Beneath a Shattered Sky
Sitting inside a gazebo at the middle of the lake were two people, a child and an elderly man. The air around them was serene, calm, and quiet, while they converse.
"Grandpa, can you tell me a story?" The child asked with pleading eyes.
"I have many stories to tell but let's see, maybe I'll recite to you a tale as old as time. When the sun's illuminating light disappeared and the moon's fair glow dimmed; a tale cursed by the gods themselves," the elderly man softly said to the young boy.
As the grandfather recounted his tale, the young boy listened well?
?Once upon a time, two celestial beings met. The Sun, radiant and fierce, caught the gaze of the Moon, calm and gentle. From the moment their eyes locked across the expanse of the sky, an unspoken bond formed. Slowly, they grew closer, their hearts beating in rhythm as they danced through the heavens. They exchanged stories of the eons they had lived, shared their joys and burdens, and confessed the loneliness of their eternal duties. In each other, they found solace, and for the first time, they felt complete.
But their time was short, a fleeting moment against the backdrop of eternity. As their meeting drew to a close, they made a vow - to defy the laws of the universe, and meet again, even if only in secret, away from the watchful eyes of the gods.
They would meet just like this, secretly, for their union was deemed accursed by the gods. This was, in a way, their own way of defiance against them.
Just like that, the sun and moon met each other under the nose of the gods, sharing joy and sorrows. But it wouldn't be long before they were discovered by the high heavens, and they were brought to the high gods' court.
They stood before countless divine beings, just the two of them, and they felt afraid; terrified that they would be separated once again.
And their worst fears came true. The verdict came from the heavenly gods; the radiant sun will be chained upon a single place to illuminate the world for eternity, and the gentle moon would be jailed in a cage until the end of time.
A punishment unfit for a crime of love.
The sun, whose golden hair looked disheveled, and sunk amber eyes, stared wistfully at his confinement walls, remembering his time with his beloved moon.
First, it was sadness, then it turned to anger.
"Why," he said, his hair shadowing his eyes, "Why is our love so treated unjustly by the gods!? You all have given me a responsibility I never wanted, yet you complain when I find the slightest bit of happiness!!??"
He tried to forcefully break his chain by pulling it with all his might but all it did was exhaust him, and that infuriated him to no end.
Finally, he sat back down after he calmed down. He turned his gaze upwards, witnessing the endless stars in the universe, and then, he vowed.
"Once this chain breaks, I will find my love, and anyone who dares to go against I, shall suffer my fiery wrath?"
The sun dimmed, and everyone thought he had gotten weaker but in truth, he was biding his time. He was waiting for something.
Laid upon a cage for anyone to witness was the pale lady of the night, displayed among the stars. Her heartbroken sighs could be heard throughout the world of mortals, and ever since she was put here, she never moved an inch.
"My love?"
{"In the silence of the night, I yearn for your light,
A love we cannot touch, yet burns so bright.
I trace your warmth in stars above,
But I am bound in shadow, far from your love."}
A poetry so beautiful, that if anyone ever heard it, their very soul would melt. However, she could only whisper it into the wind, in hopes that her beloved would hear it.
Years passed, and the universe spun in its endless cycle. The Sun burned in silence, his light still bright but devoid of the warmth that once danced between him and the Moon. Centuries blurred into millennia, and the mortals beneath marveled at the unwavering rise of day and night, unaware of the cosmic sorrow behind each dawn and dusk.
For the Moon, every night was colder, her glow more distant. She watched over the world, her soft light dimming with each passing age, her whispers echoing across the stars, unheard by her beloved. She longed for the embrace they never shared, counting the constellations as they shifted through epochs. Every twinkle in the night sky was a tear in her heart, marking the time they had lost.
Yet, never did they lose hope. Soon, the world witnesses the Sun and Moon merging into a twilight star. For a singular moment, time stood as chaos was born under the eclipse that overtook everything.
The seal on the celestial beings lessened due to their "merging", and the twilight lovers emerged from their prison, with their unwavering love for each other still burned brightly.
They flew as fast as they could towards each other, and before long, they appeared in front one another.
The Sun brightly smiled at the sight of his beloved and the Moon shyly hid her smile when she finally saw her radiant star.
There, they exchanged their greeting:
"At last, my love, your glow returns to me," the Sun said warmly.
Gently, the Moon replied, "I have waited for your warmth for a thousand years, longing for you to light my day once more."
"And you will wait no more, my beloved," the Sun replied with a soft smile on his face.
The Moon's smile glowed under the Sun, hiding away her redness as she spoke first;
"I've missed you?" She whispered longingly.
"I've missed you more," he responded lovingly.
"Will you stay with me forever?" She asked, hopeful yet uncertain.
"For all eternity," he replied confidently.
"We don't have eternity," she uttered sadly.
"Then we'll be together until the end?" He declared.
"So we can claim a piece of eternity," she continued.
"I love you, my Luna."
"I love you, my Sol."
It was as if time had stood still for a split second, and it seemed like everything was fixed for them. It seemed so peaceful but, as they reached out for each other, the moment the tip of their fingers touched, they felt the sensation of burning into nothingness.
And they stood, surprised but not for long.
All they could do was sadly smile at each other.
Another curse of the gods, so that they would never unite once more.
In spite of that, they didn't wait for countless centuries just to stop now.
"It seems like we don't have long."
"Then let's savor every moment."
And then, they formed a unity. A cradle for one another. They embraced each other to spite the gods, and to at least feel each other's warmth one last time.
As their bodies crumbled to dust, they never stopped thinking of one another.
And for one instant, they thought they were eternity?
-
When he finished his story, his grandson had already fallen asleep. Smiling softly, he looked up, and couldn't help but reminisce of the time when the sun hung up high in the sky. Now, only the broken sky remained, equipped with eternal darkness.
