La Luna - A Grand Night Out

Submitted into Contest #245 in response to: Set your story during a total eclipse — either natural, or man-made.... view prompt

23 comments

Funny Fiction Inspirational

My name is Lynley, and I am eleven. I am interested in all things biological and scientific.


My mother calls me her difficult child. The one who quickly gets distracted or left behind, examining ants on a trail, a spider forming a web, or some other exciting phenomenon. The world around us contains an abundance of interesting plants, insects, and creatures. I like checking them out.


I am sitting in a tree, watching a tiny caterpillar measure the leaf he travels over. “Inch worm, inch worm . . .” Stretching out his front legs, creeping his sticky back prolegs forward, his body like a horseshoe, then stretching his front legs out again. At the far edge of the leaf, he starts munching. I am mindful that caterpillars can grow to 100 times their hatch size. Fascinating. A fresh, leafy scent fills the air, the breeze whispers through the branches, and dappled shade enshrouds me. A perfect hiding place to escape from younger siblings, to remember for the next time we play hide-and-seek or be concealed from a murderous enemy. 


On another day, I conducted a serious scientific experiment. Our front door is high above the ground of our side-of-a-hill house. All the way to the top and around a small concrete platform, green-painted metal rungs prevent visitors from falling. We children were banned from going up these steps or using that door in case we fell through the rungs. One day, I carried our cat, Louie, up the steps to check something. If cats are dropped upside down from a height, do they land on their paws? I had been told they do. I held the feline over the surround and nearly dropped her in fright when my mother rapped hard on the window overlooking the steps. Her face was drawn in a scowl, and her mouth was open. Definitely furious. The door wrenched open.

“How dare you do that to the cat.”

“It’s an experiment to see if she will land on her feet.”

“It’s animal cruelty, is what it is. How dare you sneak up here. Get down this instant. Don’t you ever do anything like this again. I can’t understand you. You won’t kill the caterpillars that eat our cabbages. Yet, you’ll torture the cat.”

This story about what I attempted to do to our moggy is often repeated as an example of how bizarre I am. At the time, it seemed a harmless enough prank—I mean experiment—if the theory is correct.


The week of the Lunar Eclipse, I drove my family crazy. My fascination with the Moon had gone beyond Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Day Out when they flew a homemade rocket to the Moon and discovered it was made of cheese. The actual Moon landing (July 21, 1969) proved that false. Shame, really. I’d like to fly to the Moon for a hunk of cheese. But not if it’s Gorgonzola. Yuck!


A total lunar eclipse was predicted for April 13, 1968. It would be visible in our part of the world, which is thrilling. All week, my teacher taught lessons about eclipses, and I’ve learned so much riveting information.


On Monday night, I informed my family that there could be lunar or solar eclipses. “Eclipses happen when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned. When the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sunthe Sun is covered all or partially from our view. This is a solar eclipse. It is during a new moon phase when the Moon’s orbital plane is closest to the Earth’s orbital plane. A lunar eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are precisely aligned. The Earth’s shadow falls upon the surface of the Moon. This happens about twice a year. The Moon can also become a red color. A blood Moon.” The explanation could prove too complicated for my family, so I skipped it.


On Tuesday, I learned about partial eclipses. “If the presence of the Moon in front of the Sun or the Earth’s shadow on the Moon is not perfectly in the center, they are called partial eclipses.”


On Wednesday, our teacher explained the parts of a lunar eclipse: “The outer area of the Earth’s shadow on the Moon is the penumbra, and the darker area nearer the center is called the umbra. A total eclipse happens when the Moon is aligned with the darker part—the umbra—of the Earth’s shadow. The Sun is behind the Earth. If a partial eclipse occurs in the lighter penumbra area, the eclipse may barely be visible.”


It seemed my family didn’t have as much interest in the topic as me.


On Thursday, we all painted either a solar or lunar eclipse, and we could choose to paint a partial eclipse if we wanted. I painted a total lunar eclipse. It was the best.


On Friday, we had a multiple-choice test to determine what we had learned during the week. The top mark was a tie between a boy in my class and me. Multiple-choice is so easy. For each question, there is a correct answer, a could-be-correct answer, an incorrect answer, and a ridiculous answer to choose from.

For example:

The shadow on the Moon in a lunar eclipse is caused by 

  1. the Sun’s shadow moving across the Moon 
  2. the Earth’s shadow moving across the Moon.
  3. the Sun going on strike.
  4. the umbra being in the wrong place.

Or this one:

Some lunar eclipses can barely be seen because

  1. the Sun and the Moon are too far away from the Earth.
  2. the light from the Sun is too bright.
  3. the position of the Moon in the penumbra part of the Earth’s shadow makes a hazy shadow on only part of the Moon.
  4. the Earth is moving too fast.

