sun moon stars rain

“sun moon stars rain”

The whisper stayed with me through the night.

sun moon stars rain

I didn’t know what it meant, but it resonated within me. I knew it would be important. She never said anything that wasn’t.

sun moon stars rain

That night, I dreamt about the heavens. I was floating through the sky, with the stars dancing all around me, and the moon caressing my face. Rain was falling, I could feel it whispering on my skin. And the sun. It was so close I could touch it—but I was afraid. If you touch the sun, you burn up, I knew that. But it shone on me and begged me to reach out. I awoke before I made a decision.

Sunlight was streaming through my window, and I ran out to touch it—only to find that the sun was in its place in the sky, far away from where I stood, barefoot and in my nightgown.

My mother saw me.

“What are you doing?” she asked, appalled.

“I want to touch the sun!”

She cocked her head at this. “You can’t touch the sun. You’ll burn to a crisp.”

“I know,” I said, “But I want to.”

“Are you feeling all right?”

“No.”

She put her arm around me and led me back to my room.

“Just lay down, honey. It’ll be all right.”

“sun moon stars rain” I whispered.

“What was that?”

“sun moon stars rain”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.” I said softly. “I don’t know!” I cried. I buried my head in my pillow and wept.

sun moon stars rain

If she said it, it must be important. But I couldn’t touch the sun.

For a long while, my mother sat on the edge of my bed, stroking my hair. When at last I stopped crying, she slipped out of the room, believing I had fallen asleep.

“sun moon stars rain” I whispered into my pillow. I rolled onto my back. “But I can’t touch the sun.”

who said touch the sun?

It was her voice, but she wasn’t there. She had gone away and would be gone for ever so long. So how was she speaking to me? Or did I just imagine it?

The words repeated in my head.

who said touch the sun?

“I dreamed it.” I said. “I dreamed I needed to touch the sun.”

who said touch the sun?

No one said it.

sun moon stars rain

So it was something else. Something important.

“sun moon stars rain” I said aloud, speaking to the ceiling. Then I got out of bed and got dressed.

“sun moon stars rain” I told my reflection. It seemed that I smiled at me in the mirror. But maybe I just imagined that too.

I ran outside.

“Are you feeling better?” My mother asked. She was sitting at the table on the patio, looking out at the garden.

“Much!” I answered, though I wasn’t sure if I was telling the truth or not. Then I ran into the maze. Hedges stretched up on either side of me, taller than I was—taller even than my father. I sat down in the cool shade and stretched out in the grass.

“sun moon stars rain”

It was so close I could taste it, but I still didn’t know what it meant.

“Maybe it’s dawn,” I said to the roses, “When the sun’s rising, but you can still see the moon and the stars. If it were raining…. What do you think?”

“I think you should stop talking to yourself like a crazy person.”

“Marcus!” I looked up to see the gardener coming toward me. He was actually the gardener’s son, but he did so much work on the flowers, and he was so proud, that I called him ‘the gardener’ just the same.

“Talking to the flowers?” he grinned at me.

“You talk to them.”

“Yes, but I don’t ask them their opinions.”

“Maybe you should,” I said, leaning back on my hands, “They’re very insightful.”

“Are they?” He sat beside me, “And what problem are they helping you solve?”

“Ava said something to me before she left.”

“What was it?” he leaned in close, waiting for me to tell him a secret.

“I don’t know.” I frowned.

“You don’t know what she said?”

“I don’t know what it means.”

“Maybe you should tell me. I could help you figure it out.”

“I’m not sure if I should.”

“You told the flowers but you won’t tell me?”

I smiled. “Alright, I’ll tell you. But you must keep it a secret.”

“I will.”

“Cross your heart.”

He did.

“sun moon stars rain”

He frowned. “That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Sun, moon, stars, rain.” he said.

“sun moon stars rain” I whispered.

“It sounds different when you say it,” he commented.

“sun moon stars rain sun moon stars rain sun moon stars rain”

I said it over and over, like an incantation. I lay back in the warm grass and closed my eyes, whispering.

“sun moon stars rain”

When I opened my eyes, Marcus was tending to the bushes, pretending I wasn’t there. I was grateful for that. He always seemed to know what I needed.

“I still don’t understand,” I said.

“You will,” he said, still pruning around the roots, “Ava wouldn’t have told it to you if she didn’t think you would figure it out.”

“sun moon stars rain”

Marcus nodded. “I like it,” he said, “It sounds pretty.”

I thought so too. But it was beginning to drive me mad.

“But what does it mean, Marcus?”

He set down his tools and turned to me.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s a time—like dawn or dusk, with the moon and the stars and the sun all in the sky at the same time, while it’s raining.”

I nodded. “I thought that too.”

“But it sounds like it’s more than that.”

I nodded again. “It sounds like magic.”

“Well, maybe that’s it.”

“What’s it?”

“Magic.” His eyes sparkled.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve got to go into the woods. You’ll find it there.”

“The woods?” I repeated.

“Yup. That’s where the magic is.”

“I’m not allowed in there alone.”

“You won’t be alone. I’ll come with you.”

“We’ll get in trouble if we get caught.”

“Don’t you want to know what it means?”

“Ok. If you’ll come with me.”

He held out a hand to help me up, and he didn’t let go as we walked to the edge of my property, out the gate, and into the woods. I was glad. I knew I was going to need him.

sun moon stars rain

We stepped into the forest.

sun moon stars rain

We walked down the path.

sun moon stars rain

And found the most beautiful river I had ever seen.

sun moon stars rain

“Marcus, it’s here, I can feel it.”

“What is it?”

“sun moon stars rain”

There it was—all around me. Whispering in the breeze, trickling in the river, waving in the grass. I still didn’t understand it, but I could feel it. I sat down, pulling Marcus down with me.

“Can you hear it?”

He listened, but I could tell he couldn't.

sun moon stars rain

“It’s here.” I murmured, “It’s here.”

sun moon stars rain

♥/Kat!e

Today's Novel Idea Prompted by: "Choose your favorite poem and take the last line to use as the first line of your story." Courtesy of Creative Teen Writers. I chose anyone lived in a pretty how town.