Buddy trailed behind me for a bit, then pushed in front to lead the way. We squeezed between stalks and leaves and yellow corn until we got to a clearing—a perfect bald circle of dirt. I shined the flashlight down for a better look. The circle was outlined with yellow pictures and stick figures that looked like the Indian drawings found inside caves. I studied them for a minute like a child looking at a picture book. Some of them looked like the phases of the moon. A moon that slowly turned into a man, then circled back into the moon. Odd.
I also noticed a coffee can lying nearby, surrounded by broken eggshells and some dried corncobs. The person who drew this used egg yolks as paint and the cobs as a brush. Art supplies?
I stepped into the middle of the circle and closed my eyes, suddenly aware of the blood flowing through every vein in my body, from the large ones in my neck to the teeny ones in my toes. It rolled like a tide, rising and falling. Buddy curled up at my feet, and we stayed that way for a long time . . . until an owl called from a nearby tree, reminding me how late it was.
I passed Ricky’s new and improved go-cart as I walked back to the house. He’d really worked hard, getting it fixed up. He finally admitted that I hadn’t done such a bad job putting it together. I even took some turns riding it down the hill, cutting through the southern breeze. That go-cart really could zoom!
As I crawled into bed, I thought about Mr. Lunas and the cornfield, and my heart swelled a bit. I’d never see him again. Not the way he’d been this summer. Then I remembered a nursery rhyme that Mama used to recite to me when I was younger.
The man in the Moon looked out of the Moon,
Looked out of the Moon and said,
“ ’Tis time for all children on the earth
To think about getting to bed.”
The August heat was too much, so I drew just a thin sheet up over me for covers. I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing. Being so tired, I figured sleep would come right away, but my mind kept going back to that cornfield. I tossed and turned, a small light aggravating my eyes. I reached over to switch off the lamp, but it was already out.
I shot up quickly, looking around. Where was that dang light coming from? Then I found it . . . up under the sheet! It was just a small glow, about the size of a walnut, shining from the palm of my hand. I gasped and flinched, one heartbeat away from fear. Then I squeezed it a few times, watching the beams seep through my fingers. It didn’t hurt a bit. Actually, it felt pretty natural. The biggest smile ever busted out across my face.
I scrunched back down onto my pillow, hugging my hand close to my heart. Mr. Lunas had said he’d left me something. He had. He had indeed.
Moon Facts
The moon is about 225,745 miles from Earth.
It takes the moon twenty-nine and a half days to orbit Earth.
The new moon always rises at sunrise, the first quarter moon at noon. The full moon rises at sunset, the last quarter moon at midnight.
“Blood around the moon” is an atmospheric condition produced by high, thin clouds.
The moon affects the ocean tides (because of its magnetic pull) and the hunting habits of nocturnal animals.
Luna is the Latin word for moon.
The August moon is called the full corn moon.
A blue moon is a second full moon in a calendar month.
During an address to Congress on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy stated: “First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11, with astronauts Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Buzz Aldrin, successfully landed on the moon.
The Man in the Moon does exist. Look up on a moonlit night and make a wish.
About the Author
Dotti Enderle is the author of numerous books for children and educators, including the Fortune Tellers Club series, Grandpa for Sale (cowritten with Vicki Sansum), and The Cotton Candy Catastrophe at the Texas State Fair. As a professional storyteller, she has entertained at numerous schools, libraries, museums, and festivals since 1993. A native Texan, she lives with her family in Houston. Visit her at www.dottienderle.com.
Published by Delacorte Press
an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
a division of Random House, Inc.
New York
This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2008 by Dotti Enderle
Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Kristina Swarner
All rights reserved.
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eISBN: 978-0-375-84896-4
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