The Boy Who Loved the Night

There once was a boy who loved to look up at the night sky so much, he leapt from a tree and settled on the waning moon. There he sat, blissful and calm, and watched the world around him proudly.

Far from the moon, standing on the cool night grass, was a girl. She also loved to stare up at the sky, but she loved the boy who sat upon the moon more. She watched him through the night, as he grinned and looked down upon her earth.

The girl was jealous of the moon and her beauty that lit the sky. She was a plain girl, with chestnut hair and freckled skin, and she glowed green with envy when she looked at the moon. The moon was so beautiful, with her lovely white skin and dark sparkling eyes. It was no wonder the boy fell so in love with her. Each time the plain girl climbed the tree and tried to jump to the moon, as her love did, the moon would pull away, staying just a stone's throw away. The plain girl would not cry, because she knew the moon would see her tears and know the boy's love was hers.

The boy above watched as the girl below leapt again and again from the tree, reaching out to him as she fell back to earth. The boy frowned sadly as her futile attempts of reaching the moon were made. He loved to sit on the waning moon, legs dangling as though it were his swing. He could stare at the stars as they danced over head, just a breath away. The moon showed him the world and how she lit the night sky when the stars were tired of dancing. Yet, the boy felt a tugging at his chest that felt like a hole that could not be filled. He felt ill when he looked upon the girl whose tears were slowly beginning to peek through her eyes, shining like crystals in the night. The boy did not feel that hole when he looked upon the moon, so he knew it was she he loved, and not the girl on the earth.

"My time is running short on this land," the moon said in her angelic voice.
"Let me stay perched here, moon," the boy pleaded. "Let me stay astride you when you sink to the west, dragging the morning as you fall. I want to stay with you."
The moon glowed happily and started to slide out of her place, falling into the west.

The girl down on the earth saw this, and began to follow the moon, walking, and then running. She often tumbled and tripped, she kept her eyes on the moon as she ran. However, she refused to give up on the boy. Her heart was aching, and her legs kept along, eyes glued to her boy.

"Why is she following us?" the boy asked, pointing to the running girl. His chest hurt again when he and the girl crossed eyes, so he looked away again. His face felt warm, though the night was so cool. This girl was making him ill.
"She is reaching out to you," the moon replied. "Can you not feel it?"
The boy placed a hand over his hurting breast. "This illness? She is hurting me, isn't she?"
The moon's laughter sent the stars twinkling softly. "It is the greatest hurt, isn't it?"
The boy sat back on the moon, his head swimming in confusion.

The girl followed the moon until her bare feet brushed against the gentle waves of the ocean. The salty air tickled her face and cooled her skin. Standing to her ankles in the water, she gazed sadly up at the boy, who gazed back.
"Please," she cried. "I don't want you to go with the moon," the tears she wept rolled like gems from her cheeks and dropped into the sea. "I want you to stay here with me."

On the moon, the ache in the boy's chest grew extreme. "What is she doing?" he asked the moon.
The moon looked at the girl as she sank to the west. "Do you have eyes, boy?"
"Yes," the boy said, a little puzzled.
"Can you hear?"
"Yes, of course."
"Can you love?"
The boy paused at this. "I love you, moon."
The moon chuckled again. "You love how I shine, how I sparkle against the darkness. You love my dark eyes, and you love to sit upon me and view the world through my eyes. You do not love me, however. Your heart is pointing elsewhere."
The boy look down on the earth he left and saw the girl standing on the shore, her hands clapsed by her chest. The tears were running free, and they shone on her face in the moonlight.

"You will see me every night," the moon said. "You will never see this girl again if you travel to the next night with me."

The girl watched, tears clouding her eyes, as a dark shape fell from the moon and dropped towards the sea. The crashing waves swallowed the shape up and spit it back, and the boy was rocked closer and closer towards the shore until he came to a rest by the girl's feet. She dragged the boy to the safety of the sand, and he coughed up the sea until his color returned to his face. The two looked at each other as the morning crept up their backs.

"You came back," the girl said happily.
The boy touched the girl's hand tenderly. "I will see the moon every night. I will see you every waking moment I live, and that is what the difference between love and lust."
The two held each other's hand on the shore, watching as the moon sank away.