A/N: Hai! Author here, wants to give you a heads up!
This story will cover from the perspective of different characters. Please refer to the name written at the start of every chapter to note which character that the chapter is currently viewing.
Thank you for giving this story a try! I hope you enjoy the world of Avenor!
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Character : Nathan, A Boy and a Dream.
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As the sun set in the horizon, the wind became harsher as it flew from the highlands to the low. In a desert, sands started flying everywhere following the course of the wind force.
A village can be found surrounding a massive lake, only a hundred meters away from the barren and sandy desert. The oasis was one of the largest inside this large desert, and it is also not very far from the edge of the desert that cuts to a set of trees that formed a forest.
With the skies gradually getting darker, lights began to turn brighter from within the village. Beforelong, all of the village is illuminated by torches, lighting the dark evening beautifully.
After the torches has been lit completely, a loud sound of a horn was announced, marking that the day has ended. Most members of the village headed to their homes to stay for the night, except for those with a business that expects them to operate only at night.
However, amongst them is a single child that did not even realize that the sun has disappeared. The nine year-old child was too deep asleep on the second floor balcony of a large two story building that he didn't even hear the loud horn being blown.
The child… was having too good of a dream.
Footsteps began to be heard from the inside, and the wooden door to the balcony was opened. A middle-aged woman stepped out with a rather worried face, and her eyes grew wider the moment she found the child napping on the chair at the balcony.
The woman quickly walked closer to the child with the intention of waking him up, but seeing just how peaceful the boy was sleeping removes all annoyance within her mind. Her heart melted as she swipes the hair of the young boy from his face, and she studies the cute but handsome face of her son quite closely.
And having his head touched, the boy finally noticed the events on the real world and woke up from his dream. His eyelids began to reveal the bright red pupils that still looked very sleepy, and the same eyes was turned to stare at the middle-aged woman.
"Wake up, hun~. The sun has already set."
The voice of a mother spoke very softly into my ears, and I was forced to realize the current state of the outside world.
With the sun setting, it means that the wind outside is much harsher than before, which can be bad for your health. Not to mention the flying sand and dust coming from the desert, it is really not pleasant to stay out after the sun disappears.
I lifted my hand to wipe the dirt off my eyes, and I stared at the surrounding world more clearly. I noticed that everyone at the village has already went to their homes, and now the street by the lake looks rather empty. It looks like I will have to get up as well.
"Nathan… are you crying?" My mother's concerned voice once again was heard by my ears, and confusion rattles my entire consciousness.
I lifted the hand that previously wiped the dirt off my eyes, and I noticed just how wet they are. I touched my left and right cheeks with both my hands and found the wetness of it to be worrying. Feeling confused, I tried remembering what exactly was I dreaming about.
I don't… remember it.
I turned to Mom and stared at her blankly. "I don't know why, and I don't remember…"
Mom looked quite concerned hearing that answer, but she suddenly coughed up a chuckle. She turned into a light laughter quite shortly after, leaving me rather embarrassed for oddly crying out of nowhere.
"Don't tell anyone, please. I don't even know why this happened." I pleaded her, not wanting my pride to be hurt by everyone mocking me for crying at my age. But seeing Mom's expression after she was done laughing, it looks like I have nothing to worry about.
"I promise, it will be our secret! Now come, I made barbequed chicken for dinner. I know you must be hungry since you skipped your lunch~." Mom turned around and entered the house again, and I was left alone to recover from the long nap I just had at the balcony.
As I got up from the chair, my eyes suddenly caught a glimpse at the world beyond the balcony. My sight was locked onto the horizon far beyond the village, beyond the mountains behind the forest, beyond everything within this world.
The moon… looked very bright, today.
It looked to be a full moon, but it is oddly massive. The moon I've been seeing must not be this big before, because this one looks like it got bigger by twice or something.
For some reason, this felt really wrong!
And so, with the massively inflated moon in mind, I began to rush inside a little panicking. My footsteps stomped loudly on the wooden floor of the house, and I rushed downstairs to the living room as quick as possible.
My eyes were locked onto the dining table that was right below the stairs, and I quickly noticed the people sitting on the chairs to eat dinner. The pairs of eyes were locked onto me the moment they saw me running downstairs, and one person in particular looked annoyed.
"Nathan!! Don't run while going downstairs! You'll trip!", a middle-aged man said as he placed down the cup of tea back to the table. Dad looked like he was just having a nice drink of warm calming tea when he saw me running downstairs.
I ignored his warning and kept on rushing down, and I finally arrived at the bottom of the stairs. My eyes were locked onto the three adults in this room that is preparing for dinner.
"What's wrong, hun? You look pale…", Mom was placing down the dining meals on top of the table, and she turned her curious gaze to me once she noticed I was silent.
