from the Moon

Ever since I was little, the Moon has been watching over me. My childhood home had a big backyard with outdoor furniture. There was no air conditioning so in the summer nights, I would go out to lay under the stars and talk with the moon until I fell asleep. The Moon would send me a light breeze and shine her light on me so gently.

“Did you have fun today?” she’d ask me, brightening our garden from the darkness. I would tell her all about my day.

“Today, grandma wanted to make samosas, so we had to go buy meat at the bazaar. There were so many people there and it was so hot, so grandma bought me ice cream. She didn’t get one for herself though, so I gave her half of mine!”

“You did well.” The Moon would tell me.

I would tell her all about my friends at school. How we had had to learn the whole multiplication table by next week. About the boy, I had a crush on and how tiring today was.

“Close your eyes and sleep now, little Moon. You will have sweet dreams.” She told me every day and I never had any nightmares.

When my family moved out of the country, the Moon moved with us. The only way I could see her now was through the window of our New York apartment.

“Did you have a hard day today?” she would ask. She always knew to ask the right questions.

“I feel so lonely,” I would tell her. “I have no friends at school and everything here is unfamiliar. I want to go home. I want to see my grandma… and my friends. Today in school, we had a group project in science class, and no one wanted to be in a group with me. I feel like a stranger here moon, and I’m so alone.”

“But I am here,” she would remind me. “I am here with you, little Moon. Just as I always have, I will watch over you. I am your home.”

Her words comforted me as I would silently shed tears. It was my grandmother who gave me the nickname, little Moon. Perhaps that’s why the moon has watched over me all her life as if caring she was caring for her own.

As I grew older, nighttime became the time when I’m the most peaceful. At night, was when I got things done. At night, was when I liked to stay awake because at night, was when the Moon was with me. I didn’t keep a diary to write down my feelings because the Moon was always there to listen to me. Every day I would talk about my worries and she would listen.

So, one day I decided to ask Moon a question, for the first time:

“Moon, aren’t you lonely?” I asked. In New York, there are not many stars, so she seemed as lonely as me.

She was silent as the sky.

“Every day I see you up there by yourself,” I continued. “you make our nights a little less dark but isn’t it lonely up there by yourself?”

We sat silently as a soft breeze greeted me on the fifth floor. The tree right in front of our building shook its branches full of leaves along to the rhythm.

“When the night comes,” she finally spoke. “I come out to this side of the world and listen to everyone’s worries. Sometimes though the whole night. Then right before you wake up, I visit the other half of the world to do the same. How can I be lonely when I have so many people to look after?” It’s as if she was smiling down.

“I am not alone at all, and neither are you. When you are telling me about your day, know that there are millions of people doing the same. Thank you for sharing your life with me so that I don’t feel alone and have people whom I can call home.”