The Song of the Sky

Luna sat and stared out at the endless black water, sparkling with countless speckles of shimmering light. Pinholes in the perfect velvety blackness of the calm ocean. A soft wind blew, her raven hair flowing behind her on it like a cloak made of pure night. There was no sound except the whisper of gentle waves as they crashed against the rocks far, far below, and the brush of the breeze against her face. Peace. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of clean, crisp night air, and then let it out slowly and deliberately. She savored the taste of it as she exhaled. She peered down, down, down the edge of the pale cliffside at the waves crashing and whooshing and splashing over stones smoothed by centuries of the ocean's embrace, and illuminated only by starlight. She felt truly at home, here, alone in the peaceful quiet of the night. She liked her solitude, embraced it. She leaned back on her palms and breathed in the stars. 

Then, he came. She could sense his presence long before his arrival, but she knew that her peace was at an end when the birds began to chirp. The sparkle of the stars began to dim as the sky turned from black to deep, deep blue. The crispness went from the air as it began to warm. Her quiet was over as he approached, striding proudly and confidently from the East. 

His golden hair streamed over his shoulders like a waterfall made of sunlight. His eyes shone with the blue of a bright, clear sky. He was beautiful, Luna begrudgingly admitted to herself as she rose from her perch atop the high white cliff. 

She turned to him and crossed her arms in front of her chest, puffing herself up defiantly. The night black cloak of her hair draped across her shoulders and down her back as the air began to still around her.

"You are nothing if not punctual," she snapped as he reached her. The sky had turned an array of blues, purples and pinks now and the noises of the birds and animals filled her ears, replacing the soft song of the ocean. He only nodded and smiled warmly in response and Luna was filled with a sadness she felt all too often. She could not be here any longer. She could not stay here with him. And so, Luna turned and walked away, chasing the horizon back into the peaceful dark. The velvety quiet she craved. Away from the blinding cacophony of colors that had filled the sky.

She wandered and wandered and eventually she found herself atop the high pale cliff once more, just as the sky began to turn from cerulean to violet, to red. Maybe this time, she could have it all to herself. Her place. Maybe this time, she could stay. But even as she thought it, she knew that she could not. She knew that he would be there, and he was, standing atop the high cliff, awaiting her inevitable return. 

"Go away!" Luna shouted, her anger flaring as the sky darkened with clouds around them. The sea churned far, far below, gray, and white and angry, just like her, "Just get out of here!"

And he did. With a frown, he turned to the West and departed, his hair whipping in the wind, all of its golden glow now gone. Luna sat at the edge of her cliff and sobbed, just once, as the sky darkened to black and the rain began to fall heavy from the clouds above. And there she sat, alone in the darkness and the cold. Her peace was gone. Her quiet was gone, replaced by the roiling waves and angry claps of thunder. Huge waves smashed against the pale, white stone below and sent their salty spray way, way up to Luna's perch, burning her eyes and leaving a foul taste in her mouth. Tears ran down her cheeks, mixing with the rain and the spray of the ocean. She hugged her knees close to her chest and stayed there, watching the storm rage over the turbulent sea that usually brought her such peace. 

When the sky began to lighten again, she had calmed and the tears had stopped. She stood and watched as, once again, he approached her. He looked as broken as she felt in that moment. His eyes had gone a dull gray instead of their usual vibrant blue. He offered a weak smile, but she would not have it. She scoffed once at him, whirled on her heel and departed, leaving him there with the pale gray sky. She was happy on her own. He would not win her over with a smile. Nor with the kindness in his sad eyes. She just wanted her peace. Her quiet. The song of the ocean and the wind, and twinkle of stars.

When she returned again he was there, sitting at the edge of the pale cliff. His legs dangled limply over the edge as he tossed pebbles down into the thick gray-white mist that blanketed the waves below. He did not look at her, nor did he rise. Luna crossed her arms and scowled, waiting, waiting. He did not make a move, so she decided that she would. She approached quietly and softly, looking, listening. As she got close, she realized that he was sobbing softly as he tossed his pebbles into the sea. She recoiled, taken aback, and let out a quiet gasp. 

His face turned up to hers and she saw a longing there. A sorrow. A loneliness she had not noticed ever before. She sat beside him and rested a hand on his shoulder, offering a weak smile. He wiped a tear from his cheek and smiled back at her, and suddenly, Luna did not want him to leave. The sky had cleared from the previous night's storm and she took in the brilliance of its colors for the first time. She truly saw the beautiful palette of colors blending and weaving together into a wonderful tapestry that filled the world. The birds chirped along as the ocean sang to her, perched with him up, up at the top of her pale cliff, and she realized that it had all been one incredible melody all along. She jumped to her feet and put out her hand. Cautiously, he took it and stood.

"Dance with me," she said, looking into the sapphires that were his eyes. He smiled a warm, welcoming smile and began to move with her to the rhythms of the sea and the wind. To the melody of the birds. To the music of the sky. They danced and twirled in the rainbow of colors as the day turned slowly to night and Luna did not want it to end. She did not want to be alone anymore. 

From then on, the pale, white cliff was not Luna's place any longer, but theirs. She shared it willingly with him, and sought him out there at its peak. Every dawn and every dusk, they danced together as the day and night swirled together, and drank in the lovely colors of the sky and the melody of the wind and the sea. And Luna was happy, because finally, she could share her smile and her love, and had someone who would share theirs with her, forever. Truly, this was all she had needed.