Jeremy and the Moon

"Where did you say we were going, again? It's getting dark."

"Almost there. I really want you to see this. I've never shown it to anybody before."

I pushed aside the branches of an enormous willow tree and spread my blanket on the bank. Brix turned two circles and settled himself at the edge of the blanket, wagging his tail, watching the river.

"Here, have a seat. You were saying?" I said.

"I just think it's time for us to have a talk. You know, about serious things."

"Serious things?"

"Yes. I feel like we never talk about the things that really matter," she said.

We sat on the blanket, holding hands while I searched the river. Gabriella shifted her legs uncomfortably and tugged at her coat.

"There!" I pointed at little Wyndie, who was dashing across the water, riding atop the shoulders of one of her dragonflies. Her wings caught the last glimmer of the setting sun.

"You might want to slow down!" I shouted out to her, laughing. Wyndie blew me a kiss with her tiny hand.

"Who? Who needs to slow down?" Gabriella said. "I don't see anyone."

"She was going so fast," I said, “and she’s very small. She would be easy to miss. And anyway, there's more. I can’t wait to show you everything. See that bird up there?”

I knew I was talking too fast. I had to make her understand.

“He is actually a friend of mine,” I hurried, words tumbling from my mouth like rain through a dry ravine. “There’s an interesting story about him…once, he flew all the way to the Far North, just to find a magical stone to give to his true love. But then he couldn’t find it there…wait ‘til you hear what happened next…"

Gabriella laughed stiffly. "That's just an old crow, Jeremy."

"He's a magpie, actually. They're old souls. Very magical. And see that cloud?"

"Jeremy."

"See the way it's moving? It's watching us — taking care of us. Taking care of everyone."

"Are you OK?" She touched my arm.

"I'm just trying to help you see. I've been wanting to show you this ever since we met. If you could look a little closer."

"Tell me again what was we’re doing here," Gabriella said. There was a coolness in her voice, like the air feels just before a storm.

She looked at me with those green eyes. She was so beautiful, so good. I had to make her understand. Our life together depended on it. I untucked my shirt and tore two small squares from its hem.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her eyes wide. I gave her one of the squares.

"Will you do something for me?” I pleaded. “First, put all of your wishes for us, for our life, in here. All your worries, too."

"My worries?"

"Yes. Those, too. See? Like this."

I breathed into my square of linen, closing my eyes, thinking of every dream and wish I had for our lives together. I thought of the day we met, the long, all-night talks, the way she moved her foot whenever she was nervous, how the sun brought out the red in her hair.

I also thought of the secret rooms in my heart that I wanted to show her...the secrets that made me who I really am. The places I feared she could not see, or worse, didn't want to know. She knew the bright side of the moon, but she had never ventured to the other side. The secret side that saw life in the shapes of the clouds, that noticed how flowers changed color when faeries painted them with their singing, that felt the intelligence and emotion in the blue that danced and flowed between the clouds. The part that heard music in the rain. If she didn't fall in love with that part of me, too, I didn't know what I would do.

I breathed all of those hopes and worries into my square of cloth. Then I folded it carefully, and placed it in my lap.

"I don't understand," she said.

"You will,” I said. “Now, we wait."

"Wait for what?"

"For the moon.”

Gabriella stood up and quickly brushed the leaves from her coat. Her face was flushed, hot. My heart pitched wildly, like a butterfly in a hail storm.

"Look, if you didn't really want to talk to me, you should have told me before I came all the way out here. I don't have time to hear about the birds and the clouds, and your little imaginary friends. Good grief, Jeremy! I've got work in the morning, and school. I'm going to go."

I watched her walk away.

I sat there for a long time, catching my breath. Mother Moon rose from behind the mountains and cast her light across the water. A river of love, just for me. I laid my folded linen on her reflection and it drifted upward, rising like a sailing ship into the softness of her light.

A warm wind drifted through the ancient willow tree's branches. The tree reached down with her boughs and gently touched my cheek. Brix lay his chin on my lap, and the night fey began to sing.