother and family!

  This is only the beginning for you, my friend!

  I flipped the card over and continued to read.

  I wanted you to know that I’m still praying for your grandmother—that God would continue to give her strength and help her to stay healthy! I want to meet her one day soon!

  I also wanted you to know that I miss you so much! I hope this box of goodies makes you smile. I thought carefully about everything I included. I think you will know what they all mean, so I won’t explain!

  There is one thing that I included that I do want to talk to you about. You’ll know when you see it.

  We will catch up again soon!

  Love, Mallory

  When I finished reading, no one said a word. They were either not impressed with Mallory’s note or so curious to see what was actually inside of the mysterious box that they could not think of anything to say.

  I think it was the curiosity that kept them quiet because as soon I lifted the top off the blue box everyone gasped with excitement!

  The first thing I spotted was a white sweatshirt just like the one Mallory was wearing when she visited our family! Ashton held it up high and immediately asked Mom if she could get one.

  Right under the sweatshirt was a plastic zipper bag with a pack of gum and a pair of scissors. Mom laughed really hard when she saw this. She remembered our first meeting with Mallory in the airport bathroom as she tried to get that gum out of my hair!

  After that I spotted a roll of toilet paper and a pair of black sunglasses. I chuckled. Mallory knew how often I ran to the restroom to cry when I was afraid or nervous, so I assume she wanted me to be well-stocked for whatever my next adventure would be! I guessed the sunglasses were to hide my red eyes.

  “Did she send these for us?” Ansley asked while glancing in the box at the four giant-sized packs of fruit snacks attached to a bundle of CDs.

  “Yup! I think so!” I said.

  Ansley, Ashton, and Amber each grabbed their bundle and immediately asked Mom if they could open them.

  Now that we had practically cleared out the box, I could see that there were a few photos lying at the bottom. There was a picture of Mallory and me on stage, another of my mom, dad, and sisters sitting on the tour bus together with our driver, and a few more with new friends from the different places we visited. Each one made me smile. Looking at them brought back so many memories of the tour. But the last photo was the one I was least expecting.

  There was a picture of Caroline, one of the little girls Mallory and I met when we visited the children’s hospital in Tennessee. As soon as I saw it my eyes filled with tears. I could tell this was not just a fun picture to bring back memories. It looked important. I held it up to get a closer look. Attached to the back of the picture was an official looking card with information about Caroline: her birthday, her favorite games to play, and her favorite foods. Below that were the words—Want to help sponsor me?

  “Mom!” I shouted. “What does this mean?”

  Mom took the card and turned it over to read the information.

  “Do you know her?” she asked.

  “Yes! I met her when Mallory and I visited the children’s hospital. Remember I stuffed an outfit in my backpack because I felt like I was supposed to give it to a little girl?”

  Mom nodded slowly, remembering.

  “That’s her! Caroline is the little girl I gave my outfit to. Why does she need a sponsor? Can I do it?”

  Mom flipped the card back over and looked up at me with concern in her eyes.

  “Well, Lena, it looks like she needs help to pay for the medical treatment she has been getting. The other side of this card with her personal information has more details. Sounds like the hospital has lost funding and is closing. Probably all of the children need help of some sort.”

  “I want to help her!” I shouted.

  “Yeah, let’s help her!” Amber agreed.

  “Well, girls, medical treatment can be very expensive. Let’s talk to Dad when he gets home. We can help her, but I am afraid she may need more than we have to give.”

  “We have to do something . . .” I could feel my eyes filling with tears. “We have to help her.”

  Mom looked helpless and wrapped her arms around me. Ansley, Amber, and Ashton each wrapped their arms around my waist. We stood quietly for a few more seconds in a group hug.

  “We will do something,” Mom spoke softly.

  Just then Austin announced Dad’s arrival with a few loud yelps. He ran to the back door, stood up on his back two legs, and began licking the glass. He dropped down to his belly for a few seconds before jumping up again and repeating this cycle several times until Dad finally walked
through the door.

  “Dad’s home early today!” Amber said with a huge smile. She and Ashton ran to greet him.

  Ansley darted toward the kitchen table and grabbed her fruit snacks and CD.

  Dad had barely set one foot in the door before Ansley started shouting, “Daddy! Daddy! Look what Mallory sent us!”

  “Hey, guys! Aww, is that her newest CD? That’s great.” Dad’s face was bright. He loved all the attention he got when he returned from being gone all day.

  “Hi, babe,” Mom said while reaching over Austin, Ansley, Amber, and Ashton for a hug.

  I waited patiently for my turn.

  “Hey, Lena,” he said and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. As soon as I laid my head on his chest I could feel the tears starting to come. I wanted to wait to tell him about the hospital, but I couldn’t.

  “Daddy,” I said softly while trying to hold on to my emotions.

  “What’s going on, Lena? What’s wrong?”

  Everyone stood still and listened as I retold every detail about meeting Caroline while we were on tour, her sickness, Mallory’s box, and my broken heart.

  As I talked, Dad’s face softened.

  “Let’s call Mallory. We can get more information about what is happening with the hospital, Caroline, and her family. Then we will see how we can help.”

  “Can we call now?” I begged.

  “Maybe we should wait a little bit. Daddy just walked in,” Mom said.

  “It’s okay. We can try now.” Dad gave Mom a little shrug as if to say, “Let’s get it done so we can eat dinner in peace.”

  I felt a tiny smile come to my face as Dad pulled out his phone and called Mallory.

  He put the phone on speaker and we all stood anxiously as it rang.

  Finally, we heard Mallory’s voice, but it was only her voicemail. After the beep, Dad said, “Hi, Mallory, it’s the Daniels family. We are all here on speaker . . . We got your package today. Thank you for all the fun treats. We wanted to talk to you about Caroline and the hospital. Maybe get more details on the situation there. Can you give us a call back when you have a chance?”