The Moon's story (part 3-Final)

His voice was like a lot of silk threads bound into a knot. She sat up and listened. 'Chaandi! Listen to me. I know you cannot see me or understand me, but do not be afraid. I come in peace.' She looked but could not see. She then shut her eyes so she could hear with all her being. 'I am the voice of the night. You did not think the night was alive. But I am. I am the night and I see you. I have watched you each evening as you sat by the river Jeevan. Even as the menfolk gathered to watch you, I gathered in the sky. Since I first saw you, I have wanted you for myself, but I waited. For you were too busy to hear me. Now that you have the time, I cme to you. Will you be mine Chaandi?'

A chill ran down her spine and her skin quivered like a horse's sometimes does. She waited and then spoke, 'But I do not know you.'

;But who do you know Chaandi? Did you know any of those men? Or even your sister? Or your mother who pains you so much? You know no one but I know you. Come away with me.'

Chaandi held back a sob that formed a hard lump in her throat. 'I have been living among strangers. Take me away from here. Anywhere but here...'

The Night replied, 'You will be much happier with me.' And so she left with the Night, flying out of her window on a gentle breeze that lifted her delicate frame up towards the skies. The Night took her as far from her home as he could, for he did not want her mother to reach her. The Night was afraid of her mother.

He said to Chaandi, 'You shall be called Chanda, for your own name will remind you of your mother and consequently of all the pain she put you through.' She smiled at him, the first smile in a long time. To her it seemed like she had never smiled before.

She became a round sphere in his wide arms, her silver against his black. The people looked up and saw. They marvelled at the wonderous sight. It was truely breath- taking. The Night was proud of her, his Moon, but he did not want the others to covette her. So he said to her, 'Take a little of my coloour onto your face, so when they look at you they will know that you are mine.' The Moon willingly oblighed. With time the love between them grew. The Night kept his embrace around her and she in turn kept losing herself in him. That is why you only see a part of the Moon on most nights. The rest of her is the Night, for she became one with him. Yet on some nights, you will find her full and shining brighter than usual. These are the nights when she remembers her mother. That is when her old self returns and she wants to seek again the attention and praise of others. They are glorious, aren't they, those full moon nights. But like all else in this world, they pass and the Moon happily loses herself to her Night again."

With this Amuma ended her story. Now I am an educated one, unlike Amuma and I know of the Solar System. I know the moon is a satelite and the night a natural phenomenon. Amuma knows nothig! Yet, last night when I was gazing into the night from my bedroom window, I swear I almost heard him speak.
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