The Scenery melted… into a blank frontier with one girl, thin and slender as the wind, five foot two, and chocolate mousse hair. “Not so many books ago,” began the Narrator. “That one girl decided to run away from the world. She found herself alone, with only Moon and Sun as her only friends, keeping constant watch on her.”
“Moon,” asked the girl, “Why do you listen to me?”
“Because you are worth listening to,” replied the moon.
“Moon? Why do you watch me everywhere I go?”
“Every little duck is watched by someone.”
“Moon? How come you ran away from the Sun?”
“Because I wanted to be independent.”
“Sun would rise and fall, but so would its patience,” continued the narrator.
“Sun?”
“What?!?” Sun would shout.
“Sun,” preceded the Girl, now timid. “Why did you leave the moon?”
“He Left me! Good riddance.” said Sun.
The girl would cry during the day sometimes from Sun’s rudeness and disrespect. Other days she laughed at Sun’s happiness. Sun was a bit bi-polar, you see. Occasionally Sun would stop to care about the girl’s feelings, but she always kept moving forward.
The next time caring Moon rose, he asked the young teen a big question.
“Girl?” asked Moon.
“Moon?”
“Girl would you like to marry me?” The Girl didn’t know what to say. “Girl?” The Slender as the wind, five foot two, and Chocolate mousse hair girl fell to the ground.

When Morning came, and Sun saw this, she decided to help by finding anyone on this small planet. Sun frantically searched for anyone. She found a tall sugary personality of a boy with skin as the moon, eyes deep and clear as a lake but with a passion brighter than the sun, about five foot ten.
“Boy! What’s your name?”
“Scott,” he said.
“Scott, follow me,” Sun replied. One day later, Sun caught up to the plain frontier.
Scott ran over to the girl, who was still unconscious. He laid her flat on the ground, then not knowing what else to do, he gently rubbed his lips to hers. The fair young maiden flickered open her eyes, saw Scott, and then ran into the forest, scared. She had not seen a ‘boy’ for many years and never so close that you can hear his heart beat faster and faster when they draw nearer to you. The girl hid behind the tree, waiting for anything except for the light skin boy to follow her.
“Hello?” Scott walked into the forest. “Hello? What is your name?” My name? Why, I can’t remember! Moon and Sun never cared for my name before, thought the Girl.
“Francine,” she whispered. Francine stood behind him.
“Francine?” He said, turning around. “Hullo. My name is Scott.” Francine stepped out of the shade of the tree into the light of the sun. Her dress reflected the sunlight off of the sequins around her waist onto Scott. The sky blue at the bottom of her dress faded into midnight around her waist then backed out at her shoulders into holy clean white.
“Hello Scott.”
Not knowing what else to do, Scott held out his hand. Francine tilted her head, confused. “You shake it,” Scott hinted.
“Well, that’s a silly thing to do,” Francine replied with a giggle.
Scott retrieved his hand into his pocket then laughed also. “Yes, I guess so.”
After a while, when they had become better acquainted, Francine asked, “Why did you come here?”
“I followed Sun.”
“Oh,” she said, as if it was a question.
Sun was setting by time they were finished talking, comparing, and listening. Many of the things they talked about made either one of them butterfly-y inside.
“Oh, no,” said Francine. “You have to leave.”
“Why?” asked Scott. “Did you not have fun?”
“NO!” Francine blushed then said, “I … Uhh… It’s just that… you… you have to…,” Francine stuttered. Moon rose higher and higher in the sky, and finally it shone brightly over the plains.
“Francine,” whispered the shadow of the moon. “Francine!” Scott, curious, did what Francine told him to do, and dashed into the forest.
“Moon?”
“Francine… our deal,” began Moon.
“I never agreed.” She said, independently, “Moon, give me three reasons why I should marry you.”
“One,” began the moon, confident. “You’re pretty. Two, I want you forever. Three, If you left me, I will cry.”
“Scott!” Francine called her confidence now shaken, unsure of what to do next. Scott stepped out of the forest. “Scott, am I pretty?”
Scott replied, “No,” in a matter-of-tone voice. Francine gasped.
“Would you want to stay with me forever?”
“Francine, I uh…” A tear rolled down her cheek.
“If I walked away, would you cry?”
“No, but…”
Francine took a deep breath, and went to join Moon forever when Scott grabbed her wrist. “You’re not pretty. You’re beautiful.” He tugged on her arm and she turned around. “I need to be with you forever.” Scott pulled her closer for a second. “And if you left me I wouldn’t cry. He pulled her closer. “I’d die.” Their mouths, inches apart, so Francine finished the gap, leaning forward….
“Oh BOO HOO! BOO HOO!” cried the moon, mocking us. “And now I suppose you’ll live happily ever after, like every other sob story. Well, I’ll kill you both.”
“NO!” shouted Francine. The moon turned to her pleasingly. Scott turned to her, frightfully curious. “If… If I live with you… will you promise not to harm Scott?”
“Francine? Why?” Scott asked. He grabbed her arms, scared to lose her.
She looked him straight in the eye, and said, “If it means losing you forever, it’s not worth dying. I’d rather know you are safe, than lose you from my reckless mistake.”
“Francine, it doesn’t have to be this way,” Scott started.
“Yes it does if I want you to live,” Francine answered, staring into his skull.
Francine hugged him tightly, and then slowly let her hand slip away. Francine stepped into the Moonlight. The moon beamed her up into space, where she was on him.
Scott crushed. His brain couldn’t think. His heart wouldn’t beat. His laugh wouldn’t begin ever again. His tears grew dry. He sat done, and waited to be destroyed by the moon, or for the sun’s brightness to shoo him away.

