Hope of the Moon

An 8 year old girl with an abusive father finds hope in the last expected place

 

    The cool grass soothed my aching feet as I limped toward the shore of the lake. I rubbed my hands around my bruised wrists and felt my sore neck. Every part of me hurt in some way, but the part that hurt the most was my heart. I didn’t mumble or complain that today was so horrible because in spite of it all today was my Birthday. And that little fact made up for the worst of the day. My daddy would be angry that I had left the house so late at night, but the alcohol in him had knocked him out completely. He wouldn’t be hurting me tonight. I finally reached the sand and my toes tingled as the cool ground surrounded them. I stumbled toward the waters edge and sat down. 
 “Happy Birthday Haley!” 
 I turned around and saw Ethan, my only friend, standing there with a big smile on his face. I gave him a weak smile back but he saw past it. 
 “Where did he hurt you this time?” He knelt next to me and saw the bruises. A frown came across his face and that alone made me want to cry. Did he have to lose his smile just because I couldn’t find mine? 
 “It’s okay.” I shrugged “Eight year olds are tougher.” I gave him a bigger smile.
 “Yes they are.” He laughed but his tone had changed. 
 I wanted him to forget my pain and be happy, because if he was happy than I could be happy too. 
 “Haley?”
 I looked over at him and saw his eyes glued to the moon above us. “What?”
 “I want to protect you.”
 I looked away from him, angry that he couldn’t let things be. “Don’t start with this Ethan, let it go.”
 “No.” his determined tone silenced me. “I won’t let this happen again. I’ll take you somewhere safe.”
 “Than you’d have to get me to heaven because there isn’t any place I can hide.”
 “I can think of one.”
 I looked at him and waited. My heart was beating with hope that maybe there was a way out. “Where?”
 He returned my gaze “How about the moon?”
 All hope died away. “Don’t-“
 “No look.” He grabbed my hand and yanked me to my feet. He pulled me to the water and pointed to the ray of light the moon cast on the water. “It’s a pathway.” He said.
 “That’s ridiculous.”
 “All we have to do is get a boat and follow the light that the moon casts on the water. And then we can get on the moon, and be safe.”
 I saw the look in his eyes and wanted to believe him so badly. But hope only led to disappointment and I’d had enough of that for one day.
 “Haley, I’ll take you there.” He turned his fierce gaze to mine and smiled brightly with all the hope one could possibly have. “Come with me?”
 Every part of me screamed to say no. “Yes.” I shut my lips and tried to shake my head; tried to stop myself from believing. But then his soft eyes lit up in such happiness that I wanted that joy as well. I wanted to dream for once. I wanted to believe in something for one night. “I’ll go to the moon with you Ethan.” I whispered softly and I felt his hand tighten around my own. 
 We both stood, staring up at the huge moon, the guardian of the night, and dreamed of reaching it. I didn’t know when we would get there, but it didn’t matter. Because I knew that Ethan had just given me the best Birthday present of all; he gave me hope. Hope in the moon.

 

 

Author's Note

This is an older piece and my writing is kind of poor in the beginning. But oh well. Any comments?

Reviews

[RAstone]

"Did he have to lose his smile just because I couldn't find mine? "

Two thumbs up for that line alone