Growing with the Moon

This narrative is dedicated to the ones trying to make sense out of the senseless.

(This is a six chapter short story, hope you enjoy)

Chapter 1

She laid there as I hovered over her, gazing at her growth, watching her bear her 6 month old sidekick within her. Her luminosity had me captured  from lands away.

“Julian, I’m in the room grading papers.” Her voice resonated from the master bedroom to the living. “let me know before you leave”

She squinted her eyes waiting for an answer and smiled her eyes shut as silence responded back.

“Also, don’t forget to look into that stroller I showed you at the mall, I heard it’s cheaper in Dubai. I’ll send you a picture of it.”

Silence responded again, this time followed by the creek and clasp of the front door lock. Her hormones convinced her that she wanted more still for all, expected nothing more.

Silence instantly overthrew the redshift of the Jeep's rumbling engine. The sun was settling in right after a tantrum of heat and light. The neighbours kids had been lured inside their houses for supper. The cement walls and hardwood floor cozied Melissa just as much as her blankets did. Just the right moment for ice cream and toast, (her ultimate pregnancy craving) accompanied by Julian's few extra pillows to cool her down from the work and knock her out for a couple of hours.

Instead, Melissa had an opposition in mind. She pranced out of bed, slipped on her special socks, go out the room, glared down the hallway that led straight to the front door and made her move. She glided across the hallways like a figure skater on crack. So elegant yet so chaotic. The further away she slid, the brighter she smiled; holding on to her belly as she swept across the hardwood floor. You just knew she had been eager for this annual event.

Her socks never came off for the day, wood gliding was always going to be on the list for today.

Despite all the joy this brought her, the nights were what always got her, especially the full moon nights. When the moon shone through her little window, painting her as a silhouette while placing a spotlight on the life she was carrying. The beauty of the earth under the show lights of the moon never failed to bring a smile on her face. She though it a luxury to see the full moon gracing its presence through her window every month, not knowing that all along the brightness of the moon was just a gratitude to her own grace.

A month waved by, floating and sinking her moods along with it. This month waved along a lot smoother than the other 3 months did; ever since she took her maternity leave. He clan of angst 12 grade teenagers, however chaotic and troublesome, did grant her the opportunity to vicariously relive her teen hood. She in return, granted them knowledge, power and an in detailed opportunity to foresee their future. Just like that, they were a bunch of disoriented peas, stuffed together in a pod.

As much as Mel loathed a gathering, especially now, she was obliged to make herself present for this one. She compared herself to a Victorian rebellious girl struggling to maintain her dignity at the town’s ball. After a couple of months of solitude she believed that she was far from humanity and that her comfort overtook her instincts of basic social etiquette. Which was merely the burden of her overthinking.

Her usual high-school driven clan was present too. Congratulations and courteous concerns were showered upon her and she took them with the smile she practiced on for days in front of the mirror.

They walked to the kitchen, following one behind the other with cups and wine glasses in hand, you could see her crave for a glass but she stuck to a cup... of tea. Being around them made her feel far from she thought herself to be. The change maker she wanted to be was gone. So did her self-revolving universe which she fabricated in her thought.  She resented the crowd and how they made her feel, worse during the moment she actually enjoyed it.