Previous Posts:  Part 1 – Sun  /  Part 2 – Moon

The following night when Mouse arrived at the garden, Sun stood silent in the twilight. He had spent the entire day staring at Moon. He knew for certain that he had to reach her, but no idea how.

“There must be a way,” said Mouse, pacing back and forth at Sun’s stem.

“I would move the sun, and the moon, and the stars themselves if I could,” said Sun. “But alas, I can think of no way for me to reach My Love.”

“Then I will go and hunt,” said Mouse. “I am very sorry to leave you, my friend, but I have babies that I must feed and cannot go home with nothing.”

“I understand,” said Sun. “Here, take this,” he said, and lowered his last buddying branch.

“I cannot take that,” said Mouse. “It is your last one. Without your buds, you will die!”

“It does not matter,” said Sun. “Without My Love, I will fade soon anyway.”

Before Mouse had a chance to reply, Sun slashed his bud against a neighboring thornbush.  With a plop, the final bud broke from its base and fell to the dirt.

“Please, take it,” said Sun.

“What will you do?” asked Mouse.

“I will stay here and wilt,” said Sun. “But at least I will be able to see her as I go.”

Not knowing what to say, Mouse twitched her whiskers and licked her paws. She circled Sun’s base a few times, rubbing up against his stalk to cheer him up, but Sun did not respond.

Finally, Mouse edged over to the fallen bud, plucked it up, and headed into the darkness towards her den.

***