In a valley near an old dried up creek, there lived a little girl named Chandra. She was a funny little girl, you'd know the type if you saw her. A little too gangly and eccentric to fit quite in with the other kids. Most people just didn't know what to do with her.It started with her name. Chandra was a moon child, silky strands of black hair cascading down around a pale moon face. Set in that face were two bright eyes that burned a fiery green when Chandra was excited. She was somehow magical - she could listen to you so well, that you just knew that she could feel with you. Somehow, Chandra knew how to feel.
What is she up to? Why is she so bent out of shape over that? Listen to her laugh - she is a strange one indeed.
So Chandra would go out in to the woods near her house. There she could play by herself, and just feel herself in the world, in its simple beauty. The furry catapillar was her friend, crawling on her hand, and tickling her cheek with his little bristles. Beautiful sister rose was there as well, gracefully sheading petals for Chandra. Taking it to her lips, Chandra would share in the beauty of the softness of sister rose.
Chandra didn't act like the other kids. While they would stomp around, pulling things apart, and digging them up, she knew how to make love to nature. She would go around to each plant and be with it, listening to what it was saying to her, and accepting the gifts that they had for her. Then, she would say thank you, and tell each one just what was special about them.
At night, she would sit on the hill, and look up at the stars above her. Gazing up at the sky, she could feel the warmth and glow from the celestial blanket of planets and constellations. She would talk with her two friends above her.
Sister Moon was a moody sort, fading in and out. When she shone, she was as radiant and breathtaking as a million stars. But sometimes, she would disappear and not show her face for days. But Chenny could always talk to her. Moon was there for Chandra, and when Chandra was ready, she would go outside and listen to Sister Moon tell her about the world. Sister Moon would talk about their friends the trees, the hidden mushrooms, and the waves, which reflected the brilliant white light of Moon back at her. And she would talk about the Sun, and his power. His was an unyielding power for distruction and creation - granted in tremendous doses. Like Sister Moon, Chandra could only take a bit of the sun, before she too felt a bit ill and needed to hide her face away for a while. Sister Moon, on the other hand, slowly worked her magic. Cycles, evolution, growth and nuturing were her methods. Chandra learned about all of them.
Moon had a lot to teach Chandra. But she would also listen when Chandra had something she wanted to talk about. Even someone as wise and old as Sister Moon knew she had something to learn from this little girl. Hanging above her patiently, Sister Moon would listen to Chandra. Chandra would tell Sister Moon about her day, about the new friends she met. Chandra would tell her about the wonderful fruit she had eaten for lunch. She would talk about her Mom, and how much she loved her, and always wanted to protect her. And Moon was touched. Something in this girl rang so true - it was unlike anything Moon had heard in centuries. Just listening to Chandra talk about her life gave Moon a sense of peace, and of profound love that touched Moon's heart. There was so much love and wisdom in that voice, in those words, that Moon would stay up with Chandra all night sometimes, and the two of them would talk for hours.
Saturn was a different sort. Chandra knew she could talk to him too, but he didn't come close to Chandra, where she could see him, and feel his presence directly. Instead, he stayed far off in the sky, and moved slowly around in his wise wide arc. He had a lot of power, like Sister Moon, but his was different. Saturn bore his power with a heavier weight than either Sun or Moon. Chandra could talk to him, and ask him for things, but somehow she knew that there was a high price to be paid for engaging his power.
Between the forest, and the sky, little Chandra lived in a magical world - a world so wondrous, it could return all the love she had in her soul to give it.
One day, her mother called her in from that world. Looking both excited, and stern, her mother looked her straight in the eyes and told her "Now Chandra, you and Mommy are going to move to a new house. You will meet all sorts of new friends there, and you can have a new life with all new things to do. Mommy is going to make a big change for your sake. It will be an adventure for the both of us. Now go back outside and say goodbye to all of your friends, because we are going to move away."
Chandra feeling the weight of her Mom's sacrifice, said yes quickly, quietly, and went back. She sat down in her old friend field, and looked up at her favourite magnolia trees. Her green eyes welling up, she said softly, "but I don't want to move away. I like my friends here. I don't need anything more." Her blossoms hanging like tears, the magnolia filled the air under the tree with her scent. A warm wind caressed Chandra's face. She stroked the grass softly, as her tears fell between the blades. "I never want to leave this place."
Chandra reached out to the Moon, just peeking over the still day-lit horizon. "Moon," she said, "I don't want to leave you. We had such good talks! We have so much in common, so much to share."
Moon said, "I will always be there for you. I am your sister. Together, our bodies shall ebb and flow as one. My knowledge, my soul force, they shall someday be yours to command. I will grow old with you, and still talk to you as your young sister. You will spend your life learning my secrets, as I will share with you your neverending joys and sorrows."
Chandra felt this in her heart to be true. Next she turned to Saturn. "And you, Saturn, have been a good friend and teacher to me. How will we stay connected?"
Saturn, said, "I will always be with you Chandra. When you leave this place, you will carry me in your soul. But this is not a gift until you make it one. I will live in your chest, and rattle your skull, until you make peace with me. When you have learned my lesson, you will have my power. You will not be able to weave the full magic of Sister Moon until you have learned to handle mine."
Chandra said, "Why Saturn? Why are you being mean to me like this? I'm sad enough just to be leaving my home."
Saturn said, "You will be sadder than you are today. You have in you more sadness than you may ever know. For you, it is both my gift and my curse. Use it to learn of your strength!"
Chandra listened and then moved on to say goodbye to her other friends. Her heart was heavy, but she knew she could always find friends around her. There was too much love in her heart not to discover the beauty in her surroundings.
Moon and Saturn together knew that this special young woman would someday help people understand things. Sister Moon gazed down at Chandra, as she was bidding goodbye to the last few dandelions. "She's so soft, and sweet - I just want to hold her and protect her. I'm proud to say she is my child."
Saturn smiled, a rare thing, and said, "Yes, she has a lot of me in her as well."
"I hope you haven't given her too much of a burden to live through."
"You make her wonderful and loving, I will make her great and strong."
Moon wispered softly, under her breath, "She'll need a lot of love to help her through that." She knew, it wasn't everyone that Saturn chose to make great. Some of them didn't make it. "Just be sure you don't bury her beneath your weight."
"Chandra's going to make it. She has too much of you in her not to keep coming back."
"I hope you are right, wise Saturn."
"I hope you are strong, Sister Moon."
-J.Hall (10/6/94)
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