Sister Moon

Translation Notice

This article is a work of fiction originally written in Italian. It has been automatically translated to English using an AI tool. The rhythmic and narrative qualities may differ from the original.

"You know what? Let's go to the beach. You and me, without telling anyone" "To do what?" "To watch the moon, right? What difference does it make anyway?" "And your parents? What will they think? We just leave like that?" "They'll understand Shimizu, they'll understand"

They took Koichi's mother's compact car. They didn't even ask for permission, soon everything would be forgiven anyway. Shimizu spent the trip distractedly looking at Instagram and the wall of moon photos. Indeed, in all its magnificence, it was a rare spectacle, though absurd to share; at least now.

Koichi locked the doors until he had moved away from the town center. People on the street intimidated him, looters terrorized him, pillagers pissed him off. He unlocked the doors only when they were safe on secondary roads. Everything was upside down. Absent stares were their companions for the journey, in the few minutes it lasted, to reach the seafront. Without bothering to brake too much, Koichi headed onto the beach, jumping curbs and crashing into abandoned bins. The car stopped on the sand, a few steps from the sea. "Shall we get out?"

Shimizu took off her shoes before getting out, while Koichi catapulted himself out of the car, without bothering to close the doors. Shimizu joined him and sat beside him, with her butt on the sand and her feet in the water.

"Koichi... Why did we come here?" Koichi took her hand. He would have wanted to tell her how much he loved her, how she had been the most important thing in his life and that she was the only reason to be sad that day: because everything beautiful between them would disappear. He would have wanted to say these and many other things, but he only said: "Because from here you can see better."

They held each other close, as the moon grew larger and larger.

From the car radio still came some sound, now indistinct, crackling, that thinned into a faint and melancholic white noise.

They held each other tighter, as the sky in flames welcomed the arrival of sister moon.

Art by upklyak / Freepik