It’s rare to see the moon as bright as it is tonight.

My neighbor lives just a little ways down the street from me, a sweet old thing, with an excitable Havanese dog that she spoils rotten. I visit her with my little brother after dinner most nights. Tonight, though, I was there by myself for whatever reason. I came in and greeted her as I usually do, and we stood in the kitchen and chatted for a while about school and work and the news. She offered me something to eat and warned me to never get old, as she did every visit before we sat in the parlor to talk some more. I stayed about an hour. My neighbor turned her front light on and told me to be safe on my way home.

The street was quiet, which was unusual now even at night, ever since the bridge reopened. Some of my neighbors had their Christmas decor up already. Ahead, I could see the streetlight at the corner near my front yard, and in the sky was a full moon. It was orange, and very, very bright, just as my neighbor said it would be earlier. It was a clear night, but there were no stars. Sometimes in the winter, you could see them very, very faintly. It was a little disappointing that they weren't visible tonight.

It was cold, and the darkness was unsettling to me, so I walked quickly up the gentle hill on the street that led to my house. Some of the lights in my other neighbors' houses were on, and I saw someone's TV tuned to Law and Order. Across the road, a stray black cat that likes to prowl around our neighborhood made himself comfy hiding near a shrub. I walked the last stretch of road to my front doorstep. Our strings of Christmas lights look pretty great. Shivering a little now, I take out my key and walk inside.