THE MOON DOESN'T FORGET
1450 Words
"Take the child!"
The scream tore through the night like lightning splitting the sky.
An African village slept beneath a full moon, but peace had already died.
Feet pounded against the red earth.
A young woman clutched a wrapped infant tightly against her chest as she ran between burning huts.
Behind her...
Gunshots. And then another intense scream.
Men shouted in a language swallowed by the wind.
"They're coming!"
"Hurry!"
She stumbled.
The child cried.
"No..." she whispered, tears streaking across her soot-covered face. "Please... not you too."
An older woman appeared from the darkness.
Her silver hair glowed beneath the moonlight. And she reached for the infant.
"Give her to me."
"I can't."
"You must."
"They'll kill her!"
"They'll kill all of us if you don't."
The younger woman hesitated.
Another gunshot echoed. And this time it felt really closer.
The elder grabbed her shoulders.
"Listen to me."
"The moon remembers everything but men forget."
"If she stays..."
"...she dies."
The infant suddenly stopped crying.
The elder frowned already in tears while looking at the baby's golden eyes.
Just for a second.
Then...
Normal again.
The old woman's expression changed.
"They've awakened already..."
"What?"
"There isn't time."
She took the child into her arms.
A truck engine roared in the distance.
Headlights swept across the trees.
The elder turned toward the forest.
"Run."
"What about you?"
"I'll make them follow me."
"No!"
"GO!"
The younger woman collapsed to her knees.
"I'll come back!"
The elder smiled sadly.
"I know."
She disappeared into the trees carrying the child.
The younger woman watched until she vanished.
About a minute later, three gunshots echoed through the night.
And then total Silence.
******
Twenty years later.
Ryan Hayes woke with the sound of those imaginary gunshots still ringing in his ears.
He sat upright in bed.
Sweat covered his forehead.
His heart pounded.
"...What was that?" He looked around his apartment.
Everywhere was covered in darkness. And silence was the loudest he could hear.
Only the city lights flashing beyond his window.
He had never been to Africa.
Never seen that village at the same time never heard those voices.
Yet the dream felt… So real.
Probably too real.
His phone vibrated.
Coach Daniels
"Practice. 7:00 a.m. Don't be late."
Ryan glanced at the clock.
6:18.
He rubbed his face.
"I need sleep..."
Immediately, his thoughts drifted back to Luna.
The blood…The warning…The glowing golden eyes.
And one question kept his mind tormented whichhe couldn't escape.
"Why are they hunting her?"
*
The men's gym felt different.
As usual, Ryan's arrival lifted everyone's energy.
Today seemed a bit tense than normal...
Conversations stopped. Players watched him carefully.
Coach Daniels bounced a basketball towards him.
"Sure, you ready?"
Ryan caught it.
"Hundred percent."
Coach nodded toward the basket.
"Show me."
Ryan dribbled.
One.
Two.
Three.
He rose for an uncontested jumper.
Clang.
The ball slipped and bounced hard off the rim.
Everywhere seemed silent.
Noah frowned.
"You missed."
Ryan forced a laugh.
"So?"
"You never miss that shot."
Ryan grabbed the rebound.
"I'll hit the next one." Still he didn't.
Or the one after that.
Coach blew his whistle sharply.
"That's enough." Ryan paused.
Coach walked toward him.
Slowly.
Calmly.
"You know what worries me?"
Ryan wiped sweat from his forehead.
"My shooting?"
Coach shook his head.
"No."
"Your body came back."
He tapped Ryan lightly on the chest.
"Your mind didn't."
The words landed harder than any criticism.
Ryan looked away.
"I'm fine."
Coach sighed.
"I've coached long enough to know when someone is lying."
The gym fell silent.
Coach lowered his voice.
"The Showcase is few days away."
"NBA scouts aren't looking for excuses.They're looking for confidence."
Ryan nodded once.
"I'll be ready, i'll be fine. I promise."
Coach stared at him for several seconds.
"I hope so."
Practice ended early.
Ryan remained behind.
Alone.
He kept shooting. If seemed to be a rollercoaster.
Miss.
Make.
Miss.
Miss.
His frustration grew stronger. A voice behind him interrupted.
"You'll wear the floor out."
Ryan turned.
Professor Grant stood in the doorway carrying two cups of coffee.
Ryan smiled faintly.
"You coach basketball now?"
"Nah, I coach people."
He handed Ryan one of the cups.
"You've been distracted."
Ryan leaned against the wall.
"Can I ask you something?"
Professor Grant nodded. “Sure you can”
"When someone you really care about, but isn't family disappears...do you go after them?"
