Lights In The Darkness

"I added the finishing touches to my crater pups. To my surprise, they started to move again although only a little. I guess they finally noticed the many twinkles in the sky as well. And so, they all moved once again to huddle up close to me as we watched the stars together."

"I remember that I wanted to catch them from the sky to take a closer look so I reached my tiny arms as hiiiigh as I can! I tried again, and again and again. Of course, it didn't work. I mean, what do you expect from a tiny banana pop who's barely 2 inches tall and couldn't even jump? Back then, I still remembered how I kept trying and trying to climb out of my birth crater and I thought that I will succeed too if I kept trying. So I did. I reached and reached to the tippy-top, all the while my crater pups were probably confused about what in the world I was doing, hee-hee. A few days went by, I kept trying while taking a few breaks of course. *Giggles* to be honest, I was kinda glad to be alone on the Moon at the time as that would be very embarrassing to watch. Of course, as a baby, I wouldn't care much but still…

"I finally tire myself out from doing all that arm-stretching. For now, I decided to just watch them from below. I laid my head down onto the moon dust facing up. I curled my tail end to make my body feel as snug as possible! Little did I know what excitement waits for me…"

"As I gazed upon the stars, I only just realized how big my world is. I actually got a bit dizzy because there was so much to take in. It was pretty overwhelming, especially to a young child who couldn't even count yet. I was drawn by them, hypnotized even…"

"Uh, Moona?" Sprinkles starts to ask.

I knew this was coming. "To be hypnotized means that you are so fascinated by something that in your mind, you seem to be a part of it. Like you can't think of anything else, it is that beautiful. I never had this feeling before. For something to attract me this much at a young age…"

"Because there were just so many stars, it was so hard for me to keep track of even one. One tiny sparkle in this giant masterpiece. So irrelevant yet so important. Unlike my crater friends, however, they wouldn't move an inch. Yet… they still have that sign of life in them. I looked up at what seemed to be an endless ceiling with no edges or corners. Just a humungous black blanket full of glitter. Each twinkle in the sky looks so similar yet so different at the same time. Each living their lives in the sky while doing their best to add sparkle to a black canvas. That's enough proof to me that they are alive. Looking back, I'm surprised that they don't get bored after a while. After all, it only took me a few days after I was born to start moving. It was then that I first wished that I could fly. To soar around them and admire them fully from close up so that maybe, like the craters, they will also want to play with me."

"Looks like your wish came true," Joe says with a smile.

"Well obviously I can fly now but I was far from getting started then. And even though rubbing my belly on the moondust is fun, I still wished that I could move more freely. Faster, further into the unknown. I still had this thought long after that moment. My first wish. My first dream…" I'm now looking up to the sky once again, almost exactly like I did at that moment. After a long pause, I turn to my friends again. "But I didn't even know how to make a wish yet back then. For now, this eager feeling is kept sparkling inside my tiny heart. I couldn't speak or even piece together sentences in my mind…"

I pause for a bit. "But when I look back, I realize that keeping that sense of mystery also adds to the exciting factor. I like to think the universe is teasing us as well. Like showing us something so spectacular while not letting us actually reach it, making us feel frustrated or annoyed. But like me, I'm sure he has good intentions. By teasing, you are letting them open up their many wonderful emotions. To be surprised or entertained or like I said, annoyed, hee-hee. But I really do love seeing the ones I love showing their true feelings. Even a pout is better than a blank expression. Emotions are the colors themselves used in our canvas. I guess some people, including me sometimes, are too shy to show their true beauty and that's where I help them get their extra nudge! I think the universe thinks the same. I think he just wants us to show our true potential in our lives. That's probably why I was born in a steep pit to climb out. If I was born in a flat area, I would never have pushed my arms to be as strong as they were to help me move and explore more freely! If the stars were put in a place I could easily reach, I would never have gained this much curiosity and wonder inside me. I would probably just throw them around like boomerangs!"

"Now I was never scared of the dark because obviously I was born in it but it was just really nice to know that no matter what, there will always be that twinkling friend who will try and shine a light on you. That one cute sparkle in front of you that will make you smile. But even with this, I still had a sad thought inside me."

"The Sun."

"Even though I had enough sparkles in my area, the Sun was still my very dear friend. My first friend. Nothing could replace the moment we played peek-a-boo with each other. I missed how he lighted up my drawings. I missed the bright warm smile on his face. Even though he will block some of the stars, I'm still willing to share my special moment with him."

"Hours passed and I started to miss him even more."

"And finally, my tiny smile started to disappear. I laid my body sideways and faced the ground in front of me. I looked at the dark horizon far ahead of me. Where he disappeared. Where he hid and never peeked back up. I looked and looked and looked."

"Finally, I made a decision. Probably the first important decision I made in my life. I will track him down. I will find him as he found me. And we will watch the stars together! Well… at least as many as I could see with him around but still…"

"I lifted myself off the moondust, now with a perfect imprint of my entire body."

"I looked back to the print. I then saw a crater on my left had an empty spot. Now put two and two together and guess what happened…"

"'One doodle before I go couldn't hurt!' I thought."

"Then I saw more craters."

"And I did more."

"And more."

"And more."

"Before I knew it, I distracted myself once again!"

"*Giggles* I was still a baby after all!"