Bottled Moonshine

“You’re my bottled sunshine, Jen” 

That was the sticky note left on the fridge before she left and  still didn’t have the heart to take it down. Bottled sunshine, ha , I was a walking rain cloud after she left. Life became monotonous, sad, droopy, dead and wilted. I buried myself in the happier land of fiction and fantasy where broken worlds could be fixed again. I took to a lifestyle of anonymity, I was the shadow of a shadow. Over-sized trench-coats, baseball caps and sunglasses characterised my appearance. 

I shoved my hands deep in my pockets and wrapped my hands around an object in my pocket, I never kept it there. I pulled it out. It was a small vial with a golden colored liquid. Vivid, sparkly and sunshine-y. I smiled a little, bottled sunshine. I read the note tied to the cord wrapped around the neck of the vial. “Find the trapped moonlight.”

Trapped moonlight. Trapped moonlight. Those two words echoed in my head all day long. All day long. I dumped granola bars and extra socks in my bag. I had no clue where I was going, but it was an adventure. First thing, I had to leave this hellhole. But first ice cream. I went into a Delphi Ice Cream Parlor.

“Hey there, Jen, do you wanna try out our new flavor? It’s pumpkin spice. Free samples!” said the freckled lady behind the counter.

“Um… sure.... Thanks Sara.” I said reading the name tag.

“I’m new around here” she said while scooping out the ice cream “But I know all about you, Mrs. Jones, you see tells me that you used to come here with your ma, but then she left and…” I smiled at her Southern lilt and her bright brown eyes, “Thank you Sara” I said accepting the cone she handed to me.

“That’ll go on your tab?” 

“Mm-hmm” I said taking the first lick. “Hey, Sara, what’d you know about the moon?” 

“Nothin’. It’s a chunk of space rock that reflects light from the sun and Neil Armstrong’s ‘One small step for man one giant leap for mankind’, that bit and the solar eclipse bit too” she said “I’m sure that it wasn’t of much help to you was it?”

“Who knows, it might just be…Thanks Sara” I said turning around heading for the door.

“You seek the bottled moonlight, do you not?”

“Um...yes” I stammered “How do you know?” I asked sitting opposite to a hooded figure that I never noticed.

“Delphi Ice Cream…” the cloaked figure chuckled “The only replacement I find for the famed city of Delphi. A marvelous city, one of artisans, weavers, scholars and oracles” she whispered

“Your an oracle?”

“The best.”

“Okay, so can you please tell me where I can find trapped moonlight”

“The place to find trapped moonlight is where sunlight is set free”

“And that is…”

“I’ll enjoy the ice cream while you think.”

“Where sunlight is set free… well sunlight is a form of energy…

-tututut. You think with the primitive rigid mindset of a scientist, think with the free mindset of a philosopher. Think like a star.” 

“Um..

… What do you see when you think of sunlight.”

“I -

-close your eyes and reach into the depths”

I took a deep breath

“I see the sun as pure power, passion, unchecked, proud, bright. I see the sun giving way to the hunt of the pack. Glinting off the quicksilver scales of fish and filtering through the red leaves of maple.”

“And the moon?”

“I see the moon as meek, shy and yet still bold in it’s own way. I shines in the eyes of the alpha. Sitting on a throne made of the horizon and the sea. I see it shining through the leaves of the leaves shining through. Penetrating and showing its power in moderation.” I said.

“So when is the moonlight least strong?”

“When the sun outshines it. During an eclipse” I said opening my eyes.

“Good, I was scared we’d be late”

“Late? What for?”

“Catching the next eclipse.”

“What? When? Where?”

I was engulfed in a dark mist. I couldn’t breathe. I was enveloped in something gauzy, tossing me around like a sock in a washing machine. I breathed in pure air when I was tossed out the other end.

“Canada.” she said finally tossing off her hood.

“Mom” I gasped wrapping my arms around her.

“Sunshine.” she breathed 

“Moonshine” I corrected her

“Here we are, the eclipse” she said pointing to the sky, pressing a vial in my palm. I held up under the sun and moon. A shiny silvery liquid trickled into the vial. I breathed in. Moonlight in a bottle