Page 40 of Finding Jeremy
“So am I,” the moon whispered back, startling the farmer, who fell over backwards at the unexpected response.
The moon dominated this image, with the little gnome seated on the ground beside the edge of his field, his eyes wide as he stared up at it.
“You can speak? Why have you never spoken to me before?”
“I never thought you noticed me.”
The moon’s mouth was downturned, and a little tear had occurred in the corner of its eyes again.
“Who could miss you, glowing so brightly up there? You are the reason that I hung curtains in my windows,” the farmer grumbled. “I wish you would turn away sometimes and let it be dark for once.”
The corners of the moon’s mouth were turned down more in the next image as the gnome scowled up at it.
“I’m sorry,” the moon replied. “I’ve been so lonely up here, and your field was empty, so I did not think you would mind me borrowing it for a little while.”
“The farmer looked out over his field but saw nothing but the puddles, dark now that the canopy covered them.”
In the picture, the space beneath the canopy was dark, while the gnome just looked completely confused.
“I feel bad for the moon,” Jeremy said, his voice sounding a bit sleepy and pouty too. “The farmer isn’t being very nice.”
“Ech, it’s hard to say who isn’t being nice,” Gray pointed out. “The farmer has been trying very hard to grow crops, and it does seem like the moon has been stopping him.”
“I guess.”
“Let’s see if they work it out.”
He felt Jeremy nod against his shoulder and glanced over to see him staring up at the book, so he turned the page to reveal the image of moonbeams covering the canopy, trying to creep beneath the edges of it.
“I don’t understand,” the farmer said. “How are you borrowing it when there is still nothing here but puddles?”
“I promise you’ll understand soon if you take the canopy down,” the moon replied. “I only need a little longer.”
“And you’ll leave my field alone forever?”
“I will even give you a bit more darkness from time to time if that will help.”
“It will,” the farmer insisted before taking the canopy down.
“The moon smiled at the sight of its reflection shining in the puddles once again, while the farmer went back inside, dragging the canopy behind him.”
On the very next page, there was something different about the puddles. Each one had a little point peeking up through the top of the water.
“When the farmer stepped outside the next morning, he saw a strange sight. There was something growing in the puddles, though it didn’t look like anything he’d planted.”
“Each night the moon shone brightly in the sky, and each morning the farmer noticed that he could see more points rising from the puddles.”
On the next page, more of what began to look like stars appeared, growing out of the shimmering water.
“Days passed until at least there were stars floating on the surface of the water, as bright and shimmering as the moon. The farmer sat on his porch, watching as the puddles churned and the stars burst free, the water trailing after them like glowing little tails as they raced towards the sky overhead.”
“Whoa, cool!” Jeremy said when they turned the page, they saw stars with what looked almost like comet trails, and on the opposite page, a flat, empty field without a trace of water left. “She was growing stars.”
“Yup,” Gray said as he turned the page again. “The stars weren’t as bright as the moon, but they twinkled and winked and gave the farmer something beautiful to stare up at night after night.”
The next image was of the farmer in his rocking chair again, sipping what looked like lemonade as he stared up at the sky, while the field beside the house showed the tops of little plants finally growing.
“The moon was no longer lonely and, as promised, slowly turned its face away bit by bit, leaving just a sliver hanging in the night sky, but every now and again it turned all the way back around and smiled down at the farmer, who waved up at it from beside fields bursting with crops. The End.”
