I’m starting a thing where every Friday I will do my best to write a short story based on a suggestion on my Facebook author page. Of course, I didn’t think about doing this until late Thursday night. But, as luck would have it as my wife and I were walking home with our son, he looked up at the full moon and said we should make a moon. So, he won the contest this week. Here is the story:
He laid out the blueprint in front of the three of them. The paper was a little wrinkled and there was the occasional crayon smudge, but it was clear enough how they were to proceed. It was going to be a full day of work. After all, there were only three of them and moons are very big.
The hardest part is finding enough material to make the moon. Daddy thought he saw some left over cloud fluff nearby. If not, with a little help, he was sure he could dream some up. Mommy knew where she could find plenty of clean gauze, the perfect material for cleaning scrapes, wiping noses, and constructing heavenly bodies. And Leo was an expert at running around and finding little bits of paper and downy feathers. The three of them together were sure to make a moon.
Soon, Mommy had the first layer of gauze laid out. Daddy huffed and puffed as he piled up the clunky cloud fluff. And Leo filled the gaps by sprinkling in the feathers and paper.
Daddy wiggled his jaw as he looked at the the hillock of fluff and feathers. It didn’t really look much like a moon to him. Not yet at least. But they had just begun, and the little boy’s plans worked on paper. And they had Mommy to work her magic.
She went around the fluff, pulling out little bits here and shifting a clump there. She gave her husband quick kiss for the hard work of bringing all the fluff, but it did need an artists touch. She praised her little boy for finding all the feathers, as she smoothed their positions. And he had done an excellent job, but he was still only two and, whether he wanted it or not, still needed a little help now and then.
When she she was happy how the hug pile of cloud was arranged, she nodded her head and smiled. Her son gave a little dance, overcome with that special joy that two-year-olds feel when they see something special. Daddy rolled up his sleeves. It was time to fold the gauze over the top.
He grabbed hold of one end and gave it a gentle flick to test the weight. He looked around to make sure his little one was standing safely far away. And with that he gave a nightly heave. The length of gauze soared into the air, sailing high, high, high up. Then, slowly, it began to float and flutter and loop over the top of the soon to be moon. Now, they would need to join the ends of the gauze and pull them snug.
Daddy started at one end, using tape. Mommy started at the other, using pins. Leo ran between the two, laughing and giving hugs.
It was getting late when the finished and all three were thirsty. Daddy drank from his big blue bottle and Mommy from her small pink one. Leo drank from a sippy cup with a picture of a horse on it. When they were all finished, it was time to move on to the final step.
There are many ways to raise a moon into the sky. If it had been earlier in the day, they would have attached a pice of string and let Leo run along, lifting the moon up into the air like a kite. If they had a place to keep it, they could have waited a month and watch it slowly fade away only to reappear in the night sky above them.
But today, since it was twilight, they decided the best choice was to push the new moon out into water. The began to sing as it slowly floated away. As their song continued the current changed and the moon slowly began to drift upwards. It was a long and slow melody, and by the time it finished the moon was shining far above them.
Mommy and Daddy smiled at each other and looked down at their son, who had fallen asleep during their song. Both thought about the beautiful thing they made as their smiles grew.
Gently, they picked up the sleeping boy and made their way back home.
He’d see the moon tomorrow. And all the days after that.
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Deadly Troubadour 