Once, a long while ago, the Moon sat in

his spot in the sky. With all of the

twinkling stars around him, he

thought, "I am lonely."

He looked around him at all that he could see and continued, "Even though I have all of these stars around me, I am lonely. And they only twinkle among themselves anyway.

He looked at the earth below. It was so tiny, and somewhat crowded. It wasn't like the sky at all. Here in his spot in the sky, he had eons of room and could see for longer. But down there, there were so many buildings, mountains, people, all just piled on top of one another.

But there was still something about the earth to which the moon was elementally drawn . The people there, though they were all piled up on each other, seemed to have something he didn't. They didn't seem lonely at all. In fact, he didn't think they could ever be lonely with all of those other people out there to talk to.

The moon wanted what all of those people below him had. He wanted someone to talk to, someone to share time and space with, some one to

love.

So, the moon looked out into the quiet of space, and with all his cosmic might, he wished earnestly for the thing that might solve his loneliness. He wished to be human.

The next morning, when he would normally find himself on the other side of the world, he instead found himself IN the world.

He was much smaller, but the world looked

so much bigger! He was overcome with joy!

He'd gotten his wish! But though

he'd gotten his wish, there was still something wrong.

He was still, very much alone. He was around

a bunch of people, but none of them were really

for him. He'd had this magical gift given to him,

but he was still lonely.

So he looked up to the sky, the boundless space that he once called home, and he cried his first human tears. As he felt his heart ache for the first time, he whispered, "I am still lonely."

And as he cried, something shifted. It was as if

the sun and the daytime sky had heard his plea. For there in the distance, through his first human tears, the Moon could see something in the distance ...