New Fairy Tales

Sea of Tranquility; from theMarsh of Decay he wouldexperience death and fromthe Marsh of Despair, learnhow to grieve.His father, who lovedhim with the heart of afather, thought he would bean astronaut. His mother,who loved him with thepassion of a mother, thoughtan artist. He decided hewould be both and become alunar astronomer. For twelveyears he read only booksabout the moon. He emptiedthe local library of books andmagazines and papers aboutthe moon. He emptied theSchool library too.Moth read poems aboutthe Moon Goddess andlaughed because the moonhad no goddess. He visitedexhibitions - in front ofsculptures and canvases filledwith the moon, he would holdhis head to one side andwhisper to no one inparticular "That's where youcome from." Then he wouldsmile. When he smiled, youcouldn't help but believewhat he said.At night, beside his notebooksand his large digitalwatch, he would hold up hiseye to the small telescope hisfather had bought him for hisninth birthday and count theminutes under his breath asthe moon climbed into thesky. Each night, his fatherwould poke his head aroundthe corner to make sure hewas in bed. Three nights outof four, he would pick up hisson and slide him, quietly,beneath the eiderdown.Then on his thirteenthbirthday, Moth fell sick. Hismother cried for ten days, hisfather cried for ten daysmore and still Moth would notrecover. They broughtdoctors from the North,physicians from the East,sawbones from the South,and medicine men from theWest. Still Moth grew sicker.His breathing slowed. Hiseyes clouded. His headburned like the fire in thegrate.When the moon was highin its lunation, its bright,beautiful light shone throughthe window and illuminatedthe boy's fragile, achingbody. Through crusted eyes,he saw, in the shadows of themoon's surface, the shape ofa small rabbit hunched overan even smaller cauldron.The Jade Rabbit. The rabbitthat made herbal potions andmedicines. Moth called hismother and told her what hethought he saw. "But itdoesn't exist," he said, “it'snot real."No one would admit tohow they did it, but stringswere pulled, favours called inand an expedition wasmounted to go to the moon.If the boy had known hewould have begged, on hissick-bed, to be part of it.Money was taken, vastamounts of money that noone could afford. Carrots too.Fine grasses packed in cooltrays. All gifts, bribes,payments to the Jade Rabbit.No one would talk laterof the details, of how themother and father headedthe team, of who carriedwhat equipment, whattreasures and for how long.None will talk even now ofthe despair when the JadeRabbit rejected first the goldand silver."I have the sun for goldand the stars for silver," hequipped.Then he rejected copper,iron, bronze."I make medicine, notsculptures"He thought for fortyseconds about the carrots,forty more about the cool,cool grasses but nothing wasgood enough."I should go home," hesaid. "You've nothing for me.I watch you from up here.You burn the copper, iron,bronze. You burn thebeautiful grasses and thetasty carrots. You spy on us,all the planets, looking forour gold, our silver. You offergold to me now, but one dayyou, your son maybe, willcome hunting, stripping,ravishing. It's inevitable. It'syour nature." And the JadeRabbit turned his back to theparty and chopped hismystical herbs.He was a cold rabbit, butnot so cold that the sobbingof a mother couldn't turn hishead. Slowly, like the turningof the moon.Never would anyone saythere were three ingredientsin the medicine they broughtback. Or that one was herbs.One was moonstone. Theother was a true secret(though some might havesaid a mother wiped her handacross her eyes with the backof her hand and what fell intothe cauldron was a son'smiracle).They would say it wasthe moon saved Moth's life.The moon he loved, kneweverything about, the moonhe lived by. And Moth, on hisfourteenth birthday looked upinto the sky knowing hewasn't saved by the moon,but by medicine. Good,strong medicine. He likedthat his friends andneighbours thought it wasthe moon saved him. He likedIssue 1 www.newfairytales.co.uk 13