GLORY DAYS ✵ 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑

𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗨𝗘

"What about the moon, appa?" inquired the young girl, her eyes sparkling with wonder. "Tell me something about the moon!"

"The moon..." the doting father gently put his son down and held Moon-Young's hand. His eyes flickered to the celestial object in their night sky. The glow of the moon was faint, yet still predominantly illuminated the night sky. "... is the brightest and largest object in our night sky. The Moon makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable climate. It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of years."

"What if... what if there's no moon? What will happen to Earth?"

"Well, it is the pull of the Moon's gravity on the Earth that holds our planet in place. Without the Moon stabilising our tilt, it is possible that the Earth's tilt could vary wildly. Life will change for us all since it influences our oceans, weather, and the hours in our days. Without it, tides would fall, nights would be darker, seasons would change, and the length of our days would alter."

"Between the two, who's more important? What can we not live without?" Jae-Hyuk tilted his head, curious, and the father slightly chuckled since he could almost see the gears in his son's head turning.

"Many say it's the sun, but for me, it's both." He knelt down between them, his hands on their back as if to support them. "We cannot live without them. Without the moon, we lose the tides. Without the sun, we lose life." He shrugged. "Just as light cannot exist without darkness, the sun and the moon must exist too for mankind to survive."

The twins puckered their lips as if they were heavily pondering what their father had just explained to them. They couldn't comprehend everything he was saying, but they got the gist of it. The sun and the moon must exist in order for everything to not go haywire. Moon-Young rubbed her cheek, feeling light-headed from all the information dumping.

"Do you want to hear a story about the sun and the moon?"

The two children's eyes lit up and they jumped up in joy, giddy for their dad's storytelling. "Please, please, please, appa!"

Seo-Jun beamed, walking away to sit down at a vacant chair. "Come here," he beckoned the two to come closer. Moon-Young and Jae-Hyuk excitedly rushed over to him and sat on his lap, each taking their spaces atop his thighs. "Once upon a time, a mother was on her way home to her two children, when a tiger came across her and asked for her rice cakes."

"Oh, no!" Moon-Young gasped.

"Afraid, the mother gave the tiger all she had and begged to let her get home to her family." He narrated with such vigor that it evoked emotions - fear from his children. "The tiger disappeared but a few minutes later, still hungry, devoured the mother whole, but took her clothes, put them on, and went to the house where the children waited. The tiger convinced the two kids he was their mother, covering himself in white powder to match her skin."

"Bad tiger!"

"When the kids opened the door, they found that it was not their mother, but the tiger. So, they ran!" Seo-Jun imitated a running person, panting heavily. "The two siblings ran in circles everywhere and eventually ran up a tree where they thought they would be safe. Though the tiger was making his way up the tree so the two prayed."

Moon-Young and Jae-Hyuk listened intently.

"They asked that if they were kind-hearted people, to send down a strong rope to carry them to the heavens, and if they were not, then send a rotten rope, and they would get what they deserved." described their father. "A strong rope was sent down, and the siblings were carried to the sky, where the brother became the sun, and the sister became the moon. Our people called them, the Brother Sun and Sister Moon."