The Man in the Moon
Kelly was your typical eight-year-old girl. She was energetic, happy, and had a wild imagination. Every night after her parents tucked her into bed, Kelly would crawl out of bed and go over to her window. She would stare up at the big bright moon every night. Her imagination would run wild about who lived on the moon, what the moon was made of, and where the moon went during the day.
One night, Kelly’s mom came in to check on her and saw her over by the window. She went over, joined her, and asked what she was doing. Kelly explained that she had heard at school that there was a man in the moon, so she was waiting to see him. Kelly’s mom giggled and smiled at her, and then looked up to the moon and started to point out the face of the man on moon. Kelly was thrilled. She really thought the moon had a face and was a person.
Kelly’s mom tucked her back into bed and Kelly dozed off to sleep. It felt like only minutes later that Kelly heard a voice calling her name. She sat up and saw the moon right outside her window. She saw every detail of his face too.
“Come here,” he said.
Without thinking, Kelly got out of bed and went over to the window.
“Hello, Kelly, I am the man in the moon. I have noticed you watching me for many nights. I am flattered, “ said the moon.
Kelly was so excited she could not even speak. She just stood there smiling ear to ear.
“Kelly, please come join me up in the sky. I will be the man in the moon and you can be a beautiful star right by my side,” said the moon.
“I can be a beautiful star?” Kelly exclaimed. “I have watched you for as long as I can remember, and I would love to be a big bright star up in the sky with you!”
The moon smiled at Kelly and explained to her that all she had to do was touch the moon and they would travel up into the sky together to live side-by-side forever. Kelly wasted no time. She opened the window, reached out, and touched the moon. Before she knew it she was flying through the air headed to the sky. As she was flying, she was slowly transforming into a star.
As soon as she was in place next to the moon as a star, Kelly heard another voice.
“Kelly, Kelly honey, it's time to wake up,” said the voice.
Just as quick as her dreams had come true of being with the man in the moon, she realized it was just that: a dream. Kelly’s mom was standing over her, waking her up for school. Even though she was disappointed it was only a dream, she felt a new connection to the moon. Every night she continues to look out her window before going to bed to tell the man in the moon good, hoping that she will see him again in her dreams.
Author’s Note:
This story is based on the story
The Maiden Who Loved a Star. The original story is about a girl who falls in love with a sky dweller, which turns out to be a star. The girl wants to die so she can go up to the sky and be near the star she loves. However, when she goes to seek help to accomplish this, instead she is turned into a bush. The story goes on to tell how the branches reach high up into the sky near the star. The star then fell upon the bush and created what we know as Purple Sage. Purple Sage has purple flowers that look almost dusted with white. The white is representative of the star.
After reading through the story a few times, the sky dweller reminded me more and more of a man in the moon. As a child, I thought the moon had a “face” and that the face belonged to a person of some sort, hence “the man in the moon.” I wanted to elaborate on that in this story and myth I had believed as a child.
The original story simply sparked a reminder of my childhood imagination. That is really the only connection the two stories had to begin with. This published story is much different from the first draft I wrote up. My first draft did not really connect like I wanted it to, so I just kept rewriting. As I kept writing and kept tweaking things, I decided to follow along with the original story line a little more and have the main character “love” the moon, much like the Indian girl loved the star. I also wanted to keep a more modern feel to the story. I know that I connect better with modern stories so I wanted my readers to do the same.
Bibliography
The Maiden Who Loved a Star
Tejas Legends Unit
When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends
Florence Stratton and Berniece Burrough, 1936
