Kamari stared down at the earth, her almost colorless eyes scanning the beautiful blue and green marble she watched quietly each night. Sometimes her father, the Man in the Moon, allowed her to go there. She loved it when he did. She would ride down one of the shafts of light to land softly on the soft green grass. On occasion, she miscalculated her trajectory and landed in the expansive salty, ocean but she did not mind. She would simply shake herself off, squeezing the water out of her silvery hair. Her gossamer glittering gown of white never took long to dry either. Then she would walk among the people, invisible except to a few small children who would sometimes catch sight of her peeking inside their windows.
"Would you like to take a trip?" her father asked, breaking her out of her reverie as she studied the world she had come to adore.
"Oh, yes," she excitedly responded, hopping from her bed.
"Be careful, sweetheart," her father told her, beaming broadly at her.
Kamari thought she had the most handsome father. His hair was as white as the face of the moon itself and framed his strong facial features in soft waves. Her eyes were like his; such a light, silvery gray color there was almost no color at all. She hugged him briefly before running out of the house to catch the next moonbeam on it's way to earth. Holding on tightly with one hand to the column of pure white light, she waved good-bye to her father as she began her anticipated journey to earth. Luckily, tonight she landed in the middle of a forest. She giggled as her feet touched the damp earth and the wet leaves stuck to her bare feet. Looking around, she realized she had been here before. There was a small village close by so she ran toward it with reckless abandon.
Kamari strolled through the streets, content with her invisibility and being ignored by the villagers who passed by her or even through her. She observed everyone and everything with boundless curiosity. Humans were captivating creatures. Sometimes they were funny and entertaining. Other times they were creepy and scary. Thankfully in this village, the people were pleasant and seemed as enamored with her father as she was with them. Tonight was the night of their moon festival held in honor of him. Joyfully clapping her hands, she bounced up and down in her solitary glee as she entered the brightly decorated village.
Candles of all shapes and sizea burned in windows and in fancy candelabras. The street lights were being lit in a ceremonial manner. Decorations made of paper adorned the windows of house and storefronts. Some were cut outs of the moon during its different phases. Others were caricatures of her father, the Man in the Moon. Her nose wrinkled when she saw one painting that portrayed him as an ancient old man with a humped back and long crooked nose.
"Hmph, my father doesn't look like that at all," she grumbled to herself, glaring at the picture with a very critical eye.
"What does your father look like? Is your father really the Man in the Moon?" an excited young female voice inquired behind her.
Kamari spun around to look into the warm, deep brown eyes of a young girl with brown hair that extended below her shoulders. She returned the child's friendly smile not sure if she should run or not. How could the child see her?
"I'm surprised more people can't see you. We are celebrating the Moon Festival after all so they have to believe in the Man in the Moon right?" she inquired, receiving a stilted nod in reply. "If they believe in him, surely they could see his daughter."
Kamari backed away when the girl who she assumed to be around ten years old moved toward her with an outstretched hand.
"It's okay. I won't hurt you," the girl assured her.
"Hey, sis, who are you talking to?" a male voice called before owner of the voice appeared.
Kamari stared at the boy of about twelve with messy, spiky brown hair and the same golden brown eyes of his sister. She stood transfixed as he boldy walked right up to her and stood so close to her that his nose almost touched hers.
"Who are you?" he questioned her, his eyes roving over with the same curiosity with which she was studying him.
"Kamari. Who are you?"
"Jack."
"Jack," she repeated, holding the intense gaze of his glowing brown eyes.
"Your name means moon right?" he asked, smiling at her finally before backing away to give her some room to breathe.
"Yes, it does," she answered proudly.
"Well, Moon, you're very pretty," he complimented, causing both of them to blush darkly.
"Thank you, but my name is Kam - " she tried correct him before he cut her off.
"I know what your name is. I want to call you what you are," he said, running his fingers through her long silver hair.
"Hey, um, the festival is beginning," his sister mumbled, tugging on Jack's shirt sleeve. Holding out her hand to their new friend, she pleaded, "Come with us."
"All right," Kamari agreed, taking the girl's hand.
"You're my new best friend," the sweet child told her.
"She's our new best friend," her brother corrected her, taking her other hand.
Kamari smiled at him, gripping both of their hands tightly as they led her to the town square where the festival was just beginning. She continued to hold their hands as they manuevered through the crowd of people. Lively music began to play from the center of the commotion, drawing them like moths to a flame. They watched on the outskirts of the growing throng as people gathered in the cobblestone square that had obviously become the designated dance floor.
"It's amazing," Kamari breathed, dazzled by the lights and noise and nonstop action.
"It sure is," Jack commented, staring at the unusual girl beside him.
"Jack, dance with her," his sister whispered across Kamari who did not seem to hear her anyway.
"Sounds like a great idea to me. Let's go, Moon," he said, pulling her toward the cobblestones.
"Wait! I don't know how to dance," she protested, attempting to jerk her hand from his.
"It's easy!" he exclaimed off handedly, pulling her into his arms after stepping onto the dance floor.
Kamari was unable to move or even breathe as his lovely chestnut colored eyes met hers. She immediately became aware of his arm around her waist while his fingers wrapped around her other hand and pulled it up high.
"Just follow me. I'll show you," he murmured, leading her across the dance floor.
Kamari trembled in his arms, nervous about this thing called dancing. It seemed like a lot of fun, but she had never done it before. Tripping over her own feet, she stumbled into Jack who held her securely and righted her before covering her misstep by turning her around in a large circle while holding her in his arms.
