Momo meets the moon
Moonlight flooded the mud painted room, when Momo woke to a silvery sound, whispering through the heavy sleeping breath. His father was away in the village, and his mothers were lying together, surrounded by his brothers and sisters with his baby sister Mimi snuggled gently between them.
Momo felt brave as he crept from the house and into the full moonlight. Wandering through the shining crop of corn, he remembered how they had all sung and laughed during the planting, his younger siblings watching him and his brothers from the old mango tree. He felt that the night echoed the daytime laughter and chatter of his family that merged into the life of the growing crops, the sounds of the jungle, trees and small plants under the moonlight. Momo walked on, feeling pulled towards a shimmering light through the fields ahead.
From the middle of the lake the waterlilly saw Momo approch the waters edge. She was now a full bud, that had pushed her way from the bottom of the lake through the surface of the water. During the week, she had been watching the night sky, waiting for the moon to rise each night. As it rose, the moon watched the lilly and hoped it might bloom. But the moon had been quarter, half and three quarters of light, trying each night to become full for the lake flower. For the lilly only bloomed under full moonlight.
Momo sat and watched in awe. The water's surface glisten like a thousands stars upon it’s dark depths as finally the moon rose full.
The lilly bud looked up and smiled, she was so happy that Momo was there to watch her bloom under the full moon light. Her strong stem stretched further out of the water, reaching towards the moon. She was only a small bud, but her longing seemed to pull all of the smiling moons light towards her.
Momo followed those moonbeams up to its face and saw how the moon loved that flower, and it's light tickled the bud, teasing it to bloom and open.
With a sigh, the lake shivered, causing a gentle breeze to touch his bare arms and Momo’s skin lightly quivered.
In that moment, Momo took in a sharp breath as the lily petals began to peel open, one by one. His mind was transfixed by the beauty of it’s lavish reflection.
Clouds moved across the moon's face, and it played hide and seek from the flower, with sudden bursts of light onto the bloom. The flower laughed and sang to the moon to stay, and grace her with it's light.
Momo heard the flowers sweet voice echo across the lake, like a twinkling sound of small bells.
"Your fullness is bright, my moon. Do you shine just for me? I am only a small small flower, but tonight I bloom for you.”
Momo's heart began to open like the flower. The lake and its reflection began to swim, as Momo's eyes filled with tears of happiness. He wondered, was it the moon's love that caused the flower to fully bloom, or was it the flowers song of longing that had caused the moon to finally become full?
Eventually the night grew cold, the moon slipped away from the flower behind a sea of clouds. As the first raindrops began to sprinkle the still waters reflection broke, and the flowers reflection dissapeared. Momo stretched his body, thanked the flower for teaching him about love, thanked the moon and the night sky for touching his heart, and walked back home, through the rustling corn fields.
Amoungst his family, Momo lay back down to sleep. He saw how his brothers and sisters were closely wound together under blankets of sleep, and thought of the lake lilly, still singing and sighing to her moon wrapped behind the playful clouds.