As you can see, some of the options are obviously wrong.


I really wanted to see the eclipse and begged my mother to let me stay up. The full part of the eclipse was scheduled to happen about 4.30 am on April 13. I knew my Mum wouldn’t let me stay up for five hours. I couldn’t see myself lasting that long, either. After begging and begging, she agreed to set her alarm, wake me, and lead me out of bed to see the eclipse. At the same time, she would leave me to see as much as I wanted of the most exciting part – the total eclipse – and then make my way back to bed. The fact it would be happening on a Saturday made it possible. My mother hated a broken night’s sleep. She kept on muttering about cruelty to a parent, so I effused as much gratitude as I could.


How exciting. Some of my friends said they planned to see the eclipse, too. One of my friends said their entire family would watch it with them. How wonderful to have a family so into science.


On Friday night, my mother insisted on an early night for me despite my being the oldest. I usually whine about early nights, but not tonight. A small price for being woken up to see the eclipse at an unearthly (no pun intended) hour.


I was so excited that it was hard to sleep. My mother had been reminded several times to check that her alarm had been properly set. I did eventually drift off. Later, I remembered my dream of flying to the Moon and discovering it was made of cottage cheese. I’m not particularly fond of cottage cheese. The main problem is that I sank down and couldn’t get out. I don’t remember what happened next, but I must have still been asleep.


When I woke, my eyes were still shut, and I felt cold. My bed felt hard. Had someone opened the curtain because it seemed too bright? Had someone turned the light on? I carefully opened my eyes and bolted up in shock. I sat on the kitchen floor in front of the side window. The curtain had been pulled open, and daylight poured in. What on earth had happened? 

My mother came into the kitchen. “Good morning, Sweetie. How was your eclipse? You didn’t go back to bed?”

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I worked out what must have happened. “Mum, I don’t recall anything: being woken up, coming here, seeing the eclipse, or going to sleep again.”

“I definitely woke you up, dear. You must have been tired.”

“How can I have been too tired? I’ve been waiting to see the eclipse all week. I can’t remember a thing. I don’t know how I got here.”

“You were staring at the eclipse when I went back to bed. Maybe you will remember what you saw later.”


I never remembered anything. It is lodged in my subconscious, I’m sure. I must have sleepwalked out of bed. Too busy drowning in tons of cottage cheese!


“Stinky poo, stinky poo! Knickers! Knickers! Knickers!” Spike Milligan’s Badjelly the Witch says this naughty expression when things go wrong. Usually, this expletive leaves me feeling satisfied. Saying it didn’t help me. Nothing can adequately describe how I feel. Devastated? Like the bottom had fallen out of my world?


I worried about what I would tell my classmates on Monday . . . I would tell them I saw it. After all, I’m an expert on the subject. It’s not really a lie. I know I saw it with wide-open eyes. It’s trapped in my head. I just can’t bring it to mind. No one except my family will ever know what really happened.


After all the facts I have learned and related, the follow-up will be fiction. Please, don’t tell anyone.


Suddenly, I had a sensation of falling. Thwack! My chin hurt so bad that my eyes watered. I’d bitten my tongue as well. Had I received a boxer’s left hook? Ouch! I looked around me and stared in surprise out of the window. There in the sky, could it be? A perfectly dark sphere surrounded by a halo of bright light. I had been standing here sleeping the whole time. I should be grateful. Only my chin hurts. While having a nightmare about missing the eclipse, I almost missed it for real. I could have knocked myself out on the windowsill, and my nightmare could have really happened. Minus swimming in a sea of cottage cheese.


I gazed at the beautiful sight, thinking of descriptive words to share with my family and friends about it. What it amounts to is that reality and fiction can feel the same. Am I still dreaming? Maybe the next scientific topic I’ll look into is dreams.

The End


April 12, 2024 08:54

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23 comments

McKade Kerr
11:39 Apr 20, 2024

Great story, and an adorably fun character! I want to meet Lynley!

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20:32 Apr 20, 2024

Thanks for reading, McKade. LOL. Do you think she's super intelligent or under the spectrum? A reader thought, under the spectrum. Mmm interesting. However, the fact that she ends up wanting to change topic, and research and learn about dreams makes me think, not.

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McKade Kerr
22:54 Apr 20, 2024

She’s definitely very intelligent! I suppose I don’t know enough about autism to offer my opinion, but I didn’t get any feeling that she was on the spectrum. Is this the first story you’ve written with her? She’s your character, I say take her any direction you want to! 😁 But if you write another one with her, definitely share it, I’d love to see her again!

