Painted Skies

Stars

In the beginning, the sun and the moon hung alone in the sky. The sun could talk to anyone, but the moon had no one to talk to because everyone sleeps at night. Those who were up at night weren't exactly in the mood to talk, or they were just plain weird. She had brief encounters with the sun as she rose and fell, but they never had enough time to speak. As the moon grew lonelier, her glow became duller. Estelle, an artist who enjoyed painting the moon, saw how dull she had become.

"Why are you losing your colors?" Estelle asked

The moon was surprised that the woman was awake and didn't answer. The woman assumed that the moon could not talk, so she began painting until she grew tired. Estelle said goodnight to the moon and went home. The moonglow was a little brighter that night. When the sun rose the next day, Estelle asked him why the moon was becoming duller.

"She is lonely," the sun answered, "She has no one to talk to."

"I tried to talk to her last night, but she didn't answer," Estelle told the sun.

He smiled and said, "Maybe, she was nervous."

Estelle wondered what she could do to help the moon. She sat in her studio and thought of ideas. Until the sunset and the moon rose. The moon wondered if the strange girl from the day before would try to talk to her again. She watched the spot where the woman had been sitting and waited, silently hoping she would come back. Eventually, Estelle scrambled up the hill carrying a notebook. She looked up at the sky and smiled before waving her empty hand frantically.

"Hi!" She shouted, "You probably don't remember me, but I tried talking to you yesterday, you didn't answer, but that doesn't matter."

"I remember."

Estelle grinned and sat down. She opened her notebook and flipped through it until she found a page covered in pen ink and highlighter. The moon Estelleed at the jumbled words and tried to decipher what they said.

"Good; otherwise, this would be awkward." Estelle muttered, "Oh, by the way, my name is Estelle. What's yours?"

"Luna."

"Anyway, I spoke with the sun earlier, and he said that you were lonely, so I've compiled a list of ideas on how we can change that." She rambled while holding her notebook up to Luna so she could see it better.

Luna stared at Estelle for a moment before looking at the notebook. The first idea was to try and talk to the people who are awake. "I've already tried that, and most people who are awake at night don't want to be bothered," Luna said with a small smile.

"Right." Estelle muttered, "Then what about a phone? Can you even use a phone in space?"

"That is a dumb question." She laughed, "I am a lot bigger than you are, so unless they make giant phones, then that won't work."

The next bullet on the list was, I travel to areas where the moon is up than next to it in red ink was, I have no money, so this won't work. Luna laughed at this one as well.

"Yeah, ignore that one," Estelle said before pointing to the last bullet point. Little space companions.

"Little space companions, basically a bunch of little humans or whatever that keep you company at night." Estelle explained, "But I have no idea how to do that."

They Estelleed at the notebook in silence. Both were wondering how

they could make living creatures from nothing. They brainstormed until

the sun began to rise and the moonset. An orangish glow covered Estelle's face as

she watched the sunrise. She spoke to the sun again that day and asked him

questions about Luna and himself. She painted the sun that day.

"What's your name?" She asked while painting fluffy clouds

onto the canvas

"My name is Aaden."

"Well, Aaden, is there any way for me to make little space

buddies for Luna." She asked, putting on a pair of sunglasses before looking up

at him. He Estelleed back at Estelle, stunned by the question.

"Little... Space Buddies?"

Estelle nodded and continued painting without explaining

what she had meant. She painted for five more minutes before setting down her

paintbrush. She began packing up her things. Before leaving, she turned to Aaden

and smiled.

"I know what to do, but I need your help."

"What do you need?" He asked frowning

"Cosmic dust."

Aaden nodded and told her he would have it the next day.

Estelle thanked him and went home. The sunset again, and the moon rose. That

night they talked about little things, but Estelle kept her plan a secret. The

next day the sun rose, and Aaden gave Estelle the dust.

"What do you plan on doing with that?" He asked

Estelle only smiled and told him that it was a secret. She

thanked him again and went home. Once she got home, she pulled out her paint

and began mixing the cosmic dust into the white paint. The mixture glew

brightly. She finished making enough of the mix by the time the moon rose. She

stuffed the mix and a few paintbrushes into an old bag and ran outside to the

hill to meet with Luna. When she got there, she pulled out the cosmic mix and a

paintbrush and handed them to Luna.

"With this, you should be able to paint the sky and

whatever you paint will come to life and keep you company," Estelle explained

while bouncing up on her heels

Luna Estelleed at the mixture for a moment before dipping the paintbrush in and painting a human in the sky. At first, it did nothing, but after a few minutes, it began moving than talking. Luna smiled brightly at Estelle before she continued painting. Luna painted until the sky was covered in lights, and she ran out of paint.

"What are you going to call them?" Estelle asked

Luna stayed quiet for a moment before smiling at Estelle.

"Stars."

Whenever the moon set in Estelle's city, Luna would dance and

sing with the Estelles. From then on, the moon shone brighter than ever.