text: For centuries, the Moon watched from her unerring perch. She spun carefully around the Earth that was the center of her universe, gazing with curiosity at the blue and green orb that drifted along with her. She understood her role and carried it out with the utmost sincerity. Sure, she lost her temper a few times. Well, more than a few times. And, yes, there was that one little incident where she kinda sorta let water cover the entirety of the planet she was responsible for. But, couldn’t every woman understand how tenuous hormones were at certain times of the month? She loved Earth, and she felt special. She was the one and only Moon. Unlike the moons of Jupiter or Saturn, she was the lone planetary body caught up in the orbit of Earth. And for years upon years upon years, she meandered along in a month-long ellipse. For Earth’s part, he just resolutely sat. Moon wondered what he had going on down there. He seemed lush and refreshing. The verdant greens and deep blues certainly seemed to suggest a complexity that she could see even from miles away. Yet, after millennia of being within arm’s reach of each other, Moon never heard a peep from him. She was waning. Making herself smaller and less noticeable. She did this every month. Sometimes she was flashier. Sometimes she shrank. Sometimes she shone so brightly she knew the Earth was simply ignoring her ebullience. Regardless, on this particular day, she was waning when all at once a small disturbance caught her attention. A small burst of light and motion seemed to be shooting forth from the surface of Earth. Not only that but it was coming right toward her. This was it. Earth was finally acknowledging her! The little object continued to move in her direction. Then, all at once, it seemed to fall wretchedly short. Instead of continuing its linear path, the object started circling Earth. Moon couldn’t believe her eyes. This had to be the biggest tease that the galaxy had ever seen. In a matter of minutes, the object disappeared. Her disappointment matched her phase and made drifting into invisibility that much sweeter. Still, she carried on. Days and days went by. Earth sent multiple objects into its own orbit. They never made it to Moon, and she was seriously starting to wonder about Earth. How could one planet be this self-absorbed? She rolled her eyes. This was getting out of hand. Determinedly, she decided not to spare another thought to Earth besides the duties she was compelled to uphold. She had plenty to look at from her place in this galaxy, thank you very much. Earth thought he was the center of the universe, hmm? Well, she’d show him. Maybe Sun would even team up with her, and they could show Earth who *really* ran this show. Her plan to ignore him was coming along swimmingly. She spent her days in the company of Mars and Venus. And, if she felt like calling long-distance Saturn was always available. She was always trying to spill some gossip about Uranus. And, the meteoroids were always flying by with little snippets. For instance, Pluto was apparently going through his emo phase. He said he might not even want to be a planet anymore? Without a doubt she had plenty to occupy her days. Earth didn’t even cross her mind. (Except those late nights that she stayed up too late thinking about his curves and the way he tilted on his axis.) Everything was fine. Until yet again, she saw an object blasting through Earth’s atmosphere. She sighed. Not this again. She did her best to look the other way. No reason to give Earth the attention he so obviously needed. She was mostly succeeding until the object was suddenly closer than any had ever ventured before, and it showed no sign of slowing down. Oh, God. She hadn’t had any advanced warning! If she had known she would have made herself more presentable. Filled in her craters a little better or something. Too late. The object was imminent now. She almost couldn’t contain her excitement. She hoped Earth didn’t mind a little high tide. She barely even noticed when the object landed with bony legs that jutted into her body. For long moments, the object just rested against her. Then, all at once, a flurry of movement. She was surprised to see the forms that spilled out. Puffy and rotund, stepping carefully across her dusty surface. They looked nothing like the life forms Saturn had gone on about. These three...things were calculating. Gentle. Carefully cataloging what they saw. What they felt. She had never been under so much scrutiny. The attention was a little off-putting but after eons of waiting, she couldn’t complain too much, she supposed. All at once, one of the figures attached something to her person. The most colorful little pendant, standing proudly. Red, white, and blue. A gift from Earth? She couldn’t believe it. At last. He loved her. He really loved her.