The Moon in the Water Bowl
3 chapters for 1 character · about 10 minutes · told 1 time. The highlighted parts are filled in with your own characters when you make this story yours.
Chapter 1: The Moon Has Left the Window
⟨Character 1⟩ yawns so wide his jaw clicks. His laptop glows with a half-built website for a biscuit shop. He stretches, pushes the laptop away, and stuffs the last crumb of a biscuit into his mouth. He looks out the window and freezes. The sky is dark. The moon is gone. ⟨Character 1⟩ is a sleepy puppy, but not too sleepy to notice that. He is too stubborn to let it go.
⟨Character 1⟩: That is not right at all. The moon was right there above the fence, big and round and white, shining on the leaves. I did not imagine it, because I saw its light on my keyboard. Maybe it fell behind the house and rolled under the rose bush, and now it is stuck.
⟨Character 1⟩: I do not need help to find one moon. It cannot have gone far, because moons are too heavy to walk quickly. A moon does not just roll away without a sound. I am too sleepy for a big search, but I will do it anyway, with my torch and my own two hands.
⟨Character 1⟩: First I will check the kitchen. That moon has a habit of hiding behind the blue biscuit tin, because it knows I love biscuits. It could be in the tin with the crumbs. If it is not there, I will look under the table and then I will check the pantry.
The blue biscuit tin sits on the counter. Only crumbs rattle inside when ⟨Character 1⟩ shakes it.
⟨Character 1⟩: Only crumbs are left in the tin. Not even one whole biscuit for me, and no moon either. The moon was not hungry tonight, or it only ate the chocolate chips. I will shake the tin one more time and listen for a soft white rattle.
⟨Character 1⟩: Fine, I will check the garden right now. The moon probably rolled behind the tomato plants and got tangled in the green leaves. I will take my torch and my soft blue slippers and look everywhere. If the clouds are hiding it, I will wait.
⟨Character 1⟩: Do not ask me to call anyone. I am not calling a neighbour or a friend or a moon-hunting team. This is a one-person moon search, and I am the one person. My torch and I will bring the moon home, and then I will sleep.
Chapter 2: The Garden Hides It Too
⟨Character 1⟩ steps into the back garden. His torch makes a small circle of light on the wet grass. The sky is thick with grey clouds.
⟨Character 1⟩: There is no moon up there at all. Only heavy clouds stacked like grey pillows, all soft and quiet, covering the whole sky. The moon is hiding behind them, I know it, because moons do not just disappear without a reason. I will shine my torch higher and make the clouds blink, and then I will see the round white face peeking out.
⟨Character 1⟩: I will stand on this garden chair to see over the fence, because the moon might be rolling in the neighbour’s yard, and I must check everywhere. Oh, this chair is wobbly, and my blue slippers are sliding on the wet wood, so I will step down carefully. That was close, but I am not hurt, and I am still going to find the moon even if I have to crawl under the bushes.
⟨Character 1⟩: I am so sleepy now that the grass feels like a bed, all cool and soft under my hands. But I will not close my eyes, because the moon could be right here on the ground, small and round and white, hiding between the blades. Wait, there is a faint glow in the watering can. The water is catching a little light, like a tiny moon swimming in the dark, and it is not moving.
He walks back inside, still holding the torch. The house is dark and warm, and his laptop is open on the couch.
⟨Character 1⟩: Let me ask the laptop a question, because the laptop knows many things and it is always awake. Where does the moon go on cloudy nights? I will type it slowly, one letter at a time, because my eyes are heavy and the keys are blurry, and I do not want to press the wrong button.
⟨Character 1⟩: The answer says the moon is still there, right behind the clouds, shining the whole time just as bright as ever. I was wrong to think it rolled away like a marble. The moon never left; it only got covered up like a biscuit under a napkin. I need to see it with water, not with my torch alone, because water can hold the light.
⟨Character 1⟩: I will fill my favourite blue bowl with water and set it outside on the porch, right where the clouds are thinning. Then the moon will look down and see its own face in the water, and I will see it too, clear and round and steady. That is a good plan, and now I am a sleepy puppy who knows exactly what to do before bed.
Chapter 3: The Moon in the Water Bowl
⟨Character 1⟩ carries a blue bowl to the front porch. The night air is cool and quiet. He fills the bowl with water from a jug, and the water is still and dark.
⟨Character 1⟩: The water is so still that it looks like a little dark window. I will wait right here beside it, because the moon is somewhere behind those clouds, and I am a sleepy puppy who is almost too tired to keep his eyes open. But I will keep them open just a little longer, long enough to see the moon’s round face looking up at me from the water.
⟨Character 1⟩: I will sit on this step and put my hands on my knees, very still and very patient, like a biscuit tin waiting to be opened. The clouds are moving slowly, one grey curl at a time, and the air smells like wet grass and night flowers. I can hear a tiny cricket somewhere, and it sounds sleepy too.
⟨Character 1⟩: Look, the clouds are drifting apart, like someone is pulling back a soft blanket. The water is not dark anymore, there is a light in it, a round and white and clear light that is not moving at all. The moon is in my bowl, the whole round moon, and it is so bright that my eyes feel happy.
⟨Character 1⟩: Goodnight, moon in the water bowl. You were not missing at all, you were just waiting behind the clouds for me to find you with a bowl of water and a very sleepy pair of eyes. I will remember this trick, and now I can go to bed with a quiet heart.
⟨Character 1⟩: I will shuffle to my bed in my soft blue slippers and pull the blanket up to my chin. The laptop is closed and the biscuit tin is closed, and all my work is done for tonight. The moon is now shining through the window, clear and bright, because the clouds have moved away.
⟨Character 1⟩: Goodnight, blue bowl of water. Goodnight, moon in the window. Goodnight, biscuit tin and laptop and wet grass. I am not worried about anything at all, and that is the best feeling in the world. I think I am already dreaming.
⟨Character 1⟩ closes his eyes and falls asleep, a very sleepy puppy, with the moon shining through the window and the bowl of water still on the porch.
Goodnight, ⟨Character 1⟩. Sleep well, you did everything just right.
A question for tonight
Little one, have you ever found the moon hiding in a puddle or a bowl of water?