The Moon Collector

A hermit lived atop a cliff, capturing moonlight in jars. People called him mad. But each jar glowed with a different hue — pale blue for regret, silver for dreams, gold for forgiveness. One evening, a child climbed the cliff asking for a jar of courage. The hermit handed him an empty one. The child frowned, but as he walked home down the winding path, the jar brightened with every brave step. By the time he reached the village, it glowed brighter than all the others. The hermit, watching from afar, whispered, “Moonlight never lived in the sky — only in the choices we make in darkness.”