A Girl In Paradise

There are no rainbows on the moon

Seven-year-old Emma came into the kitchen and tapped the leg of her mother who was washing dishes, “Mommy, can I go outside to watch the moon?”

Her mother turned off the water and picked up a towel to dry her hands, “Why do you want to do that?”

“Because tonight’s the full moon.”

Emma’s mother looked at the calendar on the kitchen wall and, sure enough, it was the night of the full moon, “Aren’t you afraid of the dark?”

“Mommy, it’s not fully dark outside when there’s a full moon. I can’t see it from my window because of a tree. I want to see it when it is low in the sky and it’s the biggest of the night.”

“When did you learn so much about the moon?”

“We’ve been learning about it in school.”

“Oh, okay. Sure, you can go look at the moon, in fact I’ll get your Daddy’s binoculars so you can see it even more close up.”

After grabbing the binoculars from a cabinet Emma’s mother led her outside, “We’ll keep the porch light on, okay? Don’t go too far out into the yard. Stay right here in the middle of the lawn so that we can see you from the house.” She showed Emma how to adjust the binoculars then she went back inside.

Emma’s mother resumed washing dishes and when she was done she looked out the window and saw that Emma was crying. She quickly dried her hands and rushed out to the yard to see what was wrong.

Emma was sitting in the grass, binoculars in her lap, and she was staring at the full moon, tears gushing down her face.

Emma’s mother sat down on the grass next to her, “Emma, honey, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

Turning her wet face to her mother, Emma spoke through her tears, “Mommy, I don’t want to ever live on the moon. In school we learned that there are no rainbows on the moon.” She then broke out in even more intense crying as she hugged her mother and buried her face in her.

Her mother held her tight and stroked her hair as she stared up at the moon. It made scientific sense that there would be no rainbows on the moon but never in her life had she ever even thought about the fact that there could be no rainbows on the moon. The very idea never occurred to her. But she thought about it now.

Finally, she lowered her head and spoke close to Emma’s ear, “Honey, you don’t have to worry about living on the moon. You can always live here on Earth where there are rainbows. And you know what? Since Earth has rainbows that’s a clear sign that we are living in a paradise. The moon was never meant for us to live on it. It’s up there to keep our paradise in balance and to provide some light at night and for us to… for us to gaze up at it in wonder and be reminded that we live in paradise. Looking up at the moon should make you happy not sad because it is part of our paradise and reminds us about that. Besides, it’s so beautiful. Where but paradise can you look up and see the moon in the sky?”

Emma pulled back and looked into her mother’s face, “Thanks, Mommy.” She then dug her face back into her mother’s chest and slowly stopped crying.

Emma’s mother kept staring at the moon.

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction.

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