"It's okay. Relax. I've got you," he assured her, spinning her around again as if to prove his point.
Kamari squealed with delight as the world went sweeping past her, the people and the lights blurring in her vision. She giggled when they stopped twirling to begin making the small, measured steps of a dance that the other people were doing. The chuckling died away when her eyes once again contacted his. Keeping her eyes on his made it easy to follow his steps. Relishing his brilliant smile that bathed her in an ambient glow that almost rivaled that of her home, the moon, she felt a stirring deep within her chest. An almost impercetable flutter, like a one of the first butterflies of spring, tickled her body deep within before it soared and almost made her feel lightheaded.
"Are you all right?" he queried, his eyebrows drawing together with concern when her eyes got extremely shiny and held a dreamy, sleepy look to them.
"Oh, I've never been better," she answered, enjoying this new sensation that heated her body from the inside out.
"Hmmm," Jack murmured quizzically as a soft pink hue tinted her perfect white cheeks. He seemed to notice for the first time she was beautiful in a way unlike the other pretty girls he had seen. She possessed an ethereal beauty with a dreamlike quality to her; almost like she was not even a real person. Shaking his head, a lopsided grin tilted his lips while he pondered the possible source of that bit of romantic nonsense which had sprung to his mind. Looking up at the full moon that glowed above them, he wondered if his little sister was right. Could she be the daughter of the Man in the Moon? But that's silly. The Man in the Moon was nothing more than a character from a children's story. Wasn't he?
"What's wrong?" Kamari asked when Jack began looking at her strangely. Growing self-conscious, she reached up to rub her nose to make sure a bug or something had not landed on it and he was just too polite to say so.
"N-nothing," he stuttered, dropping his arms. "The dance is over."
"Oh, so soon?" She pouted momentarily, unable to hide her disappointment.
"But there's so much more to do. Come on!" he shouted, leading her from the dance floor at an increasing speed. By the time they reached his sister, he was at a dead run and grabbed her by the hand as they moved past hurriedly. He led them to a pond, leaving them both on the snowy bank as he tentatively stepped out to test the surface.
"What are you doing?" Kamari asked, holding on to his sister's hand.
"I'm testing the ice," he responded, carefully making his way to the center of the pond. Taking a deep breath, he dared to jump up to test the true thickness and strength of the ice. He landed on the slippery surface, immediately loosing his footing. Momentarily he resembled a newborn calf, his arms and legs flying in all different directions, before he lost his balance completely and crashed down onto the cold, hard surface of the lake.
"JACK!" both females screeched in fear from his unexpected spill, moving closer to the edge but not stepping onto the ice.
"I'm okay!" he shouted, jumping to his feet but being more careful to maintain his balance on the slippery surface. "It's safe. Come out."
"Kamari, don't go," the brown haired girl holding her hand begged her.
"He's your brother. He wouldn't do anything to harm you," she said, surprised when the child withdrew with a worried expression on her face.
"Come on!" he urged them, gliding across the ice on his bare feet. "It's fun."
"It does look fun," Kamari thought out loud in a low voice. Pushing away with one foot, she shrieked with happiness as she slid across the frigid, slick surface with ease.
Jack whizzed past her, nearly knocking her down. Taking a wide berth and his time in making the circle back around to her, he moved in concentric circles until he slid to stop in front of her.
Kamari glared at him suspiciously for a moment, considering the hand he held out for her. She had taken that hand before and experienced the fabulous thing called dancing. What magnificent new thrill awaited her this time? Closing her eyes as she placed her hand in his, she bit her lower with anticipation of what awaited her. Soon she felt herself being pulled along the ice by him. Opening one eye and then the other, she looked around at the frozen, still landscape that flashed past them in the silvery moonlight that lit up the area. The white-blue beams of light made the snow and ice glitter as if stars had fallen from the sky and littered the trees and ground of the woods.
"It's so beautiful. I never knew winter could be so gorgeous," she stated with the unabashed wonderment of a very young child. No matter how many times she saw it, the earth and everything in it never lost it's uniqueness or ability to captivate her. It was always as if she was seeing it all for the very first time.
Suddenly, Kamari found herself being propelled across the ice with nothing but a big snowbank looming in front of her. She tried to stop herself but only managed to flail her arms helplessly which in turn threw her off balance. Yelping in pain as her behind made agaonizing contact with the ice, she covered her face with her hands before she impacted the snowbank and was buried in the cold, wet spray of ice crystals.
"Jack! That was mean!" his sister shrieked in horror from the bank of the pond.
Kamari stood up from the snowbank, livid from the unexpected prank. She shivered as the ice melted and ran down her skin in freezing rivulets causing the cold to penetrate her skin.
"I-I'm g-going h-home!" she stuttered indignantly, her teeth chattering audibly.
"Hey...hey, wait!" Jack yelled rushing toward her or attempting to as she reached up into nothingness and seemed to disappear in an instant. After seeming to run in mid-air and getting nowhere, he finally made another unscheduled meeting with ice causing more pain to his sore rump. Staring at the empty space where the girl had been standing moments before, he scratched his head in confusion. "What the -"
"Jack! You need to quit playing those mean tricks! It's going to get you into big trouble someday," his sister warned.
If only he had known what the future would hold, he would have paid closer attention to his sister's warning.