Earthrise

"Eventually, I did remember what I was set to do in the first place. Thank goodness for that… I drew another picture of the Sun without realizing it and that's what told me to get moving."

"I looked across the horizon where the Sun vanished. Now as I mentioned before, nighttime on the Moon makes everything look almost the exact same. Even if I remembered which direction the Sun hid in, I absolutely couldn't tell at all. Everything was just so hard to see! Even my drawings needs me to squint my eyes to see. I recalled perfectly that the Sun hid waaaaay behind me during my long trek. But I moved quite a lot while being carried away with my drawings- which were also hard for me to see. I couldn't even find the trail I made anymore! So I made a quick decision on which direction I would take and hoped for the best…"

"I slithered and slithered and slithered across the vast dark plains of the moon. My crater friends also followed me. In fact, more still craters came to life as I went near them and started following me as well although I didn't notice. What I did notice was that the stars also seemed to follow me wherever I went. I fixed my eyes upwards to the sky as I was crawling and none of them seem to move from me at all! In a way, the entire sky is like my giant baby blanket. A dark but strangely soothing sheet that will follow me everywhere!"

"A baby's blanket or anything else a baby loves to carry around is so special because it reminds them of their own cozy home. Even when a baby goes to a scary place like going to the dentist for the first time or passing a noisy street, they will always have that reminder of home. In my case, the night sky reminded me of the moment I was born, the moment I climbed the pit and saw the Sun rise for the very first time. How it welcomed me with all the warmth my bright friend had to offer." I look to the sky. "Even now, I sometimes look to the night sky when things get scary or sad. It's really comforting to know that no matter where you're going or no matter what you're doing, you're always under the same sky. That's one blanket you will never outgrow. It's because of my blanket that I was able to push forward for days to come. Well… Earth-days to be exact."

"I went past tall peaks and along steep cliffs into the ground that seem to lead to nothingness. I went through more vast open seas (while making more moon- angels) and above wide ridges. I couldn't even explore them properly because it was so dark. An hour passed, then two, then six, then a dozen. The more I went forward, the more I began to grow tired. Even though I used a lot of energy while playing, now the fact I'm almost always dragging myself forwards only adds more for me to bear… even though to be honest, I did take a few breaks to make a couple of doodles on the ground as usual but not nearly as much as I did when I first looked at the stars; I was that tired. It seemed like the more I went, the more determined I've become to find my friend and the less I've become distracted."

"Also during my breaks, I would lay down and look up at the stars as usual. Now if I wasn't just a naïve little one, I could find a way to use the stars as a kind of map as to which way I should go. But instead, this young mind had discovered another wonderful hidden surprise in the darkness. I was drawing at the moment while looking up and started to wonder about how far each little twinkling bead was from the other. Then, when I dragged my hand across the sand, I could just make out a straight line: a line just like how I imagined the distance between the stars. After a while, it came to a point where I started to imagine that each star represents all points where I stop to take a rest and the space between is how long I've crawled between stops in my journey… although realistically, I was going in a long zig-zag path, sometimes backward since I didn't have a compass with me. If it had just gotten a little brighter, I could've seen my trail easier! It probably looked like some sort of overgrown eel, hee-hee. But that's not what I imagined at the time. I soon learned that each drawing of mine is basically lines connected to each other. Simple things which come together to make a brilliant masterpiece! And I've come to learn that the distance between the stars is not much different from a simple straight line. And that's… when I first discovered a new way to draw... My hands had gotten so tired from all the dragging in the sand that at one point, I just couldn't draw anymore. So as I was taking my rest, I looked up to the sky and imagined that as my canvas. By connecting the dots in a certain way, I've thought up many wonderful pictures! My face, the craters, silhouettes of the hills I saw earlier, the Sun…"

"I didn't notice it right away but my entire body started to tremble. But it wasn't out of me being tired, no… From all this time, I've become so scared and worried that I might never find the Sun again. All of these sad feelings started to bottle up in my head. After more time had passed, that fear started to eat me up. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore. I looked to the dark freezing ground, hugged my tail-end, and started to cry. First a little, then more tears started to well up in my eyes. I was lost. My very dear friend was gone forever. I curled my body up and continued to weep loudly- like that exact moment I was born."

