"Life is just a series of experiences and then the realisation that you will never have that same experience again . . ."
***
"Gege, why does the moon follow us?" I peeked out of the broken car window to the starless sky, where the full moon looked back at me.
The moon was glowing and illuminated the path ahead of us when we had no carlights to do so, and I have thanked the moon for accompanying us and watching over us many many times, sometimes, I did it out loud, having gege chuckle at me.
But at the end of the day, gege always reminded me to be thankful.
"Hm?" My gege hummed while a shiver ran down my spine.
I repeated my question.
My gege chuckled, "I heard you the first time, didi." I pouted while frowning.
"Then why does the moon follow us, gege?" In the end, my curiousity won and I caught my gege's eyes through the rearview mirror where the moon was watching me.
"Well, it's a long story, and you're tired, aren't you, didi?" I quickly shook my head protesting, "no, I am not tired yet, gege!"
"Hm," my brother hummed, raising an eyebrow as I blinked and conjured a smile onto my face.
"Old folktale says that once upon a time, a beautiful, one in her kind Goddess fell in love with a mere mortal-" My gege dropped his voice a bit, he always did, and I never knew if he did it consciously to make the story feel darker or that he did it unconsciously out of habit.
"Will the story have a happy ending?" I interrupted my gege, watching him smile softly, shaking his head.
"Didi, don't interrupt me, or I won't tell the story, you should have remembered that rule by now, huh."
"Sorry," I mumbled under my breath, moving to shutting my mouth and throwing away the imaginary key.
"This Goddess wasn't the first of her kind to have fallen in love with a mortal. No, she definitely wasn't alone on that. But, the person she loved was a mortal woman, and it was peculiar to the world, something forbidden . . ."
"But why should loving someone be forbidden!" I immediately clasped my hand in front of my mouth, looking guilty at my gege, who just huffed out a tiny laughther.
"Didi, if only the world thought the way you did, there wouldn't be so much unneeded bloodshed." I pressed my lips into a thin line, waiting for my gege to continue.
And he did.
"The Goddess was forced to choose between her status as Goddess or the love she had for a mortal life that would someday exstinguish."
"Why are the Gods so cruel to her?" I muttered to myself, looking down at the scar on my arm while tracing it carefully, the feeling foreign.
My gege carried the story on ignoring my question. "And that's how the once powerful Goddes beloved and looked up to by all, whether mortal or God, plunged herself into disgrace."
"And then?" My gege avoided my eyes, as my heart grew restless, I repeated my question, louder, "and then?"
My gege gave me a worn smile, "and then? She never had a choice since the beginning; they forced her into line, even if they made her believe she had a choice." A gasp left my mouth, my heart missing a beat.
"The powerful moon Goddess was restrained in her golden palace. The moon Goddess punishment was to watch the one she loved die a lonely life, unable to change the fate that got written in the stars. She even redeemed herself to pray, forgetting that even Gods could not even tempt fate."
