The Moon Lights the Way (open)

I love the colors in the sky as the sun sets. Purples and reds and yellows and oranges and blues (because the sky is always blue you know) and it's like your own personal rainbow every single night. And then right afterward, the angels sprinkle their special dust over the black sky and the night that is supposed to be so scary is illuminated with sparkling stars. Who could possibly hate stars? My mommy and I used to sit at the window in my bedroom (it's a circle - I learned that from her too.) and look up at the sky each night. She would sing to me and we would wrap ourselves up in a blanket and stare out of that little window and just wait. Sometimes my eyes would stray from the sky and to the ground where the fireflies were always dancing and blinking in the tall grass. Wait, wait, wait. Sing, sing, sing. Dance, dance, dance. Blink, blink, blink. Sometimes mom would finish her singing and we wouldn't see one. Sometimes we saw one, two, three in just a single night. But when we did see one, we would cross our fingers, scrunch our noses, and close our eyes and silently make a wish. "Always make wishes one the falling stars, Lilah, baby." Mommy once told me, petting my hair and kissing the back of my head. "You never know when one might be a falling angel coming to grant a wish." I still wait at the window, even though I am the only one wrapped up in the blanket now and sometimes I miss the falling stars because I get so caught up in the dancing and blinking of the fireflies. One day that falling star might just be mommy falling to Earth to grant me my wish. My only wish. "Please oh falling star / Let me hold Mommy's hand once. / Once is all I ask." So far my wish hasn't come true, but it will. I know it will. All wishes come true.

But tonight, I will not be in my room to stare out the window and make that wish. I'm going out tonight. (And no, not with a boy. They have cooties y'know.) It's that special night that comes once a month when the moon is big and bright in the sky. I've learned and memorized the name of each one in each month. It's June - the Strawberry Moon. It's my favorite moon, named after my favorite fruit ever, and I can't wait to dance and twirl with the fireflies tonight. I twirl across my room, letting my hands float and flutter in the air, like I know all the ballerinas at the Capitol and in the higher District's do. (I know if I lived there I would be a ballerina.) I snatch up my special firefly catching net and throw a satchel over my shoulder, shoving as many mason jars into it as I possibly can. I want to catch as much light as possible tonight. When I start to twirl again, balancing on my toes as best I can, the jars in my bag chink, clink, chink, clink, and I giggle a little. It makes me feel like a princess, all this chink-clinking, like I am toasting everyone in a big ballroom or my jewelry is clinking together. I think I would make a good princess. Mommy always thought I would, too. I've seen them on TV sometimes when daddy doesn't know I'm in the room. They wear their crowns and dress in nice clothes and one of the newest princesses even had a tiger! Sometimes there are princes on TV, too. They are always so handsome and strong looking. But I've always liked the princesses better - they just seem nicer to me.

But I don't know how to become a princess just yet, so I will just settle for pretend. Besides, who would catch the fireflies if I were off somewhere faraway being the princess? I climb down the ladder from the attic and then run down the stairs, counting the steps as I go. Twenty-two. It never changes. I run past where dad is already asleep on the couch and burst out the door where the sun is still sinking in the sky. I start to run, over the rolling hills, through the fields of endless crops, all the way to the orchards. The orchards are the best for firefly hunting with the fireflies hiding in the trees, blinking and making them glow like giant magical wands, making me feel like I am walking through a land of lights and glowing and lights. I start to slow to a walk as I see the trees getting closer and a begin to hum. Hum, skip, slash of my net through the dry, crumbling grass. Grasshoppers hop with nearly every step I take, but I can't catch them now, not with the fireflies beginning to blink.

That's when I am caught a little off guard. Usually no one is outside at night like I am. (They all go back home and wish upon a falling star from their own windows I guess.) But this boy is just sitting in the grass, his face contorted in a way that makes me think he is either upset or needs a hug. Mommy always said that a hug can solve all problems. I start to walk slower now as I get closer to him, his back to me. My ballerina toes drift silently over the ground, even in the crunchy grass. I am feather light, smoother than smooth, graceful and prepared. Some boys ... they laugh and pull my hair and tease me about my "dirty" clothes. I think they are just trying to make conversation sometimes, maybe they are even a little jealous of me and my special abilities. I stop a little ways away from him, smiling a little, trying not to giggle before I nudge the back of his shoulder with my net and taking another step away - just to be safe.

"Night is coming, see? / Fireflies will soon blink and dance. / Want to catch some, too?" I reach into my bag and hold up my extra net. It's mommy's old net, the handle a bit bent and a small tear in the net, but I can always use hers if he doesn't like it. I smile, but not too big because Mommy says that sometimes if you smile just a bit too big people think you are crazy. So I keep it small, waiting, just like I wait for the falling stars in the sky.

