We are the moons

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It was strange to see two moons at night. To me, it was beautiful, and a kind of comfort, like someone was watching out for us. But other people reacted differently. Some believed it was the second coming of Christ, others thought it was aliens coming to kill us, and a small portion thought it was some government trick or 'simulation glitch'. I just thought it was magnificent.

It first appeared three nights ago. Each night the moons seemed to pull one another closer. No one really knew which moon was the original one, at least not yet, but I think I had a pretty good idea. I had dedicated the past three years of my life to studying the moon and everything about it. I spent many nights, like tonight, sitting on the roof staring at the sky. I knew what the moon looked like. She was flawed but she was beautiful.

Now there was another moon and together they looked even prettier. Like twins whose looks compliment each other. Like me and Ellie. Before she died, she would always compare me to the moon. I'd ask if that meant she was the sun, because we were so different, and every time she would insist that she wasn't anything. For years I tried to convince her that she was the sun, or the stars, or something in the sky, but she'd always argue. Even up until the very end, as she lay in my arms, bleeding out on our mom's new rug she still would not let me call her my sun, my stars, and my universe. "We are the moons" she told me. I paused mid-sob, bewildered by her statement. She coughed weakly and she repeated herself. I started to ask what that meant, that we were both moons, but while I was thinking over how to phrase it, she died. 

Three years later, as I look up at the sky and see the twin moons beginning to violently collide I finally understand what she meant. I am the moon and so is she. We were never meant to exist at the same time, because if we did we'd become too attached and slowly pull each other towards our inevitable death. We would destroy each other. As I looked over the ledge of the apartment building roof I felt a sense of relief wash over me. I looked back up at the sky, gazing at the beautiful mess before me. Even in death the moons looked exquisite. That thought was comforting in some aspects.

As I closed my eyes and leaned forward I could hear Ellie calling to me over the sound of the roaring wind.

"We are the moons. We always have been."