From across the table where Dad sat down, my grandfather turned his curious gaze to me as well. "Is something wrong?"
With everyone keeping their curious eyes on me, I finally gave them what was on my mind.
"I… the moon is very big!!"
I finally told them what was worrying me, and everyone stared at me for a flat three seconds with silence. But, once those three seconds passed, the room turned loud instantly.
"BHAHAH!!! This young lad sure is something!!" Grandpa laughed loudly after hearing my worries, and I can't help but turn confused. I turned my eyes to Dad who is laughing from his seat as well, and the two looked like they found what I said to be a joke.
Only Mom didn't laugh, but her face looked like she was holding it back. She walked over to my position after putting the plates on the table, and she grabbed a hold of my hand.
"Come sit for dinner, honey. I'll tell you why the moon looked so big tonight!" Mom said cheerfully, and I can't help but wonder how she too knew about it.
Everyone looked so calm and even find it funny, but I find it really scary. After all, the moon looked like it got twice as large than before, as if it is going to be even bigger tomorrow.
I sat down on the chair right next to Grandpa, and Mom helped me tuck in the napkin on my shirt. I stared at the plate in front of where I sat, and I noticed tonight's dinner was indeed barbequed chicken. My favorite dish of all time.
"Even the great Nathan is afraid of the large moon, hmm~?" Next to me, my grandfather teased me while wearing a really wide smile, and Dad laughed on the seat across us.
"Father, don't tease Nathan like that. He probably did not know what it means!" Dad said while defending me, and I wasn't quite sure by what he meant exactly.
"Nathan, the moon that you saw on the skies just now is known to be a special event called the 'Supermoon'." Mom explained to me as she sat down on the seat next to Dad, and she picked up the spoon and fork to eat.
"A supermoon?"
"It is an event where the moon seemed like it was larger than usual, and it happens because the moon was indeed much closer to us than it has been before." Mom continued explaining, and I turned extra horrified.
"Then, it was really dangerous!!"
"Not exactly~, because for the next few days, the moon will just drift away from our planet. Going back to its original position."
… Oh.
Next to me, Grandpa lets out a rather loud chuckle as he grinned at me. "Look at this young lad! He is already quite well acknowledged regarding the skies!"
"Of course. Nathan is my son, after all!" Dad took pride in my intelligence very openly, which resulted in enmity coming from the person next to him.
"Excuse me? I was the one who taught him everything, not you?" Mom worn a rather grim smile as she spoke with a little hint of annoyance. "All you did was showing Nathan how to fight with fire."
"All I did… what!? Are you undermining the importance of combat!?"
"I'm just saying~, sometimes knowing how the moon and stars align can be more powerful than simply throwing a punch."
"That is the nerdiest thing you've ever said to me." Dad said without thinking of the consequences, and it's very clear to me and Grandpa that Mom just busted a vessel on her thin neck.
On his seat, Grandpa only cleared his throat to stop the couple from arguing. "Now, now! I think we can both agree that Nathan being afraid of the moon turning larger is a good thing! Because it means that he understands the true size of the moon, unlike most children."
Grandpa said something positive once in a while, and I only turn confused by what he said. I turned my gaze back to him and asked him a question.
"But, why does the moon get this close to us?" I asked him, fully not realizing just what kind of person my grandfather is.
Hearing the question, Grandpa only laughed awkwardly as he took a large bite of the barbeque chicken. Noticing his silence, Mom waved her hand at me to capture my attention.
"It's because the moon circles around the earth, honey. As the moon circles the earth, there are bound to be moments where the moon is at the closest position to the earth within its course. Sometimes, it can appear even bigger than how we expected!" Mom explained long and clear about how the supermoon happens, and I still have some confusions about it.
"The closest position…?"
"Yes! The moon circling our earth is not always at a fair distance. Sometimes it's far away, and sometimes it's really close like how it is currently. You just never noticed it when the moon is really far."
"Then, does it mean the moon will become tiny when it gets too far?"
"Haha! Well, maybe not as tiny as you think?" Mom took the first bite of the chicken after answering, and I turned my glare to my plate as well.
"Well, like your mother said." Grandpa said out of the blue, which made Dad scoff out of nowhere.
"You never even know the answer to that."
"Of course I do! I just let her explain because I was eating."
"Sure~, sure~." Dad then proceeded to eat his meal as well, leaving Grandpa with so much annoyance.
Meanwhile, I was left alone very confused. The answer Mom gave me was quite clear, but I just can't imagine that the moon can ever get closer to our planet. And I just can't tell why I'm still feeling a bit odd about it.
Until finally, the words came to my tongue without I even realized.