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23:43 Apr 20, 2024

Thanks for that! Actually, I have 41 stories in Reedsy to date. If you click on my name, I believe they all come up. I haven't written about Lynley before but will think about a reprise for her. Depends on the prompts. I'll give you the names of a number of stories about those with specific issues. The Boy who Couldn't read Emotions. A Criminal Act, My helpful friend, Unromantic Overtures and A Proposal Problem mention the child character from the story The Boy who couldn't read emotions. An early story is about a lady married to a husband...

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McKade Kerr
01:33 Apr 21, 2024

Awesome, I’ll try to check some of those out! And congrats and getting short listed on that other one!

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04:20 Apr 21, 2024

Thanks, McKade. LOL. You may not want to meet the girl in that story.

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01:59 May 15, 2024

Hi Mckade. Thought I'd let you know that Lynley is all set to Strike Again. The prompt lent itself to another story. May have been because you made me think about if it was possible.

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McKade Kerr
13:30 May 15, 2024

Oh, awesome! Thanks for letting me know! I look forward to reading it!

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04:39 Apr 19, 2024

Great story! You really show us so well the personality of the MC in all her thoughts and actions with others, without explicitly saying she's perhaps on the spectrum. Dropping the cat upside down! Its a brilliant character portrait, and the dream twist worked. The guides say some character change or revelation at the end is a good thing to have but sometimes its hard to do that without being "cheesy" and I liked the good natured feeling of this story.

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05:18 Apr 19, 2024

Thanks for reading. Haha. On the Spectrum? Hadn't thought of it. You could be right. Or she is just super intelligent. Creative but not always practical people, I'm afraid. I love portraying characters who have many layers to their lives and personalities.

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Crystal Wexel
23:17 Apr 17, 2024

This was a very entertaining and enjoyable read ! Definitely told from an eleven year olds frame of mind. I liked being educated too . Oh , and the cheese references weren’t “cheesy” at all ! Great work .

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00:12 Apr 18, 2024

Thank you, Crystal. My 'Coraline Factor' wasn't as funny as this one but it was shortlisted so must have been enjoyed as well. My next one isn't funny as the prompt calls for 'dark' unfortunately. Thank you for being entertained. That was the aim. Will check out yours later.

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Jim LaFleur
20:56 Apr 14, 2024

This story is both entertaining and educational, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Great job, Kaitlyn!

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21:02 Apr 14, 2024

Thanks Jim. Praise indeed. I found yours most entertaining! I think it should be shortlisted.

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Alexis Araneta
15:24 Apr 14, 2024

Kaitlyn, this was really adorable ! Truly enjoyed this ! Lovely job !

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20:43 Apr 14, 2024

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading. A confession. While still writing it, I read it to my son who laughed his head off. He came up with the bright idea to turn an unhappy ending (at 'don't tell anyone') into a happy ending where the disaster is a dream that she wakes up from. Then seeing the eclipse after all. I think it works well. He also suggested the next research topic, 'dreams'. He is also a writer. He writes Fantasy. He inspires me and is the reason I retook up writing. Something happened in my life that made me give up for years.

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Darvico Ulmeli
05:10 Apr 14, 2024

Once I want to watch a favourite movie that was starting very late. After hours of fighting to stay awake, I fall in sleep at the beginning of the movie and wake up at the end of it. I had to wait another two years to had a chance to watching him finally. This story reminded me of that. Nicely done.

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07:57 Apr 14, 2024

Thank you, Darvico. Was it funny? You would be the expert to decide that, as a comedian. The story before this one was a fun one to write and was shortlisted. I was surprised as it was supposed to be funny. I don't believe it is nearly as funny as the La Luna one. It must have struck a chord to be chosen.

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Darvico Ulmeli
08:49 Apr 14, 2024

I found it entertaining to me. My humor isn't fit for everyone. It is full of sarcasm and I talk about stuff that most people find uncomfortable. But I talk about it in a way that you had to laugh. I guess that was my way of healing myself from the cruelty of life in which I was thrown. I liked it because It brought back an event from my past that I had forgotten a long time ago.

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11:30 Apr 14, 2024

At least you found it entertaining! Even though not your sort of humor. I have a dry wit and play on words apparently. Also, 'many a true word is said in jest.' (Sarcasm) Probably said way back by Geoffrey Chaucer The best thing a story can do is make a reader remember something or identify with something in the story. Affect them emotionally. Thanks for commenting back.

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Darvico Ulmeli
12:36 Apr 14, 2024

Any time. 😀

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Mary Bendickson
15:48 Apr 12, 2024

Conscientious science child.👩‍🚀

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21:11 Apr 12, 2024

Thanks Mary. I was a bit like this growing up. LOL. But Lynley raises the bar above and beyond. I confess. I really did try to fling the cat from a height.

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