The Moon In The Sea

How beautiful the moon looks up there! Radiant! Beaming! Charming! The stars around it giggle and shine. Why do they giggle? Well, wouldn't you giggle too if you knew of a secret that only a chosen few knew and you saw the people believing in the lies shown and told to them. What is that secret, you ask?

It so happens that a few years back I went to the Tumpledore Beach. It was quiet and serene. So serene that I could hear two mottlehogs talk to each other. I pretended to be asleep and then I overheard them. And when I did, I was so stunned that I really looked more dead than asleep. You see, the moon isn't up there in the sky! No sir, no ma'am! Not in the sky, it is in the sea! And what you see up there in the sky is a reflection of the moon in the sea. I'm sure you are just as stunned as I was that you look more dead than asleep, just like I did. I would have kept the pretence on but my curiosity got the better of me. I quickly grabbed both the mottlehogs. They got caught unawares, literally so as well.

“This can't be true! The moon can't be in the sea!” said I.

“This is true.” said the mottlehogs.

“Well, why does it wax and wane then?” said I.

“It's not waxing and waning at all!” said the mottlehogs.

“Please explain that.” said I, almost pleadingly.

“We can't. We are not supposed to.” said the mottlehogs.

“Why not?” said I, angrily.

“We will be punished if we tell you.” said the mottlehogs.

“I will punish you by squeezing and squishing and crushing you if you don't tell me.” said I, threateningly.

The mottlehogs sighed and said “The moon never got a chance to go up there in the sky. It was always in the sea. But humans always tried to remove it from the sea. So the fishes said that they will bite the pieces of the moon and hide them away, which they did but which you won't believe and which the humans didn't either. So they dived in the sea to check but we could not have that sort of an intrusion. Born a terrestrial, be a terrestrial. We didn't know how to stop them. So Zemphu came up with an excellent idea. He proposed flying up to the sky.”

“For what, to whom and why?” said I inquiringly.

“Don't interrupt us, woman human! The sky has always looked down at earth with love. So Zemphu flied to it for advice. The wise sky gave us a brilliant idea. It said it will reflect the moon during the night so humans think that the moon got fed up of them and went to live up in the sky. And you know what? It worked. The fishes started putting the pieces of moon back together exactly the way they had pieced it off. Yet, every now and then a stray human goes in the sea to check if the moon is there. So every month the fishes piece off the moon and piece it back together. And so the humans think that the moon waxes and wanes.” said the mottlehogs, giggling away.

“This can't be true! How come no one knows about this? No, this can't be true!” said I, unbelievingly.

“Well, whoever lets this secret out disappears.” said the mottlehogs.

“Disappears?” said I, wonderingly.

“Yes. Like this!” said the mottlehogs and poof! They disappeared! There was nothing in my hands. I looked around. They certainly had disappeared! Just because they told me the secret about the moon in the sea. Well, aren't you all glad I told you all this secret too? Oh!

The Sacrifice

Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Purple ... And many more lovely colours and hues all around us on earth. In stark comparison the monochrome night sky lays bare before us. The blackness of the sky and the whiteness of the moon and the twinkly stars. And it is to the moon that we owe our colours. Why? Well, this is of a time when humans and animals were just dropped on earth. But come let me tell you anyway.

A great many znimps ago, the moon was all colourful. Resplendent reds. Brilliant blues. Prismatic purples. Outstanding oranges. Groovy greens ... And ... What is a znimp? It is a million and one eleven times of the human year, of course. The earth was all black and white. White ground. White sands. Black animals. Black plants. Black birds ... yes, all. Black insects and grayish shade of seas. A monochrome earth. And then the humans were dropped from heaven knows where. Probably the heavens above but who cares. The humans were all black. As black as the shadows. You wouldn’t really know if the shadows followed the humans and animals or the human and the animals followed the shadows.

Every night, the moon would come out in the night and the multi-hued ball would be the centre of attention. The humans and animals looked at in awe. They kept staring at the moon for it was the only colourful object that they had seen. And it is this that led to other problems. Having stayed awake all night to watch the moon, the human and animals were far too sleepy and lethargic during daytime. The plants were untended. The grain wasn’t sown. The sun would shine, all in vain.

Seeing the disarray and mess of the intended greater plan of nature, one day the celestial bodies met to discuss the situation and to make changes. The moon sat beside the earth quietly. A beautiful child of the earth.

“This must stop”, said the Sun.

“Yes, let’s all quickly decide very quickly!” said Mercury, probably as it was feeling too hot because of its proximity to the Sun.

While other planets just rolled their heads thinking, Jupiter spoke up “The moon is undeniably beautiful. You can’t blame the humans and animals of earth to keep looking at the moon.”

The moon blushed a deep crimson red. Saturn started fixing his rings and said “Beauty and aesthetics will not fill the stomachs of the humans nor sustain them. We all decided that earth should have the land and seas but if it is not going to be utilised, isn’t it just a great waste of what we all gave up? Our sacrifices?”

“What is sacrifice?” asked the moon.

Everyone looked at the cute colour ball. “Sacrifice is when you give up something you have to others who need it more than you. You do it out of the goodness of your heart without expecting anything in return, my child”, explained Venus beautifully.

And then the clever, wise, kind, affectionate, thoughtful and of course cute moon happily jumped and said “Well, the solution is really easy then. I don’t need the colours. Let earth have them.”

The earth and other celestial bodies were shocked. While the idea was practical and purposeful, to rob the moon of its colours was unthinkable! The earth stood up and said “No moon. You will do no such thing. I bar you. I forbid you. I ...” But before the earth could finish, the moon beamed and declared “Say no more! I hereby denounce the colours upon me!” and saying so, it flung the colours on the earth. The lands got mostly green and brown. The seas caught blue. And the rest of the colours were spread everywhere in varying proportions and shades.

The celestial bodies gave the moon a standing ovation and the Sun said, “You have indeed done a noble act, little child. I promise to reflect upon you my brightness and radiance as a result of your sacrifice. May you always be blessed!”

The moon smiled and a tearful earth hugged it. The meeting being fruitful, everyone left and took their positions back. Humans and animals now started working on earth. And by night they were too tired to look at the night which was just white anyway. The whole plan, as it were, was now finally in action.

The celestial beings thought that the story of the moon’s sacrifice was a well-kept secret. Little did they know that someone was watching the meeting that had taken place and had since then always looked up adoringly towards the moon. I wonder whoooooooooooo.