When You Wish Upon a Moon

“Will you get inside and stop staring at the moon?” called my mother. “The man up there isn’t real, and doesn’t want you any more than any man here on Earth! Besides, don’t you have a test to study for?”

I glared through the door at her after she closed it again, then looked back up at the face that shone down on me, full and beaming. “Don’t mind her. She doesn’t understand that I don’t look to you for romance…maybe romantic advice, though,” I added, blushing a little, even though I knew nobody could see me.

I fingered the crescent pendant Dad had given me before he left. It was my most precious possession, and the last thing that I had from him. Looking up at the night sky made me feel connected to him somehow, as if he actually was the man in the moon. I looked back up and searched the face. I knew it was just a bunch of craters. I just couldn’t shake the feeling.

I sat in silence for a while, even when I was joined by someone else. My best friend Ralph spoke up. “You’re always staring at the moon,” he said. “You talk to it, too?” I heard the good-natured humor in his voice, and I nodded. “Does it ever talk back?”

I looked at him, my fingers still on the pendant, warmer than I expected on an otherwise chilly night. The corners of my mouth twitched. “Sometimes,” I said softly.

He smiled the crooked smile I liked best. “What does it tell you?” he asked, turning his face upward, his face positively shining in the light. The crescent was a mug of fresh cocoa in my hands.

“That’s between me and him,” I said, then added coyly, “For now.”

Ralph rolled his eyes. “You’re such a tease,” he said, slipping an arm around my shoulders. “We’ve got a French test tomorrow. Allons-y, mon ami.”

I smiled, put my arm around his waist, and we walked slowly back to the house, the moon lighting our way.

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Thanks to Laura Egmon for her submissions to this week's post. Don't forget, you can make your contribution to each week's story!

For next week, tell me the last thing that moved you to cry tears of joy. I want to know what moves you. Have your submissions in by Thursday at 9:00 CST.