The Man On The Moon

“The man on the moon doesn’t exist. It is a fairytale! Kids like you believe in it so that you don’t feel afraid of the dark.” “There is nothing to be afraid of in the dark. The man on the moon exists. No one on Earth has had the courage to go up there and save him. That’s all!” Little Grace protested and folded her arms. Her sister heaved a sigh and gave up. She admitted, “Alright! He exists! Now can you go to bed already? It’s way past your bedtime. If you don’t sleep now, you’ll fall asleep during class tomorrow. He will be upset to know you missed classes.”

"But I am not done talking to him. I still have so much to talk about.” Grace made a sorrowful face and pointed towards the moon. She believed that the man on the moon listened to her every night and was always by her side as her core support system. That was more than fifteen years ago, when she argued with her elder sister Helen if the man on the moon existed every night and went to bed late, just staring at the moon. She would stick a picture of the moon on the window beside her so that at the break of dawn, it would be the moon that shone first.

Now, she was standing on the moon. Clad in the Extravehicular Mobility unit, she saw the first ray of sunlight reach the Earth as a new day started for anyone on Earth. But for her, today was the day she lost Helen, her only surviving family. Her sister struggled from dawn to dusk and made Grace so capable that she achieved her dream to become an astronaut. Unfortunately, she did not survive to see her push her limits and pursue her dream. Silently sitting on her arm chair, with her favorite book in her hand and a hot chocolate on the table beside her, she drifted away into the ethereal world without even saying goodbye. 

A drop of tear rolled down Grace’s cheek as she remembered her sister’s words, “Grace, you are so much more than you think you are. You never give up and that’s the best thing about you. Keep trying and I know that even the universe will not stand a chance against your stubbornness to pursue your dreams.” Grace held a recent photo of her sister in her hand. She looked at her sister and back to the Earth. This is for you Helen. I hope that you know that you little monster has done it. She is literally feeling out of this world! Grace thought and let out a chuckle as she enjoyed the breath-taking view that mesmerized her like a deer caught in headlights.