Lunar Eclipse

Once upon a time there lived a tree.  He was a tall tree, hovering over the entire forest, and quite leafy with lots of twisty branches.  All the creatures loved this tree, for he was a wise and gentle tree but also so much fun.  Every season the birds would come flocking, eager to find the best spot in the leafy branches to weave their nests.  The squirrels would climb up and down and over and under, searching for the perfect nook and cranny to hide their hard earned treasures. And the tiniest of critters, especially the most elegant and beautiful of them all-Little Ms. Lady Bug, would crawl here and there, and drink with joy from the pools of water collected by each leaf.  He was a generous tree and loved his friends just as much as they loved him.  One night, after all the creatures had fallen into a deep, restful sleep, the tree was still awake, humming to himself and feeling grateful for all that he was given.  He arched his busy eyebrows and tipped his head back to greet Mr. Moon.  

"Hello Mr. Moon. How do you do tonight?"

Yawning, Mr. Moon said, "Oh, I'm ok. I guess I'm just bored. Every night I do the same thing and I don't get to have fun like all your friends in the forest. I have to be responsible and light up the sky."

"Oh Mr. Moon, don't you know how beautiful your light is? It shines so silvery and bright, even the stars twinkle with joy to be in your presence!"

"But I want to have fun! I guess I just get lonely up here all by myself."

"Oh, well why don't you come down here for a bit? Everyone is asleep and no one will notice that you left the sky for a few minutes! Come on down and swing on my branches!"

"Oh, really? Do you think I could really do that?  It would be so much fun and make me so happy!"

"Of course!"

"Ok! Well here I come!"

And so Mr. Moon left the sky and swung in the twisty branches, bouncing his light from leaf to leaf, laughing in delight.  When it was time to return to the sky, Mr. Moon felt so refreshed and even brighter than he did before. 

Ever since that evening, from time to time, every once in a while, Mr. Moon still decides to leave the sky for a few minutes and have a little fun with his friend Tree. He heard from his friend in the sky, Ms. Cloud, that the humans have started calling these instances something strange..."lunar eclipse".  Humans are such a funny creature...maybe they too should just have a little fun, take a break, and swing in the branches:).