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T for The Moon Was Broken: #atozchallenge Fiction

Today’s picture prompt was sent in by writer-friend  Stuart Nager, and the word prompt (the bolded out part of the story in the beginning) I chose to go with it came from Christine Rains.
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The Moon was broken.
They could not live without light—had to talk to the Sun, They all knew it, but none had the guts to go up and make the first request.
For years, They remained in the dark, building a track across the fields. Once it was done, They would all board the train, so no one would arrive before or after. The wrath of the Sun would divide, and dissipate.
The Sun, lost in His own brightness, never caught on that His bride, the Moon, had broken down, that it was all Their fault, the fault of Those who did not give Her enough love, did not joy in Her cold light enough to give Her a reason to continue to burn, and in anguish She told herself, Be Not, and broke into a million icy shards.
Long ages they made that track, and in the years of darkness They did all by sound, touch, smell, taste, and lost the use for sight, like moles digging under the ground. By the time They boarded the train, they no longer remembered their request. But the Sun, hot and bothered without the Moon to cool Him down guessed Their plight.
The Sun emerged into Their horizon, and wherever He looked, flowers bloomed– in the fields, and along the long train track that led to him. Flowers red and yellow and blue, and all the other shades between them waved in the wind, with no one to see their beauty.
They felt the Sun’s warmth, and thought They had got his blessing. Every few decades one of Them developed sight, and when he spoke of the splendors he saw, he was anointed a Prophet.
The Moon remained broken in a million pieces, frozen, and appeared whole only when the Sun dreamed of her. She waxed and waned as her husband’s ardor grew and fell, and when the Sun forgot her entirely, She retaliated by swallowing him whole.
And that is the story of the Sun, the Moon, and Those that broke her.

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A to Z Stories of Life and Death

If you liked this story you might like some of the stories I wrote for my A to Z last year

As a co-host, I end with A to Z Challenge  reminders:
1. Turn off your word verification. It helps no one. You may moderate comments for a while if you’re unsure.
2. In your comment id, link only to your AZ blog, NOT your profile which may have five other blogs.

3. Leave a link to you when you comment.
4. Comment when you visit blogs. Start visiting with the blog below you on the linky list.
5. Make it easy for people to follow your blog and follow you on social media.
Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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