The moon didn’t go down last night, so this morning, when the sun peeked his golden curls over the horizon and saw the floating pearl still hanging in the sky, he shrunk beneath the edge of the world in deep confusion.
“Am I early?” the sun asked himself in hushed words so as not to wake the still-sleeping children.
The stars, still alit in the darkened sky, gathered and looked down at the moon, trying to discover why he stayed in the sky instead of going to bed at a reasonable hour.
He was smiling.
This was no façade, no fake-smile that you put on for photographs with your grandparents.
The moon’s smile seemed to wrap twice around the glowing orb and his lips curved up to reveal sparkling teeth like diamonds.
The sun, from his hiding place just around the corner of the world, could see the smile, but not what the moon was looking at.
The stars, with a better view, huddled close to the moon and tried to look exactly where he was.
There, on the small, green and blue planet was a man and a woman.
They lay on the hood of a red car, hands intertwined.
She lay on him just so his shoulder was a pillow to rest her head on.
She noted that it was much more comfortable than her parents’ couch.
He noted that she smelled like lavender and raspberry jam.
The stars noted that they fit together so well, like pieces to a puzzle.
The moon saw it all.
He was so caught up in the beauty, the utter simplicity that he’d merely forgotten what time it was.
Several stars, so pleased with the moon’s happiness, soared to the sun’s hiding place and whispered in his honey ear, “Let him stay up there just a little longer.”
The sun smiled and nodded its titan head, causing the sky in Beijing to go dark for a moment then blink back to bright.
After a while, the man and woman decided it was time to head home.
He drove her to her parents’ house, where she was staying for a week or two until she got her feet back under her, and kissed her at the door.
He drove home with a smile almost as big as the moon’s.
When he reached his bed and slowly fell into his pillow, the moon heaved a sigh and slowly sauntered to the other side of the world, the sun quickly taking his place.
When people woke up, they all felt so well rested, but wondered why their clocks were fast.