Light years are distances in time not intensity of light. Because it takes several thousands or millions of years for the light to travel through space, even when stars have died, their light can still be visible on Earth.
“This is the universe,” Mr. Kidd explained. “You are two tiny people standing on a star surrounded by millions of stars.”
“Is this what you meant by ‘above’?” Dell asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Kidd replied.
“But where do the orders for the customised computers come from?”
“From the sky; through the Internet.”
“Oh, why didn’t you say that people order their computers on the ’net?”
“Well, it’s not quite that simple. I do receive orders via the Internet, but people don’t order them directly.”
“So, who does?”
“You’ve met Mr. A. Leon Spacemen, who travels throughout the universe helping people to search for answers to their questions. You haven’t met Mr. Bigga Bang—everyone calls him Big Bang. He’s responsible for everything in the universe.”
“Did he order this computer?”
“Oh, Mr. Big Bang is responsible for everything that was ever created in the universe.”
“All these stars?”
“Yes. The light from some of the stars has taken so many years to reach earth that, although they no longer exist, you can still see the light.”
“What do you mean?” Emmelisa joined in the conversation.
“Stars burn brightly for billions of years and then die. The light you can see from the stars that you see in the sky has travelled through space for a number of light years to arrive within sight of earth. So, even though a star may die, the light from that star can still be seen for as many years as it takes for the light to travel through space.”
Emmelisa thought about this for a few seconds and then said, “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Why does that not make sense?” Mr. Kidd challenged Emmelisa.
“Because when people die, you never see them again.”
“People never really leave you, Emmelisa. They are always there in your mind. If someone dear to you is out of sight, you still believe they exist—even though you can’t see them.”
Emmelisa frowned as Mr. Kidd continued, “If Dell goes out to play football with his friends or your mother goes shopping or your grandparents are at home, although you can’t see them, you know that they exist.”
“Yes,” Emmelisa replied, “but you said that you can see stars after they’ve died. When people die, you never see them again.”
“No,” Mr. Kidd agreed, “you can’t see people after they’ve died but you don’t see stars after they’ve died. You can only see the light from the star.”
“So,” Emmelisa said slowly as she tried to organise her thoughts, “are you trying to say that people leave something like a trail of light after they die?”
“Well, it seems to me that you’re almost as bright as the stars in the sky, young lady,” Mr. Kidd said with obvious admiration. “Very few people would make such a wonderful assumption. There is no evidence to suggest that people leave anything as tangible as a trail of light. But if you believe that someone—who was important to you and guided you in the things you did—can still be part of your life even though they no longer exist, then a ‘trail of light’ would be an excellent way of describing that influence.”
Dell wouldn’t have dared look at Emmelisa with the same amount of admiration as Mr. Kidd, but inside he was very proud of his little sister.
“You mean Dad, don’t you, Lisa? Dad has left a trail of light for us to follow.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A Trail of Light, Mr. Planemaker's Flying Machine 
2005 by Shelagh Watkins.
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