The Boy Behind The Moon (Entry for the Two-Chapter Contest)

The boy behind the moon

He didn't ask to be alone. He never wanted to be. But he was, and there was nothing he could do to change that. He was the boy behind the moon. Invisible to the eye, but still there.

"Why did you do this to me." Patrick looked up at the sky and sighed, leaning his head up against the tree that his arm was wrapped around. It pricked him in many spots across his arms, but he didn't care. If anything, he believed that he deserved it.

His dirty blonde hair brushed in front of his face as he squinted at the moon. It was the third time that he had asked that question that week, but the moon stayed silent. It always did. Never taking, only shining - like a light-bulb in the sky that never went out.

After what seemed like hours of staring, a noise interrupted his thoughts, and he broke his eye contact with the moon. Patrick's head snapped around and he looked up at the roof of the house he was in front of.

"Luna." He smiled, climbing up a nearby pipe and onto the roof. There, he saw her. She sat peacefully on the cold roof tiles, wrapped up in blankets and hoodies, a hot chocolate in hand. He sighed, his heart fluttering just at the sight of Luna. Patrick had never seen anyone that made him feel the same way. It was almost as if he was melting on the inside.

Her dirty blonde hair was tucked behind both ears, a black beanie keeping her ears from turning red. She smiled, and for a moment, Patrick thought that she saw him. But then he moved aside, and saw what she was really looking at. His life long friend the moon.

He wasn't surprised, but for a moment, he had a glimpse of hope. Hope that she would be able to see him. Hope that one day, she will know just how much she means to him.

It had been a few months since Patrick met Luna, and she had changed his whole outlook on life. He went from roaming the streets, to eagerly awaiting her arrival, watching her, sitting with her and loving her until what he hoped would be the end of time.

Luna lived in a house right next to a river, away from society. Every night, she sat on her roof, watching the stars. She had done it every day since she moved into the small two-story house.

Patrick had one problem with his relationship with Luna. She was growing up. Luna would have been twenty years old in a matter of weeks, an adult. He wasn't sad. Just a little scared of what will happen.

What if she stops coming into the roof at night? What if she moves away? What if he never gets a chance to see her face again?

Those thoughts ran through his head every day, and all of Patrick's fears were confirmed a few years later, when he saw her pull up with a stranger in her car. Well, a stranger to him, not to her, obviously. His stomach dropped down to his feet, and he felt as if he had just been punched in the stomach. A wave of emotions washed over him as his stomach churned.

He couldn't help but feel jealousy as he watched them sit in her room together. Patrick stared, his hand pressed up against the cold window. The warmth of his flesh fogged the glass around his hand.

For a moment, Patrick had a glimpse of hope as he watched Luna walk towards the window, looking out at the stars. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by the handprint that she saw on the window.

Luna cocked her head to the side and placed her hand up against the mark that was clearly made from the other side of the glass.

"What the-"

Patrick held his breath, watching as she started to unlatch and open the window. But she was interrupted by a deep voice.

"Babe, it's too cold. Leave it closed."

Luna hesitated, but eventually gave in, and went to lie down with her boyfriend. Patrick huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, furious that this guy was stopping Luna from doing what she loved.

For the next few months, Patrick watched from the other side of the locked window. Watching as Luna and her boyfriend stayed at each other's side. Watching as this guy stopped her from going out to see the stars. Watching as he slowly drained the life out of her.

Patrick watched as Luna changed. She went from being the girl who adored the stars. The girl who sat on her roof every night, watching the moon for hours at a time. She went from being Luna, to being someone who barely looked out the window anymore.

Luna was tied down by her boyfriend. He was the centre of her attention at all times. She never had time for stars anymore. It was always him, and him only.

For the past 6 weeks, she hadn't even looked through her window, even to open and close her blinds. Patrick was almost at the point of giving up. He was about to move on, until something out of the ordinary happened that caught his attention.