A Strange Story of a Strange Girl

Chapter 26: Lamp Light

LUNAS P.O.V.

I retired back to my room, to rest myself mentally and physically. I was surprised to find clean, fitting clothes in the closet. Sensei must have kept it stocked as well, in the middle, with a little bit of space on each side, was a beautiful gi, with a trail of red butterflies climbing up the back. I smiled as my hands brushed against the silky material.

I climbed out of Aphrodite’s clothes, and set them out in a very neat way in a spare chest in the room. I surveyed everything as I slipped on a thin nightdress of floral pattern. Two windows, wide open and blowing clean warm night air into the room. A bed sat near the back wall, opposite of the door, made up nice and clean. White sheets and red pillows, my favorite coupling of colors. The chest sat across from the bed, and next to the bed was a night table upon which a beautiful decorative moon and stars lamp resided. I had a mental flashback to when I was very small, and I would stare straight at that lamp for so long, Sensei would come in and tell a little story about it.

“Do you know the story behind that lamp?” I shook my head, letting my thin ringlets of silver shiny hair frame around my big bright eyes. I had heard the story a million times, but I still loved the way Sensei would tell it, he was so young then, and I always thought of him as father each time he would tell the story with that flow freeing voice of his. I stared into his glasses, seeing the light bounce off of the clear glasses. I began to run a hand through my hair, as he took a deep breath and stared at the lamp. I looked as well, trying to see what he was seeing.

A Sun and moon coupled face was the shading, and the vase was covered in the tiniest stars and clouds, a play on both night and day. Down below, at the very bottom, if you looked close enough, you could see two doves so close to each other that I used to imagine they were dancing when I left the room. And when I would come back, they’d go back to frozen carvings.

I looked back to Sensei, waiting patiently. And then, he would set me on his lap, and face us so we were both looking at the lamp.

“A long long time ago, there was a beautiful maiden who lived up in the clouds. This maiden, she was infatuated with the man that lived on the moon, and the man that lived on the sun. It was close to the time of the full moon, when the beautiful maiden could travel freely through the heavens. But, you see, the maiden was very worried, because she decided she would have to make a choice between the sun or the moon to have as only hers.”

At this point, I would pipe in, “I would choose the moon, he has my name!” I’d exclaim, tickled that I knew that was true. And Sensei would bop me on my nose and smile, and say, “That’s right little butterfly.” And then he would look back to the lamp. “But the maiden just didn’t know, so she decided she would see the both of them. She wore a shimmering dress of gold and blue, and made her eyes the same colors, the right one gold, the left one blue. So that that way, she didn’t make apparent which of the men she would choose.” He would smile deeply to himself; I supposed seeing her garbed out in these two colors.

“It finally came the night of the full moon, and the maiden traveled out to were both the moon and the sun where conversing with each other. That wasn’t odd at all, because the moon and the sun saw each other for twelve hours each day, and they had become quite fond with each other. But as they each saw the maiden approaching, they feel silent with aw. For they both feel instantly in love with her.

“They feel so in love, that they shined so bright that the heavens opened up for all of the mortals down below to see them. The people were shocked, staring intently at the courtship between there sun and moon. The maiden whispered beautiful nothings to both of the men, and they made a pact. That no matter what, she was to be both the sun and the moons woman. And that the maiden in the clouds would alternate between the sun and moon.”