Moon Man

The world had covered me with sadness, and darkness muddled my thoughts. I had fallen to the center of the Earth, hidden from sight, forgotten, and was about to be consumed by fire. Only the smallest amount of hope remained in my heart. I looked back to the surface, one last time. Astonishment reached my senses; I could see a narrow glowing band of pale light, and a shadow reaching down, taking form. A rope.

“Who offers me this rope,” I called up towards the pale light.

“It is I,” the Moon Man replied, and his voice sparked an unexpected ray of light in my chest.

Securing myself to the end of the rope, I began to climb, making my way around rock-faces that offered only a few handholds. The Moon Man extended words of encouragement and with each successful step upwards, I began to gain strength.

Nearing the crust of the Earth the narrow band of light grew brighter, darkness was being replaced, and I could see the world was aglow with the light of the moon. There were fragments of sadness clinging to the edges of the world that I thought I had left behind but with each passing moment, an increased peace began to settle around me.

Standing on familiar ground the Moon Man reached out his hand to me, looked into my eyes, and said, “Even though you are home your journey is not over, now you must learn to fly."

“I cannot fly.” I barked in disbelief.

“We all have the skills of flight,” he said, “But only a few are given the courage to do so. I am here to teach you about that courage.” He led me down a narrow path that opened up to reveal a sage covered cliff and a valley below.

The Moon Man reached out and took my hand in his, this time his touch tingled my skin, without another word we leapt off the edge. We flew off the cliff and towards the valley floor, without wings, without fear. I let go of his hand to explore my newly acquired courage.

Feeling a rush of freedom, I soared above the trees rustling their leaves, and effortlessly climbed the next ridge, when I looked back the Moon Man had disappeared. Feeling a sudden sense of fear I returned to the cliff wondering where he went and why had he left me.

"I have not left you," came his voice from somewhere in the distance as if he had heard my thoughts. I turned towards the path and could only see his shadow among the trees.

"Your courage belongs to you and will be with you always,” his words lingered in the cool evening air.

As he turned to go, I asked, “Why did you choose to help me?” There was no answer.

The way home was long and lonesome but the thought of returning down the narrow path to the sage covered hill, in the hopes of flying with the Moon Man again, kept my heart light with a shy smile on my face.

“Thank you Moon Man for saving me from Earths lonely depths, and for giving me the courage to fly.” I said to the shadows along the path. “I will watch for you the next time the moon if full so that we may again fly together.”

...