I don't like to tell too many people about my special powers, but sometimes I just can't help it. The kids at school are always asking about it, and why wouldn't they? It's a supernatural talent. And I'm really proud of it and not afraid to boast (only a little bit though because mommy always said not to) if someone just happens to mention it. But of course, having super human powers comes at a cost. When I mention it to daddy he starts to yell and says no one can talk to animals, especially an idiot like me, and even if the animals could somehow talk, they certainly wouldn't be talking to a girl like me. He says mean words, but I know he loves me. He's just a little bit jealous is all. And I guess I would be too if I were him, so I don't mind his yelling too often and I make sure to keep my boasting to a bare minimum around him. It's just easier that way. But if mommy were still here, i know she would be asking me all sorts of questions about how my powers worked and what the animals had to say. She was the one who helped me first discover my abilities after all. And I can remember the whole thing crystal clear.

I was just six years old. It was a normal day, the sun shining bright and the birds chirping melodies. The dew on the grass was twinkling, and as my rain boots strode through the grass, I could've sworn that my rubber boots were turning into shimmering glass right in front of me as I walked. Mommy and I were on our morning walk, nothing too special besides the fact that mommy was still down here on earth to hold my hand, but at the time, nothing was different than it normally was. But then mommy turned down a new path, one we had never been down before. "Mommy!" I exclaimed, dropping her hand and running out in front of her, walking backwards so I could look up at her. "Mommy this is the wrong way. We are we going this way?" She smiled down at me then, scooping up my hand again and twirling me around with a smile. "This isn't the wrong way, Lilah-Adélaïde." she cooed, soft and sweet. (She always called me by my full name, never a nickname.) And I looked up at her again, quizzical. "This is a surprise. You have to wait an see." she said, and although I wasn't exactly sure what a surprise was at the time, I knew I was the best at waiting in all of Panem, so I preoccupied myself by swatting at the dandelions in the ditch on the side of the path and watching the white, puff fairies dance in the wind.

When we had finally gotten to where we were going, I was sticky with sweat and we had stopped lots of times so that I could pick the wild berries that I saw. Mommy stopped and got kneeled in front of me then to look me in the eyes and she smiled with a little bit of a chuckle. Berry juice was all across my face and I'm sure I looked like some sort of pig. At least, that's what all the teachers said. ("Little girls don't eat like slobs. What's wrong with you?") But mommy never thought there was anything wrong with it or wiped it all away with her sleeve, so I figured it couldn't be that bad. I smiled back at her then and she grabbed a squished berry out of my hand and threw it in her mouth, despite my bit of protest. "Alright, you ready?" she asked, looking at me with eyes that were nearly identical to mine. And although I still wasn't quite sure what we were doing I nodded anyway. Because the excitement in her eyes was always so contagious that no matter what, I couldn't help but feel just as excited as she was when we went on little adventures like this. She stood then, kissed me on the top of the head an grabbed my hand once more as we made our way just a bit further down the path to a big red barn. Mommy made me say, "Hi," to a man with a curly mustache and a long grey beard and I shook his hand, all rough and callused. They talked for a little while longer but I didn't catch much of what they were saying as I was watching a chicken peck at the ground nearby. But then the old man slid the huge door on the barn open and I couldn't help but just stare.

I ran right in, right past the man (who I now know to be Old Man Rollinger) without waiting for mommy to lead me in. It was dusty and dirty and smelled of nothing but straw and hay and I had to stop to pause in my amazement to sneeze, but it was just the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen. Now most kids are who see a work horse like that for the first time are frightened by their size and long hair and tail and the way their nostrils flare when they huff at you. But not me. I walked right up to that horse, sticking my hand up as high as I could to try and reach his nose. Of course I couldn't reach and mommy had to come lift my up, but I was brave enough to do it on my own if I would've been tall enough. Mr. Rollinger told me his name was Juniper and that he was the strongest, best working horse in all of Panem. And when I touched his nose, it was like velvet. I started to talk to him then, just whispering his name a little, and then I heard him. He talked back. I squealed then and clung to mommy, excitement making me feel like I was going to fall into a fantasy world. "Would you like to feed him?" Mr. Rollinger asked and I nodded vigorously as he chuckled and placed a sugar cube in my hand. I frowned then I my eyebrows squiggled because I couldn't figure out why he was feeding me, but I didn't ask any questions as I threw the sugar cube in my mouth, smiled, and said, "Thank you sir, but could we feed Juniper now?" They both laughed and I was given another sugar cube and told to keep my hand flat and just put it right under his nose and he would eat it. And as his nostrils flared and his lips slobbered on my hand as he sucked up the sugar cube, I knew it was the beginning of a long lasting friendship.

Juniper died recently, and I guess that is why I am here and not with Juniper right now and just talking to him about the fireflies. He loved fireflies. He said sometimes they would come in the stable and blink at him and they reminded him of stars. So I guess tonight is not only tradition, but a sort of way to say goodbye to my best friend. The boy turns to look at me then and I think he looks a little bit excited. "I've never caught fireflies before." he says, his voice a bit like daddy's is when he is jealous of my powers. "I don't think I would do very well." I shake my head at him.

"Teaching I can do. / Bet you are a natural. / Here! Here! Take a net." I grab his hand and place my net, the one without a hole, in his hand before extending my empty hand out to him. My smile is big now, no way I could stop it. "My name is Lilah. / It is so great to meet you. / Hope we can be friends." And I hope he takes my hand, if only to have a friend to be with tonight so that I am not alone with nothing but my own memories.