"I wish I had the courage to pick myself back up but I just couldn't. All this time in the darkness had slowly made me realize how truly important the Sun is to me. How it helped me discover my love of drawing. How it helped me show the hidden sparkles in this barren land. Even my baby blanket couldn't cheer me up but even then, it stayed with me as I cried and cried and cried. It never left me. Neither did any of my crater pups. All of my new friends stayed close to me, seeming to hold me tight."

"After a really long time, I sadly looked ahead of me again- nothing but darkness once again. I then looked to where I planted my face when I was crying- a perfect imprint of my face right there. Still shaking, I decided to try and distract myself by drawing again- my arms were fully rested now- but this time, I drew sad faces. The stars helped me as much as they could to try and shed light on my sad doodles. I also imagined sad faces in the sky. Two stars as the eyes and 3 more under it as a frown. I guess sometimes, distracting yourself can help you in a way. Art is about expressing your feelings. It's a way of letting your emotions cut loose. Whether happy or sad. Mad or glad. Emotions really are beautiful things if you show them right."

"The stars were very true friends of mine. So were the craters. As I imagined them in the sky, I looked to the ground around me and saw hundreds of craters surrounding me. They were with me this whole time. They had always been, even before I could even get used to controlling my body. Maybe I wasn't alone after all, I thought to myself. I've decided to stop my journey entirely and accepted what was in front of me. I looked around me one more time and slowly, my frown started to turn upside-down."

"But then suddenly, my mouth started to straighten as I suddenly noticed something really strange: in front of me along the horizon, there was an area where the star didn't seem to appear at all!"

"I could just make out a shape very similar to the Sun when it rose. But it didn't go up on its own. I went to take a closer look at what it is. To my surprise, the closer I went, the more it rose. It was bigger…MUCH bigger than the Sun. It was ginormous! Eventually, the giant black ball was sitting right in the middle of the sky in front of me. I remember being a bit scared since it also blocked out some of the stars that were behind it- which is how I knew its shape. I thought it was some sort of anti-Sun since I could barely see a glimpse of any sparkles on the ball."

"Or so I thought… I tried to draw that black ball the best I could- just me tracing out a circle- but it was hard to see since it was as black as the space surrounding it. But then, suddenly, a little spark appeared right on the top of the ball. It wasn't a star: it was too big for that. Then it got bigger… and bigger."

"It was the Sun!"

"Now you would probably expect me to feel overjoyed about seeing my old friend again but something just doesn't feel right… I started to become scared again- I thought that black ball was trying to swallow the Sun! I thought the Sun was running for its life away from that thing! I quickly slithered into the nearest crater and hid inside, afraid that it would swallow me too if it saw me."

"I waited for a few minutes. Nothing seemed to be happening but I still waited. Soon, I could see some of the light touching the far edges of the crater I was hiding in. And that light seems ever so familiar… Finally, I took the courage to get a little look at what was going on. I popped my head halfway above the crater's ridge so that only my eyes and pigtails can be seen."

"By then, the Sun had risen a bit more above the black ball. But what I didn't notice at first was that the ball itself seemed to change because of the Sun. On top of the ball where the Sun was, the area looked brighter but there was something else that was off about it. It didn't just become brighter… its entirety had completely changed somehow even though its shape stayed the same."

"It was so beautiful that, to be honest, it was just too overwhelming to watch. Even more so than the number of stars above me. I was actually shivering and I couldn't tell if it was from fear or excitement. It was probably a mixture of both. I… just wasn't ready to see this. It was so astounding that it felt like it shouldn't exist in my world. I was so nervous but I couldn't look away. I was happy too. So happy somehow… So happy that I couldn't take it in. Tears started to form in my eyes again but they were tears of pure joy."

"It was the first time I ever saw…"

"What is it?" Blue eagerly asks "What did you see?"

I pause for a long time before giving my answer.

"It was… blue…"