Moonlight

He stood at the edge of the water, looking down into the dark abyss. The circular moon shone on the water's surface. He had run from home when he couldn't take it anymore, and he didn't plan on ever going back.

Suddenly, a drop of water fell into the lake. It wasn't rain. The liquid substance slid down the boy's cheeks, and quickly fell into the water.

The tears were not normal. The boy raised his hand to his face in confusion and fear. The liquid spread to the edges of his chin and up his forehead, covering his entire face. Then his mouth and nose were covered, and choking silently, he blacked out and fell straight forward into the water, never to be seen again.

And the moon laughed, a dark and chilling sound like the thumping of drums and the cackling of wild hyenas.

She crouched beneath the tall grass, her eyes wet with tears and her fists tight. Her son was dead. She didn't know how, but she could tell. He left home the day before, and two hours ago she woke up feeling like her senses were numb. He was gone, she was sure of it. She had the creepy instinctual feeling that he had drowned somehow.

She muttered to herself, "Be brave, be brave..." She had to find her son and bring his body back. She had to, for the sake her two twin daughters who didn't understand and would never understand death until they saw with their own eyes. And she had to do it for herself. Even if she could never erase the image of her son's limp body from her brain, she had to do it.

"Be brave, be brave, be brave, be brave..." she continued to chant, her voice accidentally rising in volume the more she thought about her two precious little girls and the imagined lifeless eyes of her only son. She realized that she should quiet down, lest someone heard her. She tried to stop--but she couldn't. Her voice kept going, and her mouth kept moving, but the movements were oddly foreign. She couldn't close her mouth no matter how much she tried. Her chanting raised higher in a shrilled screech.

Then when she thought she was about to burst, her voice changed from her own to that of... something different. It was deeper and darker, and boomed across the field. "The Moon will become the ultimate ruler! I will take from this world one human at a time if I have to! Night shall never end! The sun shall never rise! BOW!" the strange new voice rang out. And then she fell to the ground, the empty shell of her body never to speak again.

They kneeled at the entrance of the cave, waiting and watching the moon. They could both tell that it had been night for far too long. The sun should have risen hours ago. They watched the sunrise everyday--they would know.

The two twin girls lived in a cave. At night they were alone, but when the sun rose their mother came to them, bringing with her food and news of their never-before-seen brother.

They were not as stupid as they seemed. Sure, they were 10 years old but still looked 6. Sure, they understood English but couldn't speak a word of it. Sure, the only language they spoke wasn't a real language, and only they and their cat could understand it. But they were not idiots. In fact, sometimes they could be more intelligent than their worried mother.

"The stars are still up," one of the girls finally said in their odd language. The other girl, with slightly shorter hair as to tell them apart, nodded but stayed silent. The longer haired girl pointed to the moon. "Today isn't supposed to be a full moon." Once again, the other girl nodded.

"Mother's missing," the long haired girl finished a few minutes later. The quieter girl nodded and stood up, a small black cat curled up in her arms. Her sister looked up at her in surprise. "You're not going out, are you?" she asked. "We're not supposed to go out. We--we've never gone out before. We have plenty of rations in here--where are you GOING?" the longer haired girl asked in distress as her sister took a step towards the forest.

"I want to go... find them," the quieter girl finally said.

Her sister sighed. "Do you think they're...?"

Once again, the shorter haired girl nodded.

"So do I," the other one agreed reluctantly. Gathering themselves, they held their breath and took the long awaited step onto the grass.

Immediately, the moonlight shone on them--but not in a comfortable, artistic way. Their skin began to burn, and they screamed. Gritting her teeth, the quieter girl kneeled down and let her black cat out of her arms, whispering something to it. With one sad reluctant glance, the cat darted off into the woods. The two girls held each other as they died slowly and painfully. In the distance, just before they both died, they could almost hear the whisper of their mother. "Be brave..."