Symphony of Dawn

Moonlight

She was named Luna, after the moon. She had always found her name strange but no longer. Now she understood. For it was not her mother or father who gave her that name. They had not even made it through the night. No, her name came from the moon. It had put its mark on her the night she was born. A single moonbeam found its way through the curtain to where the newborn baby lay and left a crescent imprint above her heart. From that moment, Luna shared a connection with the moon.

Since infancy, Luna's dreams were no ordinary dreams. Each month, they came to life when the moon was at its fullest. The fairy tales she read at night helped her escape to the world the moon had created for her. They helped her escape the lonely world between the four walls of the orphanage that was her home. Yet sometimes, the fairy tales were not enough. Nightmares would haunt Luna as she slept. Nightmares filled with demons and other creatures that frightened the little girl. But the moon was always there to keep her safe, hidden behind the clouds in the dark blue sky, ever-present amongst the stars.

Luna would dream of many wondrous things. Of spreading her wings with the eagles high above, riding the open plains with wild horses, swimming underwater with mermaids and dolphins. How she longed for every full moon where she could live amongst her fantastical imaginations as one of their own. But one night, Luna's dream changed everything.

Here's what happened...

Her music box was set beside her bed to play its sweet melody. Luna drifted to sleep, hoping the moon would once again take her to a place where she could be whoever or whatever she desired. And sure enough, she had barely closed her eyes before she awoke amidst the moss and fallen leaves in an unknown forest under a clear sky. Much to Luna's surprise, she discovered she was no longer a little girl but a grown woman with a feather-white dress and long golden hair bound by white flowers and butterflies.

Luna rose to her feet and began to explore all around her. It did not take long until she discovered she was not alone. A sound echoed through the woods. A familiar sound. She searched from where it came. She peered between the trees and saw a young man playing a tiny toy violin. The sound... It was music from the violin! How quaint a toy violin could play music like this. Then again, anything was possible in dreams.

Suddenly, Luna heard another sound. Another instrument playing the same melody. She continued her way and stumbled upon another young man. He, too, held a toy instrument, a guitar of sorts she believed it was. The light strumming of strings stopped as he looked up at Luna. He gave her a nod and motioned her to continue. When Luna looked in the direction he had pointed toward, she saw a wooden bridge had appeared before her.

Hesitantly, Luna took a few steps. But an inexplicable fear gripped her heart, and holding the tears, Luna ran away, back the way she came. She did not find the young man who had guided her to the bridge again. Nor the other man with the violin. Were... Were the trees even the same? No... No, they had changed. She was not where she had been before. This was another path. A path leading further into the woods.

As Luna wandered, she heard the music again. The path leads Luna to a third man, who eyed her with the same inquisitiveness as she looked at him. The little guitar he held played the same tune she heard all around her.

She walked on and... yes, there! Another musician, his fingers moving nimbly over the keys of a miniature keyboard. He looked up briefly as Luna passed him but said nothing. He let the music speak for him.

Still trying to understand what the moon was trying to tell her, Luna continued down the path.

By the time she passed yet another young man setting up a small drum set, Luna had decided she had to wake up. This was no dream. The dreams had never been like this before. They had never been so... mysterious. It scared Luna.

Her eyes searched for a way out, for the door she had to open to wake up. But Luna saw nothing. Nothing except... the wooden bridge. The same fear as before gripped Luna's heart. Then all of a sudden, she heard it. The music those strangers had played on their toys in the woods. It was so clear that she now recognised its sweet melody. Her music box! It was here with her! And it was... beyond the bridge!

Her fear disappeared. There was only courage in her heart. Luna ran to the bridge, determined to get to her beloved music box. But as she reached the top, she froze. On the other side, walking towards her with the music box in hand, she saw... herself. Not her reflection, but the child she was, dressed in white and with flowers in her hair.

They met in the middle of the bridge, and her child-self handed Luna the closed music box. She accepted it curiously and meant to ask what she had to do. But when Luna looked back at her child-self, no one was before her. She was alone again. Luna carefully wound the music box up and opened the lit. Inside lay a toy microphone. This was not what she had expected.

Nor had she expected to see them again. But there they were, beyond the bridge. The five young men had gathered and appeared to be waiting for something. No, not something. Someone... They had been awaiting Luna. They had been awaiting the arrival of their nightingale. As they played their melody once again, Luna sang the words buried deep within her heart.

That was 20 years ago. Since then, Luna has often sung the song the moonlight left within her heart the night she was born. The tears she cried for what she had lost yet never knew dried. And she never gave in to the fear again.