The Moon's Flower

We all know the story of the Sun and the Moon...how the Sun loved the Moon so very much he died each and every night just to let her breathe. However, there is another story, an unfamiliar but all the more tantalizing one: the tale of the Moon’s flower.

‘How is it possible for the Moon to grow such a beautiful living creature?’ you may ask. Well, have you ever wondered why the Fall brings shorter days? It’s because the Sun stays awake all Spring soaking up energy and strength. Then, after the Summer solstice, his longest day of basking, he uses up his new-found vigor to awaken his glimmering mistress earlier and earlier each evening.

As the Sun begs the Moon to reveal herself, he cuts the days shorter, merely to catch a glimpse of his love before he must fade away until morning.

Like clockwork, when he bows to his grace and says his salutations, the Sun whispers: “I only see you in your ascent, yet you still manage to glisten and shine so bright. I’d remain wholeheartedly content to never witness your full glory of the night.”

“But, my love, you are my brightest star,” responds the Moon. “Just stay with me. Please don’t go too far.”

So the Sun tries harder, and the days get shorter. Yet, even when the Sun earns a full turn of the clock with the Moon, he still holds one desire - to enfold his love tightly in his arms.

“I’m jealous of my rays for they get to embrace your beautiful face, yet I must remain hidden behind the Earth’s curves as if in disgrace,” cries out the Sun.

But the days go on, and the Sun musters enough power to inch ever so close to the Moon. As the Sun approaches, the Moon finally feels the loving warmth of his rays.

However, the Sun, unbeknownst to him, moves the tiniest hair too close, melting the Moon’s heart. Scared and horrified by what he did, the Sun halts his efforts, and this day becomes the shortest of all the days - the Winter solstice.

Nevertheless, what’s started is started, and the Moon’s heart melts. As her core softens, an icecap drips on her rocky surface, eventually watering her soil just enough for a flower to grow...A flower so radiant it captures the likeness of all the stars in the universe on each of its petals...But also a flower so delicate, the slightest change in the breeze might blow it all away, for delicacy often brings with it the most perfect beauty.

“It’s like a color you see in a dream, but never in reality,” the Sun tells the Moon awing at what their love has produced. “It’s almost like an escape from this inevitable morality.”

“Oh my sweet star, that’s because I only exist in dreams. That’s why you must hold your eyes shut to fully see me gleam,” the Moon explains. “Don’t you see all those little ones on Earth asleep? I was only ever a dream. Please...please don’t weep.”

The Sun, confused, distraught, and unnerved, does not comprehend the Moon’s words. He ignores the risks and tries to get closer once more, just close enough to touch her and see if she is real. He knows she is real. She must be real.

But in his efforts, he again gets too close...too close he burns the Moon’s flower, the only symbol of their love. The flower crumbles instantly into a fine charcoal dust and flies away into the night sky, the particles blending in with the speckles of distant stars.

Don’t worry, though. Don’t lose hope. The Sun never stays down forever. Perhaps time heals his wounds or at least dulls his pain, or maybe time itself is the disease, the delusion-stirring disease that often attaches to heartache and accompanies the lonely. Either way, the Sun lets his days grow long again, but each Fall, he tries once more. Tries to get a little more time...a little bit closer...just to prove that the Moon is not a dream, but his very reality.