Oct 03 2006
Jack
Once upon a time there was a moonbeam named Jack. He played with the stars and planets and could fly faster than any creature in the UniVerse. He was free and happy and laughed all the time.
He was not kept by any force, oath or viewpoint. Nothing held him backward or forward or side to side. He traveled where he wanted, when he wanted. And saw what he wanted to see when he wanted to see it. No one was in charge of him. He did not have to go to bed at a particular time. Everybody knows that moonbeams don’t sleep, they don’t need sleep being made of pure energy. Nor do they go to school, eat a balanced diet, or do what older moonbeams tell them to do. There was only one rule: to be the brightest moonbeam in the UniVerse (depending of course, on the UniVerse one happened to be in, because, naturally there are millions of UniVerses and some of them simply don’t allow moonbeams).
Jack lived by that rule and was the truest, brightest moonbeam who ever existed. He even learned how to make rainbows at night (this could only be done on planets where there was enough smog and pollution in the atmosphere, as clean-aired planets just can’t produce the intensity of color required.) It was this talent that attracted him to the tiny planet Earth.
He heard talk of planet Earth, a fascinating but dangerous, primitive planet. His curiosity led him there.
One August night in a place called “Seattle” Jack hovered over the San Juan islands and reflected his moonbeam shafts over the water, throwing in some G-torsional space and made a glorious pink, blue, mauve, green, purple,red and yellow “night-bow”.
So spectacular was the phenomenon that a citizen of planet Earth put it on carrier waves which other citizens watched nightly, in order to become sleepy and be able to lie down their bodies for regeneration.
Soon, many citizens of the planet stood on the shores and made approving sounds of the light show. Jack was most appreciative of their appreciation. So much so, that he thought he would like to talk to one of them.
He saw what on Earth they call a “pregnant lady” (a female who carries offspring in their belly) who stood alone. Not on the shore, but on a precipice of a structure. Her eyes shone and reflected all the colors that Jack made. He was drawn to her. He sat on her shoulder but she didn’t notice, so enthralled was she by the beautiful kaleidoscope in the sky. “I wish it would stay that way, forever,” she said.
“You do? Really?” Jack asked. She did not answer him. Maybe she did not hear him and so he asked her again and louder, “Do you really want it to last forever?”
The lady rubbed her protruding belly and smiled. “Are you talking to me?”
Jack found it curious that citizens of Earth spoke to their body parts. He perched himself on her belly and made funny faces at her. She did not react. She did not see him. Jack was perplexed. What did one have to do in order to be noticed on this planet?
Frustrated, Jack ended the light show. The disappointment of the spectators was obvious and vocal, but he didn’t care. He wanted to know why they could see his colors but not see him.
The lady sighed and went into the structure. Jack followed her and was surprised to see another citizen, a male, inside. “Show over?” he asked.
She smiled and nodded. “I wonder what it was.”
“Probably an atmospheric anomaly. They say our sunsets are so beautiful because of all the poisonous gas in the air.” He shrugged. “Who knows.”
The lady put her hands on her hips. “Well, you’re poetic, aren’t you?”
“Okay honey, what’s the matter, you want some Haagen Das?” He grabbed his coat. “What flavor?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t want any ice cream. I….you’re going to think I’m crazy…”
“I’m your husband, I won’t think you’re crazy.” Ah, this citizen was called a husband, Jack made note of it. “What is it?”
“I could swear the baby talked to me,” she blushed.
“Out loud?” asked the husband.
The lady nodded and rubbed her belly again.
Jack realized that the lady had heard him. She simply didn’t know that he was a moonbeam. She thought he was the baby citizen in her belly. The thought appealed to him. What if he became a citizen of planet Earth? It was so warm and safe inside this space. He could get used to it.
“Hey,” Jack said, “can I be your baby?”
The lady looked at the husband. “Did you hear that? Did you hear him ask if I wanted him to be my baby?”
The husband shook his head. Light flashed in his eyes. “What was that?”
Jack laughed. “You can’t hear me, but you can see me, huh, buddy?”
“Kelly,” the husband said, “I heard something. Did you hear it too?”
“I heard it, Mark!”
So intense was the happiness of Mark and Kelly that Jack felt it too. He felt a new feeling. Belonging. He felt he belonged to Kelly and Mark and his own happiness caused colors of every shade and hue to burst from him. The room glowed in his colors. Mark and Kelly gasped, then laughed, then cried.
“Is this a miracle?” Mark asked. “Is that what we’re seeing?”
Kelly clutched her stomach. “I think…it’s time,” she smiled. “The baby is coming.”
Mark reached for Kelly and when his hand touched hers he was pulled into the rainbow. They were flying above the planet, above the galaxy seeing the wonders of UniVerses. There was no pain or worry, just beauty and joy.
“He’s beautiful,” Kelly said looking at her newborn son in her arms.
“The most beautiful baby in any UniVerse,” Mark agreed. “Look, he’s smiling!”
Kelly laughed. “What should we call him?”
“How about, Jack?”
They smiled at each other. Jack it was.
And so, Jack the moonbeam, became Jack the baby. And that is the secret to babies. They are all moonbeams, waiting to be born.
copyright 2006
