*sm_save 0 | false | Start of Memories
[b]About Six Years Ago...[/b]

It's dark. Very dark. If Caylor wasn't pulling you along, his hand clasped firmly over yours, you would probably get lost in the night in mere moments.

You've been walking for hours, ducking through craggy rocks and crawling through rubble and climbing over rough stone. Your knees are skinned and your legs are very tired and your head is swimming.

"Just ahead," he whispers, his excitement making his voice tremble.

"It's cold," you say. You should have worn more but your coat was in the front closet. You might have woken up your parents if you tried to retrieve it before crawling out your window to join Caylor on his latest adventure.

"Oh."

A moment of panic strikes you when Caylor lets go of your hand. You hear shuffling in front of you. Darkness and dark shapes, it's impossible to see what's happening.

Then Caylor reaches out to you and helps you put on his coat.

"There," he says. "Come on."

He takes your hand again and leads you forward.

How many hours has it been?

Twigs snap under your shoes. Crickets sound all around you. It's strange that the night could be so noisy. This is when everything should be sleeping.

Finally, you see a soft blue glow ahead. Caylor's pace quickens and you have to jog behind him.

Then you see the world again, as if through an enormous window. Caylor guides you to stand beside him in the jagged circular opening in the rockface.

The full moon sits low in the sky, blazing it's blue-white brightness over an endless forest below. Stars twinkle around it, respectfully keeping a distance from it's splendid radiance.

The moon shouldn't be here. It shouldn't be back in the sky for months.

"This is the other side of the mountain. We went straight through it," Caylor explains. "Well, kind of curved through it here and there. But this is where the moon hides this time of year. We can't can't see it from the village because of the Grand Sierra Range."

He turns to you, his smiling face bathed in blue-white incadescense. The glitter in his eyes puts the stars to shame.

He says, "I found this path, see? We can have the moon anytime we want now."

Caylor squeezes your hand.

"What do you think, ${name}?"

*FINISH

You touch your wet cheeks. Were you crying?

You can't seem to remember if tears are hot or cold.