The Moon Song

Birds chirping, waves roaring, the heart-stopping clash of thunder ... sounds of nature. And then there are a few sounds that exist no more. Like the sound of a pink petunia singing or a blue rock whistling or brown birds snoring ... and then of course, the moon singing. Oh but it did sing!

A very long time ago, when the birds till hadn’t learnt to fly and the flowers still hadn’t learnt to bloom ... the moon used to sing. Every starlit night it would come out in the sky very shyly and then would start singing. It was so melodious that the creatures of the earth would be lulled to sleep. The trees would stop swaying. And the bats? They were wise. They used to sleep during daytime so that they wouldn’t miss the moon singing. And the ocean? Oh it fell in love with the moon and its song! Now that worried the Troxon star no end. Why? Because the Troxon star, a father figure to the moon, knew that the day, or rather night, the moon realised it was beautiful it might become vain and would not be able to sing so beautifully. Its beauty lay in the ignorance of the existence of its beauty.

One night, when the moon didn’t come out in the sky, Troxon shared its concern with the ocean.

“Oh mighty ocean! Do you not see if you tell the moon that you love it because it is beautiful, it might stop singing so sweetly.”

The chivalrous ocean answered “Oh bright Troxon! You fear not! My love for the moon shall remain undeclared and unrequited. Be at peace.”

“But oh powerful ocean! The moon will see itself in your stillness. It must not do so. For it won’t love you but rather fall in love with itself. Heavens forbid, should that happen, it won’t be able to sing anymore!”

“Oh twinkling Troxon! You have my word that whenever the moon shall sing I shall not sit still. I shall dance wildly. The moon will never be able to see itself in me. Be at peace.”

Appeased, the Troxon star stood guard in the sky nevertheless and the next night the moon came out, shy as ever. It started singing. Creatures started sleeping. Trees stopped swaying. Bats started listening. And the ocean? It started dancing. Jumping and thrashing its waves. And so it went on ... till one fateless night.

The moon sang with a soulful sweetness hitherto unheard of. The squirrels swear that even the trees cried that night. A melancholic song. And the ocean was tranced by it. So lost was it in the song that it forgot to dance and thrash it waves. It stood still. Alas! The moon saw its own reflection in the stillness of the ocean. It stopped singing. It couldn’t believe it was so perfectly round and radiant and resplendent. The Troxon star reminded the moon to continue its song but to no avail. Too late, the ocean realised its mistake and started dancing again but the moon lost its voice with what it saw of itself.

The creatures cried. The trees talked. The bats bawled. But the moon couldn’t be persuaded to sing. And to date never has and probably never will.

And the ocean! It cried a million tears. Hence the salty ocean. Oh to hear the sweet song of the moon once again!