The professor smiled knowingly.
"Depends."
"On what?"
"Whether they're running from danger..."
"...or running because they're dangerous."
Ryan looked down at his coffee.
"I don't think she's dangerous."
The professor raised an eyebrow.
"'She?'"
Ryan chuckled awkwardly.
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to."
***
Across campus...
Luna sat alone beneath the old oak tree behind the library.
Her notebook rested on her knees.
The page remained blank.
She couldn't write.
Not today.
Not after what had happened outside her apartment. She closed her eyes.
Instantly, a sharp pain shot through her head.
She saw flashes, with storm and thunder escorted with a heavy rainfall
Trees waving violently, like its rapture. While she's running in blood.
A howl.
All of a sudden…Total silence again.
She gasped and opened her eyes.
"...Again."
Her breathing became uneven.
She looked down.
Fresh mud stained the bottom of her shoes.
Her hands trembled.
"I changed these this morning..."
She slowly rolled up the sleeve of her hoodie.
A long scratch stretched across her forearm.
Not deep.
Fresh.
"I...I don't remember..."
She quickly pulled the sleeve back down.
No one could see her.
"Luna."
She looked up.
Ryan stood several feet away.
He smiled gently.
"Mind if I sit?"
She hesitated. "...Okay."
He sat beside her.
Neither of them spoke for a while.
The wind rustled the leaves above them.
Finally...
Ryan broke the silence.
"Someone threatened you."
Luna looked ahead. "...Yes."
"That wasn't the first time."
"No."
"How many times has this happened?"
She smiled sadly.
"I've stopped counting."
Ryan stared at her.
"You said that like you've accepted it."
"I have."
"You shouldn't."
She laughed softly. "You make it sound simple."
"It is."
"No."
She turned toward him.
"It's really not."
Ryan searched her eyes.
"They're not going to hurt you."
"You can't promise that."
"I can try."
"You almost died trying."
They both went silent for a second.
Ryan looked away.
"Maybe you're worth it."
She blinked.
"What?"
"If saving you meant getting stabbed..."
"I'd still do it."
Luna's heart skipped.
For a brief moment...She forgot to breathe.
Then she stood abruptly.
"You shouldn't say things like that."
"Why?"
"Because..." She stopped herself.
Ryan frowned.
"Because what?"
She whispered without looking back,
"...Good people don't survive around me."
Then she walked away.
Ryan remained beneath the tree.
Watching.
Thinking deeply for a moment.
"Who convinced you that?"
Victoria Sterling watched everything from inside her car.
She lowered her sunglasses.
Her expression never changed.
The passenger beside her adjusted a camera lens.
"Did you get it?"
He nodded.
"Every second."
Victoria smiled. "Good."
The man looked uncertain.
"You sure this is just a jealousy thing?"
She looked out the window again.
"No, Don't say that. I don't get jealous."
"I calculate."
She handed him a file.
"Luna Brooks."
"I want everything."
"School."
"Medical records."
"Family."
"Friends."
He flipped through the pages.
"There isn't much."
Victoria's smile widened.
"There always is."
She leaned closer.
"And if you don't find it..."
"...dig deeper."
"What exactly am I looking for?"
Victoria whispered. "Find everything."
"Even the things she doesn't know."
***
Later that evening. Luna returned home.
Her mother was preparing dinner.
"You were late."
"I know."
"You forgot your phone."
"I know."
"You've hardly eaten."
"I know."
Her mother finally stopped chopping vegetables.
"Luna..."
"What happened today?"
Luna looked at her.
"...Mom."
"Yes?"
"What if..."
She swallowed hard.
"...what if I'm hurting people?"
The knife slipped from her mother's hand.
It clattered loudly against the floor.
For a moment...
Pure fear crossed her face.
Then...It disappeared.
"What makes you ask that?"
"I wake up tired."
"I lose hours."
"I keep finding blood."
"I don't remember where I've been."
Tears filled Luna's eyes.
"What if..."
"...I'm becoming som
eone terrible?"
Her mother walked over immediately.
She cupped Luna's face.
"No."
"You're not."
"But…"
"No."
"You would never hurt anyone."
Luna searched her mother's eyes.
"...You're lying."
Her mother smiled.
"I'm your mother."
"I know when you're scared."
"That wasn't my question."
Silence.
Finally...
Her mother whispered,
"...Some truths protect the people we love."
Luna stepped back.
"So you are lying."
Her mother closed her eyes.
"I said..."
"...I'm protecting you."
Luna didn't answer.
She simply walked toward her room.
For the first time in years...
She locked the door.
- Writer
