Child of the Moon

Amana Karmaria Jelani

"He does have parents," Connie says. "But the situation is.....complicated."

I raised an eyebrow and she said, "It's not my place to say. But his mom is in the Air Force and she isn't always home to watch him so she thought it would be good for him to be here where he can get a job and grow on his own with good people."

"'Good people?'" Steven asked.

"Well.....let's just say Amos didn't always hang out with the right crowd before he came here."

I looked at Amos, who was hugging his mom now. What was his life like before he came here? From what happened a few days ago on the way back from the hospital, he must've had it rough. But.....how bad was it?

Circo tapped my shoulder and said, "We should probably get going."

"Why? Aren't we going to wait for-" I started. But Circo glanced up towards the direction of Amos. I looked and saw that his mom was patting his back and Amos was hugging her tightly. I felt my heart twist a little.

He really did miss his mom.

"Yeah," I said eventually. "We should let them have some time together."

"We'll see you later Connie," Steven said. Connie waved to us as we headed back towards the house. All of us were silent in our own thoughts. My mind kept drifting to seeing Amos hugging his mom. I crossed my arms tightly and sighed.

I wonder what it was like to have a mom.

-Time skip-

My eyes shot open and I quickly sat up in my hammock, nearly falling out of it. I sat where I was, gasping for air and feeling sweat run down the sides of my face.

I couldn't remember the dream but I just remember feeling pain and something struggling against me. And he urgency to keep whatever it was contained to keep something safe. But what?

I groaned and rubbed my eyes, knowing that it was late at night and I wasn't going to be falling asleep anytime soon. I got out of the hammock and made my way down to the beach. I walked along the beach, the waves touching my feet. Where I walked, the water would linger a little bit longer then normal before flowing back out into the ocean. I sighed and looked at my hand, seeing the moonstone reflect in the moon light.

I sat down in the dry sand, staring out at the ocean and hearing the waves. I looked at where the night sky met the ocean, and felt a little at peace. I closed my eyes and breathed in the air, trying to calm down a little. I hadn't heard the footsteps until I heard, "Luna?"

I nearly jumped to my feet but when I looked up, I saw a confused Amos standing above me.

"Amos?!" I said, confused. "What the heck are you doing here at this time of night?!"

"I couldn't sleep," he said, looking at the ocean. "So I sneaked out of the house and went for a late drive. But I saw you walking and thought I'd talk you."

I smiled and said, "Guess that's a good reason to be awake this late."

Amos sat down next to me and asked, "Why are you up?"

"I.....had a nightmare," I said. "I was walking to try and calm down. But it didn't help when you scared me."

"That was a complete accident."

"Mhmm. Sure."

Amos rolled his eyes and looked back at the ocean. "What was the dream about?" He asked.

"I'm not sure.....all I remember is pain and struggling to keep something controlled. I don't know what it was, but if I didn't keep it controlled, it would hurt people I cared for."