Astronauts say that the moon is made of rock, but do you believe that?Β
The moon is really made of tears: of regret, sorrow and grief. Surprised it hasnβt fallen out of space yet: tumbling through the endless void of stars and gas, because the moon is the one that carries all our burdens, and they can be immensely heavy.
Who might collect these tears, you ask?
There is a butterfly, made of silky light, one that softly shines through the darkness. It is the moonβs messenger, and flies down to Earth every night to gather the newly-scraped-out tears.
The butterfly has been there for all eternity, flying back and forth between Earth and the moon with its transparent, glowing wings. Does it have a name? I wouldnβt be sure if it could have a name, for it is much too ethereal to think of having one.
Tonight, the butterfly, with itβs beautiful grace and elegance, floated down to Earth to collect the new tears. It visited a little cottage first, nestled in the middle of the countryside, and heard something. Music, notes drifting up like leaves on a breeze, blew across the wind to the butterfly. It paused for a second, listening.
Through the open panes of a window, there sat a girl, singing and strumming her ukulele gently. Her short blonde hair drifted slightly in the wind, blowing around her neck while she sang.
Take me to the rooftop,
I wanna see the world when I stop breathing,
Turning blueβ¦
The butterfly sat on a piece of wheat as the girl sang βListen Before I Goβ, and not before long, a tear slid down the girl's cheek halfway through.
If you need me,
Wanna see me,
You better hurry,
I'm leaving soonβ¦
Creeks flowed down, down and stained her instrument as the butterfly flew closer. The girl closed her eyes, immersed in the song, and the butterfly landed on her face. The wings glowed a touch brighter, and the tears soaked into the wings, making them radiate stronger. Once her cheeks were dry, the butterfly flew out the window as the girl ended.
Call my friends and tell them I love them,
And Iβll miss themβ¦
β€~β€
The moon doesnβt really have phases because its position changes, does it?
It wanes when the tears fade away, when our minds are forgetting about all our regrets. The new moon is a time of hope: when weβve forgotten, even for a moment, that our lives are perfect.
Every new moon is when the butterfly rests, for itβs the only day of the month that everyone is happy.
Next, the butterfly flitted off to a mansion nestled in the bustling city, but, as it was in the middle of the night, it was silent. The mansion was made of glass and gold ornaments decorated everything, crying out wealth. Inside, there were twelve floors, and the elevator was like a virtual reality game, the walls reflecting a different world. A boy sat on the seventh floor, in the room labeled 398. The butterfly flew through his open window, perched on the windowsill, and listened.
The boy had shaggy hair dyed green at the edges, beaming energy, but the colour did not match the boyβs face at all. He looked like a scraped out bowl of ice cream: insides all gone, but a few leftovers abandoned.Β
A song called βSweater Weatherβ started playing out of his Echo, and he whispered, βBiscuitβ¦β He buried his face in his hands. βDonβt listen to strangers, Biscuit.β He sighed again and curled into a ball while the song played amongst his sobs, trailing down his hazel-coloured cheeks.
Cause itβs too cold,
For you here...
The butterfly watched as the boy sighed again and again, muttering to himself about his puppy, gone. The butterfly fluttered up to him, and rested on his knee as he muttered.
βDonβt listen to strangersβ¦β
His tears raced down his face, as if fighting for first place. The butterfly glowed again as it soaked in his grief, and after collecting everything, the boy looked up with dry cheeks as the song finished.
And itβs too cold,
Itβs too coldβ¦
β€~β€
Are stars really made of bubbling gas, suspended in the sky?
They are actually made of your regrets: twinkling in the distance after youβve forgotten about them, but they are still there, lingering.
People stargaze to peer at the far away constellations, to view something beautiful but tragic. Many people donβt realize that by the time they see those stars, they might be gone: exploded in the vastness of space. Many people also uncover many memories while stargazing, because searching for past regrets does open up a chest inside of you.
The butterfly swooped across dark meadows, speckled with little mountain flowers along the way. There sat two women: both lying on a picnic blanket with a woven basket next to them, gazing up at the stars.
βYou wish,β said one with inky hair, punching the other one who had platinum curls.
βOw!β The second one shouted out playfully, and their laughs were light but heavy at once. A silence nestled in between them, like a bird in its nest.
βI hope my grandma is doing okay,β said the first.
βDid anything happen?β asked the second.
βShe has lung cancer, and she was admitted into the hospital a few days ago. I really hope sheβs okay.β
Buzz
The first womanβs phone rang, and she picked it up immediately.
βHello?β
βGrandma?β
βNo, youβve got to be kidding me.β
βNo.β
βActually?β
The womanβs eyes fogged up with worry and tears, but kept talking.
βGrandma?β
βThis is Jade.β
βOkay, I will.β
βI love you Grandma, and I wanted to tell you that I still have that frog you crocheted for me when I was four.β
Jade smiled, tears flowing down, down.
βI love you.β
She tapped the phone screen, hung up and turned around to the other girl.
βIβm so sorry Kaela, but I gotta go, itβs an emergency, Iβm so sorry,β said Jade hastily, and rushed down the hill, leaving Kaela alone.
Wondering about hearing Jadeβs conversation, a pond that had formed in Kaelaβs eyes started to drip down her cheeks as she imagined all the βwhat-ifsβ that couldβve happened to Jadeβs grandma. She also wondered about Jade, and what Jade would say if she knew...
