Description: On a beautiful moonless night, a falling star soared over the kingdom of Agrabah. Sparkling streaks of color followed the star, creating a shimmering rainbow that illuminated the sky. In the desert below, sand swirled, kicked up by a sudden gust of wind. Within moments, the twinkling colors had faded from view. . . . In the game room of the palace, Princess Jasmine reached toward the chessboard to move one of her pieces. Her father, the Sultan of Agrabah, sat across from her. "Don''t be hasty," he warned. "Playing board games is like ruling a kingdom. You need to think several steps ahead and consider all the options. You must be certain each move you make is the best choice." "I think it''s the best choice," said Jasmine. "Well then, go ahead!" The Sultan smiled and gestured for her to make her move. But Jasmine was no longer sure. She frowned and studied the board. "I like games of speed," said Aladdin, who stood next to the table watching. Abu, his pet monkey, chittered in agreement from his shoulder. Aladdin picked up a knight that had been captured earlier in the game and tapped it along the edge of the table, as if the tiny horse figurine were running. "Speed and chance ." He smiled and snatched up two other captured pieces. Aladdin was a former street thief, but he had given up his life of crime after falling in love with Jasmine, and he now lived in the palace. However, he had not lost his fondness for action and excitement. "Speed, chance, and tricks !" he continued. Aladdin tossed the pieces into the air and juggled them. Behind him, the closed drapes fluttered below their sashes, muting the howl of the evening winds outside. "I''m trying to concentrate!" protested Jasmine, struggling not to laugh at Aladdin''s antics. She returned her focus to the board. She''d been playing board games all her life, but when she was growing up, they had been just for fun. Now the Sultan encouraged her to play to sharpen her mind, using them to teach her lessons about leadership, since she would one day take over for him and become the ruler of Agrabah. As a result, the games had become serious and important--a way to practice strategy for the life-or-death decisions she''d be making in the future. After considering all her possible moves, Jasmine picked up a bishop and moved it three spaces. The Sultan beamed at Jasmine. "Good move!" he said before allowing a sly smile. "But you did not think quite far enough ahead." He slid his queen up the board, capturing Jasmine''s bishop and giving the queen a direct line to her king. " Oooh, " said Aladdin, not really understanding what the move meant but knowing the Sultan had bested Jasmine somehow. Jasmine had tried to teach Aladdin the rules, but he liked to make up his own as they went along. That made it a lot more interesting, as far as he was concerned. No staring at the board for hours and hours. Keep it moving and make it lively! What was the point of a game if it wasn''t fun? Jasmine groaned, frustrated. What had she done wrong? How had she failed to predict her father''s move? If only she''d made a different choice, her king would not be in danger of being checkmated. Every match she lost underscored her growing nervousness about leading the kingdom one day. Jasmine had never truly had her leadership skills tested. She had helped Aladdin and Genie defeat Jafar, the Sultan''s evil advisor, who had tried to take control of the kingdom, but she had acted on instinct then, rather than strategy. She desperately wanted to prove to her father-- and herself--that when the time came, she would be worthy and capable of ruling Agrabah. Abu, bored with the game, leapt onto the table and snatched Jasmine''s king. "Abu!" cried Jasmine as the little monkey dashed toward the window with the piece. "I''ll get him," said Aladdin, but before he could take a step, a powerful breeze blew the drapes free of their sashes and lifted Abu off the ground. Abu shrieked in terror and landed in Aladdin''s arms as wind and sand swirled around the room. Aladdin spotted a blue four-pointed star in the sky, glowing beneath the dim light of the moon. Before he could study it more closely, sand blew into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. "Close the drapes!" the Sultan called. Aladdin blinked away the sand and grabbed one side of the thick velvet curtains as Abu clung tightly to him. Jasmine rushed over and grabbed the other side, shielding her face with one arm. Together, she and Aladdin pulled the drapes closed. But fierce gusts continued to batter the drapes, causing them to billow inward. The wind thumped and roared, like a monster trying to break in. Abu shook the sand out of his fur. Jasmine combed her fingers through her hair, loosening more sand, which pooled at her feet. Aladdin, meanwhile, stood still, thinking. "Did you see that?" he asked Jasmine. "That blue shape in the sky?" "All I could see was sand blowing around," said Jasmine. She turned to her father. "It''s been like this for days. I know there are sometimes sandstorms out in the desert, but I don''t remember anything this bad ever hitting the city for so long, with no break." "I don''t either," said the Sultan, brushing sand out of his white beard. "Our windy season is in winter, which is still months away. Spring usually has calm winds." Aladdin moved to the window and pulled back the edge of one curtain to peer out. "Stop!" protested Jasmine. "You''ll let in more sand!" "I just wanted to see if it''s still there." Aladdin squinted through a slim gap in the drapes, but the view was now obscured by sand, the sky dark and hazy. He was certain he had seen it, though. "It was so strange," he said. "It had a blue tint to it, and four points." "That sounds like the clay star on the arch over the gates into Agrabah," said Jasmine as she brushed more sand off the chessboard. "It did kind of look like that star," said Aladdin. "But the arch is on the opposite side of the city from where this window faces. The star I saw was out over the desert." A gust of sandy wind snuck through the opening in the drapes and Aladdin pulled them closed. "That reminds me of an old nursery rhyme," said the Sultan with a wistful smile. " Do you see the star shine? Do you hear the winds blow? . . . I don''t remember the rest of it." "I do," said Aladdin. He knotted the sashes together. "When I lived on the streets, my friends and I used to sing it to tease each other." He hummed to himself for a few seconds, remembering the tune, and then began to sing: "Do you see the blue star shine? Do you hear the fierce winds blow? It''s a sign-- You''re out of time. Quick! You must restore the pieces, Or endure a storm that never ceases. . . ." "Pieces of what?" asked Jasmine when he had finished. Aladdin shrugged. "I don''t know. It''s just an old song. I never really thought about what it meant." At that moment, the sashes gave up their fight with the wind and the curtains blew free. As Jasmine and Aladdin rushed to close them again, Jasmine saw it: a glowing blue star in the sky. It shone down through the violent, twisting clouds of sand, as if trying to cast a spotlight on something below. And then, as quickly as it came, the image was gone, lost behind the swirling sand.

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