The Moon Goddess
A young man and a girl sat close together on the park bench, bathed in moonlight. Some days they talked about everything. Some days they talked about nothing at all. The man gazed at her longingly. Her loveliness seemed to be accentuated by the moonlight as he caressed her smooth and white skin. It was a night among many nights and they never skipped a meeting, but he never saw her in daylight. Although the moon lit the night, it was a tiny sliver, with barely enough light for the couple to truly see each other.
"Tell me, again, why I can't see you during the day?"
"I told you," she said playfully, "I am the moon goddess. I cannot come out without the moon."
"Don't joke with me like that," he said gently. "I'm starting to wonder if you're real or not."
Truthfully, Celina could not see him because she was not allowed to see him. An overprotective mother was the biggest obstacle for Celina.
"Well, why won't you tell me your name? It's like I know everything about you except for your name. It makes me feel as if I don't really know you and it's kind of eerie."
She answered with a question. "Don't you enjoy the mysteriousness of our relationship?"
He forced himself to be satisfied with her vagueness and chose to enjoy their short time together instead.
"You said you liked singing, right?" Andrew asked. Celina nodded. "Will you sing me something?" Celina fulfilled his request happily. Her voice filled the cold night with warmth as Andrew listened to his night bird sing. "Beautiful," he said under his breath.
Later that night, Celina gave in to the temptation of seeing him in daylight. "I'll try to come see you tomorrow afternoon, okay? If I can, I'll meet you here."
The car parked across the street honked. "Oh! It's midnight already. I have to hurry home. I'll try to figure it out, okay? I'll see you again soon!" Celina ran clumsily across the street disappeared into the car.
The next morning, Celina greeted her mother at breakfast.
"Mom, can I go out tomorrow afternoon?"
"What for?"
"Just to see some friends."
She narrowed her eyelids. "The answer is no. I don't know if you're going to really see your friends or do something terrible."
"I'm not going to do anything terrible! You're being unreasonable. I don't have a life like this, mom..."
"Children grow up too fast," her mother complained. "Parents need to do more to raise their children right. Even if it's just one child, at least that child will be mine."
"Mother," Cinderella said with a sigh, "you're raising me just fine. I just need some freedom. I need to grow up a little sometime in my life. What's wrong with that?"
The mother clicked her tongue. "You see? You want to grow up already. Next thing you know, you'll be married with children."
Celina sighed and gave up trying to make her mother understand. She returned to her pink dungeon, her room. She grew up loving this room. It had everything she asked for. A canopy bed, glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, fluffy carpet, miniature ponies lining the walls, and even a hot pink computer. However, after she started growing out of the "pink obsession," her mother refused to believe it. To her, Celina would always be the pink-loving little girl.
There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Celina said dismally.
"Just thought I'd give you this," Nina said as she poked her head through the doorway. She handed a flyer to Celina. She winked at her and left, closing the door on her way out.
Celina took a closer look at the flyer. It was an advertisement for the auditions for the school musical. "Dillion High is proudly performing an original this year. 'The Moon Goddess.' Auditions will be open to all." She smiled and placed the flyer on her pink desk. She ran out into the hallway. "Nina?"
She was halfway down the stairs and stopped. "Yes?"
"Thanks," Celina whispered. "And I can't thank you enough for driving me all of these late nights..."
Nina came back up the stairs and held her sister in an embrace. "No problem, little sister. Anything for you. It's my fault for making mom such an overprotective freak."
Celina returned to her room and sat at her desk, staring tenderly at the flyer as she practiced her singing.
The next night, she met with Andrew again. She wrapped her arms around his back and whispered an apology into his chest. "I'm sorry I couldn't come this afternoon..."
Andrew took a step back. "Celina, I can't do this anymore. It's killing me. Are you just doing this to amuse yourself? Pretending to be this mysterious girl so you can get me to love you, and then leave me without even telling me your name? This is ridiculous."
Celina was horrified. "No, that's not it at all!" She took his hands in her own. "Please, I'm sorry. I'm not allowed to see you. Really, I'm not even allowed to be out this late. If my mother knew, she would put that chain lock she has been thinking about for the past month on my door. And as for being so mysterious...I guess I'm just the hopeless romantic." If it were not nighttime, anyone would have been able to see the red radiating from her blushing cheeks. "I try to make the best out of this situation by making this romantic and mysterious. It feels like a fairy tale of my own. You probably think I'm crazy, don't you?"
"No...but this whole situation has gotten a little crazy. I guess I really enjoyed our romantic and mysterious dates though. I don't want to continue like this, though."
"I know; I understand. I don't either. Can I just ask one more thing?"
"Well...okay."
"I'll let you see me. Dillion High School is having auditions for the musical. If you can recognize my singing when I am up on stage for the audition, you'll know it's me. If you don't recognize me, we can let go of each other and this mysterious relationship."
"That's not very fair," Andrew said skeptically.
"I think it's very fair." She kissed him on the lips. The car in the distance honked. "I have to go now!" She bolted for the car parked across the street. The car door slammed and the car quickly drove away.
It was the big day--open auditions for the school musical. There was a line of girls in the theatre, each girl hoping to win a spot in the musical. Celina scanned the seats for Andrew. There was a good number of people in the audience watching the girls auditioning, and she recognized Andrew. She took a seat at the very back of the theatre and listened to a few of the girls sing on stage for a while. The line of girls auditioning was growing longer by the minute, but her nerves were getting the best of her. It seemed like the stakes were more than just a position in the school musical. It was also for a place in Andrew's heart.
Celina heard a snobby laugh in the distance. Lydia. Despite her rude manners, she had the sweetest and clearest singing voice. A witch blessed with an angel's voice, Celina would always say to herself. Lydia walked, with her chin habitually up, towards the end of the auditioning line. Although Celina waited for ten minutes, no one else seemed to show up and she had no choice but to add herself to the end of the line...next to Lydia.
Lydia saw Celina out of the corner of her eyes, but made no effort to turn around. Instead, she said very loudly to the girl in front of her, "Well, it looks like they're saving the best for last!" Suddenly, she turned around and had a superficial look of surprise on her face. "Oh, Celina! You're trying out too?" She faced the front again and said to the girl, "Ha! Nevermind."
After a long wait, Lydia was up on the stage. She began her song and filled the theatre with her beautiful voice. Celina grew worried as she studied Andrew's face in the audience. He seemed to be enraptured by Lydia. The look in his eyes was unbearable. She had seen that look before, but this time it was not for her. Celina clutched her chest as a big lump formed in her throat. Would anyone notice if she snuck back out the door? She glanced quickly at the exit, but saw the smiling face of her sister. Courage, she told herself.
As Lydia made a grand exit off of the stage, Celina walked self-consciously onto the stage. She could feel herself shaking. She cleared her throat and signaled the pianist to begin. After the piano started playing, Celina felt herself swaying gently to the music. She kept her eyes closed and imagined the look she adored from Andrew. Her singing was perhaps even lovelier than Lydia's. It may have been the passion fueling her song.
When she opened her eyes, her image of Andrew was replaced with the real one. The loving look that she so adored was on his face. Their knowing eyes met. After receiving a few praises from the director, Celina walked off the stage and went straight to Andrew.
With the help of Nina, Celina was able to convince her mother to allow her more freedom. Of course, she used her freedom to see Andrew as much as she could. She was also delightfully surprised when she received a notice from the director that she would star in the musical. Celina's romantic heart was finally satisfied.