Letβs just say that Kaela has a vast imagination.
Perched amongst the grass, the butterfly flitted up to Kaelaβs face while her eyes were squeezed shut, dashing around under her eyelids. Standing on her freckled nose, the gossamer wings glowed brighter as it basked in Kaelaβs tears. After drying her face, the now vibrant butterfly flew out and back into the sky.
The song βDrivers Licenseβ hung in the back of her head, like the cobweb in the corner of a house. It was Jadeβs favourite song.
Gazing into space and not noticing her now dry face, Kaela twirled her golden hair around her finger and thought back to a part spiraling over and over in her mind:
βCause how could I ever love someone else?
β€~β€
While the butterfly soared through the sky of forgotten regrets and the orb of the moon, far down below sat a little girl on a swing. Looking at the stars as she swung back and forth, no old memories were unearthed, for she was young and hadnβt contributed much to the growth of the tear-doused moon.
As the butterfly neared the moon in the distance, the girl thought she spotted something aglow, far away, but later when she told her parents, they assured her that she had just been dreaming.
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132 comments
The start of this really grabbed me, it sounds like a fairy tale turned dark. Poetic but with sad undertones. I like it. It felt like the story version of a good Radiohead song.
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I like this idea. Story too.
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help ame remember reedsy? π REMEMBER THIS
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AHHHH ASODFGJAOJSGF;OAJGLOIKJASFJ;S
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STWRPGOJWRGPOOPGKOPK bro what would darla and melanie think if they saw this.... π also i just found out that half the people on here still don't know that we're friends irl LMAOO
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LMAOOOOOOOOOOO IF THEY DID REALLY ahhaha
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IKR "so how's melanie?"
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TIME TO SPREAD POSITIVITY (from Abi) WHEN I SAY "I AM" YOU SAY "LOVED" THEN COPY/PASTE THIS TO SOMEONE ON REEDSY AND CONTINUE THE CHAIN LETS SPREAD SOME POSITIVITY READY??? I AM-
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Hello, my name is Nightmare Phantom, but you can call me Night or Mare or any other name you see fit. I am reaching out on reedsy to find more friends and meet more amazing people. If you are interested in getting to know me more, feel free to respond, if not, that's completely fine. I may seem stiff and emotionless at first but I'm a great person once you get to know me, at least I'd hope I am. ~Nightmare Phantom
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Hello all! https://wp.me/pd3y1A-fD Please check out my latest post, THE VIRUS, YOU AND ME, a podcast. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did writing it! Dhwani Jain Dream DJ {https://djdhwanijain.wordpress.com/}
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hi! I'll check it out as soon as I can :)
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Thanks Please do leave a comment there
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Wow - Love it β€~β€
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Thank you!!!
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The post is out guys! I canβt believe it the number of views it has gotten! Please do check it out! I am really happy with the response and would love it if you guys too check the post out!!! ~ Dhwani Jain {02-10-2021}
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nice!!! :D
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πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ wow I loved the concept!!!!πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆπΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ πΆ wOwZeEeEe π
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thank you!!! :D
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Hi.
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hello!
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How are you?
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I'm...still on the train tracks lol, hbu?
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I'm still trying to write my Reedsycast, but Ivy Carter introduced me to fantasy versions of those fashion games and I'm making all the characters instead of writing it...
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ooh XD that sounds really cool! :D
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HAPPY 40th STORY, AMEEE!!!!!!!!!! Wowww :o I think probably most of the comments already said wow but alsjkhgdals this is seriouslyy amazing! I just love the concept of the butterfly, the moon, stars, and everything. Your words described everything so nicely. As you get deeper into the story, it felt like finding something new from a box of treasures (if that makes sense). Listening to the songs was a nice touch too :) Now I'll be thinking of this story whenever I look at the sky at night~
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THANK YOU DANNY <33 ahhh tysmmmm <3333 <33 :D
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OF COURSEE <33 :D no problemmm~~~ c:
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<3333
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I do not have words for this Amethystttt So etheral! So mystical. Wow. This should get a shortlist at least!
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aksdjfksdjkf thank you siaaaaaaa <333
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<333
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<333333
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Wow. No seriously, wow. I love this! Just a lil thing I noticed before I jump into singing praises of this story: "....with a woven basket next to him...." shouldn't it be 'them' instead of 'him'? XD Anyways, I'm off to tell scientist that they were wrong all along about moons and stars and that they should read your story because it's abso-blooming-lutely wonderful.
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thank you!!! oop yes XDD thank you for finding that <3 ahhh tyyy <3
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Wowwwwwwwwwwww HAPPY 40 STORIES!!!!!!! But seriously, wow. This was touching really. Iβm not sure if I can ever look at the moon or stars the same again. Tons of emotions flowed throughout, and it really really spoke well. I really like this one, so heartfelt and creative!
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Thank you <: asdfsdfjkjsdasdf thank you Tiff :D <3
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:>>>> Np wdgyrfbokvfukbx :D
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<33333
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<3333
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hello!! doesn't really fit the prompt XD woohoo 40th story :DDD I would recommend listening to the songs as you read the corresponding parts, just to fit the vibe :) but you don't have to, of course. songs + artists: Listen Before I Go ~ Billie Eilish Sweater Weather ~ The Neighbourhood Drivers License ~ Olivia Rodrigo credits to Saph for helping come up with one of the songs!!! <33 Hope you like it!! :) ~ Amethyst
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