Chapter 1
Being a hard, cold stone isn’t an easy thing. Being a hard, cold stone on a moon is even worse, I would say. I stayed in my place for a very long time. How many millions of years - I lost count already. I stayed in my place but I had the most beautiful view in the whole universe. I could see stars so near to my surface. I could see the sun, and it made me feel so warm and shiny, I almost fell in love with it, but why is it so distant? And there is Earth. A planet unlike every other I have ever seen. This one is different. This one is full of life. I’ve been observing it for years, and it’s perhaps less green and more blue, but still very beautiful. I wish I could be a stone there.
One day, maybe in 1999 (I’m not sure), a spaceship landed next to my home. I could feel how heavy and strong it was, yet it landed so softly that I almost thought it was just a dream. And then I saw her. As the doors of this traveling machine opened, I saw the most beautiful creature ever made. She came out of this vehicle so elegantly, her white suit accentuating the beautiful shape of her body. She looked around, and I could almost feel the warmth of her smile. She was the sun I was looking for for so many years. My sun. She tried to run, but it looked like she was dancing on the clouds. She was almost floating, flying like a butterfly over a field of poppies in August. She made the moon feel so alive, and for a moment, I almost felt like I was living on earth.
There were already other species like her here, but no one was like her. She came in my direction, and as she saw me, she lifted me and brought me close to her face. I could see the greenfulness of her big eyes through the glass of her helmet. She said, “You’re so beautiful. So different from the stones on earth. You’re special. I’m gonna take you home with me.” When I heard her last words, I felt like the lightest stone in the universe. I could fly as well. She held me tightly in her hands and took me on her spaceship. There were other people, but for me, only she existed. As she took off her helmet, I could see her more clearly. So soft and perfect. She put me on a shelf next to her bed and told me stories about the earth. She told me how she was the first woman to walk on the moon ever and how no one will ever know. It was a secret mission to search for moon water, a water that could heal her sick son. She told me everything about her. She told me about her favorite memory of her parents dancing in the rain as she was little, she told me about her first pet and her first kiss, she told me about the day her son was born and about the day her husband died. She told me everything and I listened to her so carefully. I could listen to her forever. She told me more stories, and then she fell asleep. I wanted to watch her until the last grain of my existence was by her side. I watched her breathe and smile and cry through her dreams, and I felt happy. I was in love.
The next day, she went on a walk with her companion, and she took me with her. I was her lucky charm, she said. And she was mine. She found the moon water she was looking for and the happiness made her jump so high no gravity was about to put her down. I was so excited for her too and as I jumped with her, I lost my balance and fell out of her pocket. I was falling so slowly, it felt like another million years. The time without being close to her felt so cold and lonely. I was scared she wouldn’t even notice. But of course, she did. She didn’t manage to catch me, but after I got to the ground, I saw her immediately reaching out for me. “Oh no no no, what are you doing?” I was screaming because her goddess-like fingers lifted the stone next to me. She lifted it to her angelic face and said, “Here you are, you are not staying here, you’re coming with me, remember?” and she closed her pocket precisely. The pain I felt lying on the ground while she was heading towards her spaceship was unbearable. I was crying and screaming for her to come back, but she didn’t hear me. I laid in this cold, unfamiliar place without a view of my favorite place that was her home. I hoped she would eventually come back to pick me up, but she never did. The excruciating pain I felt as I saw her taking the last look at the moon and getting back on her vehicle. That was the last time I saw her. She took that last look, so delightful, she was the view I wanted to enjoy forever. And then her unforgettable presence lifted off and flew away. At that moment I knew I would never meet anyone like her again. Since that day, I have not met anyone.
