Sun, Moon and Stars // Karlnapity

aubade

Once again, Karl had lived his life restlessly since their last meeting, or rather, Karl's last shift, only thinking about spending time with them again soon. He had been counting down the next working day to every second.

Now, just an hour into his shift, he and the statues were making their way to the roof of the museum. Karl had started his shift earlier to be able to do certain preparations. So he had had enough time to plan and set up everything perfectly before the two statues and the other works of art in the museum would come to life.

Afterward, instead of going to his office, he strolled into their exhibition hall. So far, he had missed every time to watch the statues wake up, but he made it on time today. The sounds of the cleaning staff could still be heard in some of the halls and the dim lights were still shining everywhere. It was pleasantly quiet when he entered the hall. Only his steps over the stone floor were to be heard.

With a grin, he had sat on the bench in front of the statue and played around with a flashlight in his hand, while the figures had slowly stretched their stiff limbs.

The Sun and Moon statue were special not only because of the sad love story it told but also because of its background. In the ancient writings, it was considered cursed, that it had eaten its creator and people fell victim to its beauty until eventually they were also devoured by the statue. The artist was unknown and had left only this work of art. Perhaps he had put so much soul and sacrifice into his work of art that it finally consisted only of himself, his body a useless and sad shell.

The information board next to the statue would prove him right in the sense that they had really bewitched Karl.

Would they actually devour him one day?

Watching them wake up was incomprehensibly magical and much more beautiful than watching their living bodies disappear into stone again in the morning. The first thing they did when they came to life was to fall into each other's arms. Karl guessed it was like an unspoken tradition, a duty perhaps even. For the meaning of their statue was to be apart. So they were on the same pedestal, part of one statue, but never touching.

Quackity, had his head turned away from the sky with eyes narrowed in pain as he leaned backward, arms and wings outstretched as if he were falling. Both hands were aimed for support, aimed for the sun, but he would find no support. For the sun was just as far away, leaning just a bit forward, arm outstretched toward the moon, yet their fingertips were only a few inches apart.

They were doomed for eternity to be always out of each other's reach. To fall in two different directions, while touch was close but not close enough. Despite their love for each other, they were not allowed to be together.

Only rarely, there was the possibility that they were seen together in the sky. It was those nights when they could be together, hidden from the world. Even if they were only short moments of togetherness that shortly resulted in separation, they cherished them. They savored them until the last second and until their last breath, they shared their undying love with the world.

"Why are you so afraid to go outside?" asked Karl when they ran up the staircase together after some time afterward.

They had not told him, but the statues, as well as all the other works of art, were eager to return to their original form punctually at 6 o'clock in the morning. As they marched up the stairs, he kept noticing Quackity and Sapnap whispering things to each other or glancing at each other.

He saw the nervousness in their eyes as he continued to walk up the stairs.

"If a work of art fails to return to its place in time for sunrise, it disintegrates into a pile of ashes," Quackity explained, his voice as sad as the sentence alone was.