The Girl Who Chased the Moon

She felt her heart sink.

“You’re not glowing.” she said, and it was an accusation, like he’d forgotten her birthday or stepped on her toe and didn’t say he was sorry. It hurt, and she felt stupid for letting it. There wasn’t anything supernatural to this. It was simple, and simple was good. Easier to understand. That was why she’d shown up tonight, after all. To let him play his trick on her. To try to right some wrongs.

She saw him rise, his white suit standing out against the shadows. He walked to the steps and slowly descended. He stopped on the grass, a few feet away from her. She met his eyes defiantly. Give it to me, she thought. I can take it.

It took a moment for her to realize that Win looked nervous, unsure. That’s when it happened. Like blowing on embers, a light began to grow around him. It looked like he was backlit, but of course there was no light source around him. It was as if radiant heat was emanating from his skin, surrounding him in waving white light. He looked like a dream of daylight in the middle of night. His light was almost alive, undulating, reaching out. It was utterly, terrifyingly beautiful.

He stood there and let her stare at him. His shoulders seemed to relax a little when he realized she wasn’t going to run away. But it wasn’t because she didn’t want to. She simply couldn’t. Her muscles felt frozen.

He took one step toward her, then another. She could see the light as it began to stretch toward her. Then she felt it, those ribbons of warmth. It was usually comforting, that feeling, but it was a decidedly different experience to actually see what was happening.

“Stop,” she said, her voice thin and breathless. She was finally able to take a few steps backward by leaning back, as if to fall, and her legs instinctively moved to keep her upright. “Just stop.”

He stopped immediately as she stumbled away. “Are you all right?” he asked.

Was she all right? No, she wasn’t all right! She turned her back on him and put her hands on her knees. She couldn’t get enough air.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, Emily.”

“How are you doing that?” she demanded. “Make it stop!”

“I can’t. But I can get out of the moonlight. Come over to the steps. Sit down.”

“Don’t,” she said, looking over her shoulder and seeing that he was making another move toward her. “Just do what you have to do to make it go away.”

He took the steps two at a time and retreated into the shadows of the stage. She gratefully tripped to the steps to sit. She put her head down and tried to concentrate on something random. The word lethologica describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.

She eventually lifted her head as the spots faded from her eyes. She felt chilled from her cold sweat.

“I didn’t mean to make you panic,” Win said from behind her. “I’m sorry.”

It helped not having to turn around to look at him yet. “Are there people here watching? Are we being filmed? Is that what this is all about?”

“This isn’t a trick,” he said, an ocean of heartache in those words. “It’s who I am.”

She took a deep breath and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. If this was real… then she understood why the town was so shocked when her mother brought Win’s uncle out at night.

Strange and wondrous things, indeed.

“How do you feel?” he asked. “Can I get you something?”

“No, just stay there.” She finally stood and faced the bandstand again. “Everyone here knows?”

“Everyone who was there that night,” he said from the darkness. “My family made sure no one has seen it since.”

“But they know that you’re the light in the woods?”

“Yes. I’ve been doing it since I was a kid, but plenty of my ancestors did it before me.”

“Why did you want me to see it?”

He hesitated, as if he wasn’t entirely sure now. She suddenly felt horrible, like she’d let him down. Her mother had raised her better than this. She’d raised her to accept and respect, to help and to never be afraid to get involved. All her life had been leading up to this, and she’d failed. She’d failed Win. She’d failed her mother.

She was still in the history loop. She was scared now, scared for herself, scared for Win, knowing how this had turned out last time.

“I’ve never known how to step up to people and say, ‘This is me. Accept me for who I am,’” Win finally said. “I knew from the moment I met you, I was meant to show you. I thought you were meant to help.”

“How?” she asked immediately. “How can I help you? I don’t understand.”

“You can tell me that, now that you’ve seen this, your feelings are no different than they are in the daytime. That’s all.”

She squared her shoulders and backed farther into the open park. “Come down here, Win.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

He walked back down and his skin started burning again. He looked ready to bolt back up the steps if necessary. She held her ground, even though her stomach was leaping.

When he finally made it to her, she reached out and took his hand in hers right away, to steady herself as much as him. She was surprised that his hand was simply warm, as warm as it always was, not scorching hot. “Does it hurt?” she asked.

“No.”

She swallowed. She was trembling. Could he feel it? “I think it’s beautiful. I think it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

He stood there, glowing like the sun, and stared at her like she was the unbelievable one. He angled closer to her, and the closer he came, the more the glowing seemed to stretch out to her. It felt like walking into sunshine from the shade. His light surrounded them both, jumping around as if saying, Together, together, now! She saw him tilt his head slightly.

He’s going to kiss me, she suddenly thought. She knew it in a way she couldn’t explain. Like how you know a certain day is going to be good the moment you wake up. She’d thought about this a lot, more than she cared to admit, but somehow she’d never imagined it quite like this. It was nothing like she’d expected. And yet… it was strangely perfect.

But before it could happen, they jerked away from each other, startled, when they heard quick footsteps. Win’s sister was running across the park toward them.

“Win! What are you doing?” Kylie said breathlessly, skidding to a stop on the dewy grass. “Dad wants you to come back inside. Right now.”

Emily and Win exchanged glances. She wasn’t used to seeing him this unsure. “What happens now?” Emily asked.

“Now we deal with the consequences and move on. Just like last time, only-”

“Better,” she finished for him.

He touched her cheek and smiled, then ran across the park toward his house. Emily and Kylie watched him go. What a ravishing sight he was.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Kylie said.

Emily turned to her warily, surprised she was being so nice to her now. “Yes,” she said softly.

“I would love to do what he does. He has no idea.” Kylie paused. “All my life, I’ve heard stories of that night with my uncle and your mother. I thought you’d be like her. I’m glad you’re not.” She smiled, like she’d just given a compliment. Emily took it in the spirit it was intended, but would never get used to how the town thought of her mother, even now. The broken circle of history should have let all the animosity pour out. But it didn’t. Emily might fit in here now. Her mother never would, though. “I better go see what’s going on in there. I’ll see you around. With Win, no doubt.”

With no light to her skin, Kylie soon faded into the night. Emily stood there for a while before finally walking home.

EMILY WOKE to the sound of someone pounding on the front door. She sat up quickly. She’d been too stunned, too exhausted, to turn on her MP3 player before she’d gone to bed. When she looked around, the new phases-of-