On the moon, Francine drew Math equations in the dirt. They always ended with ‘I < 3U’. Francine brought her legs to her face, laid down, and cried. The moon saw this and didn’t care. Francine got up about three lunar days later, and began to wander around the surface of the moon. She found a graveyard. “What is this?” She said. She read the tomb stones in her head one by one, counting the roman numerals as she went.
Wife Number I. One.
Girl number II. Two.
Youngster Number III. Three.
Companion Number XXVI. 26.
Consort Number XL.40.
Spouse Number XLV. 45.
Lass Number LX.60.
Schoolgirl Number C. 100.
Star CC. 200.
Planet D. 500.
Sun. 501.
“Oh Scott! Please save me!” Francine begged in her head. Then she ran. She didn’t care where. Just away from the truth. Away from this murderous Moon. Away from all 501 dead souls my Moon killed. Away from my Moon. Away from the Moon. Away from It.

Scott waited for Sun, but she never came. Then he decided to look for something to reach Francine with. Nothing popped into mind. Scott roamed along the planet, looking for something. Anything. For Francine.
CLINK! Scott looked down at his foot. A lamp. Scott picked it up. He rubbed the lamp, trying to read the inscription on it. BOING-O! A shaking grasped the planet, as if the kid was trying to get a quarter stuck in a piggy bank. Green smog floated out. “HEL-LO!” shouted a booming hearty voice. A floating being popped out. “I am GENIE!”
“Hi… I’m Scott.” Scott thought for a second. “You said you are a genie?”
“Yes-sir. You get 3 wishes master.”
“Please call me Scott.”
“Oh anything Master, I mean… Scott.”
“How are you today?”
“I’m fine. Do you have a first wish right now?”
Scott thought long and hard, because seeing the genie startled him. “Yes. But first. Is there any rules?”
“Yes. 1) I cannot give you more wishes. 2) I cannot grant you love.”
“Okay,” Scott continued the thought in his mind ‘til he grasped it again. “I wish I was with Francine.”
The Scene malted into the moon’s landscape. Scott saw Francine gasping for air over in the corner, and ran over to her. “Francine? Are you okay?”
She shook her head more. Moon laughed. Was he… strangling her? “C’mon we are getting you off of here.” Genie zoomed over. “I wish we were on the planet again.” The scene melted into the planet, with the plain frontier. Genie looked hopeful of my last wish. “I wish that the moon was destroyed forever.” Genie’s heart sank. Poof, the moon was gone. Sun came over the planet’s shoulder. I dragged Francine and the lamp over to the shade of the trees.
“Francine?” Francine wasn’t breathing. She wasn’t moving. My heart split. I leaned down, for one last kiss, letting it last long and sink into their lips. “Good-bye Franny.”
Francine mumbled something. Scott turned his head, looking at her face. “Don’t call me that,” she whispered with a laugh. Scott rushed over and pulled her up forward. When the Sun caught a glimpse of this, she blew a trade wind, painting our clothes. Francine’s changed to a muted pink and Scott’s into a royal blue’ prince’s uniform. Scott leaned again, but Francine stopped him.
“Anything wrong?”
Francine bit her lip. “Scott.” He smiled a little when she said his name. “I don’t want you to take this the way,” She continued, “But I am one-fourth vampire.” Her eyes drifted to the ground.
Scott thought of it for a minute. “I don’t care. I love you.”
Francine shyly smiled. “I love you too, Scotty.” Francine’s eyes wandered to the lamp. “What’s that?”
“Oh. That’s a genie’s lamp.”
Francine enthusiastically went to grasp it. She rubbed it slowly and deliberately. Genie popped out again. “Hello, madam.”
“Hello.”
“May I be of your assistance?”
“Yes,” she said, after thinking for a minute. “What is your name?”
“Genie, Master.”
“Oh, please call me Francine.”
“Francine.”
“Why are you stuck in there?”
“I don’t know. I was born there. Either way, long story short, you get three wishes.”
“Oh,” said Francine. She looked at Scott for a minute, then at genie and said,” I wish that we could have everything we needed, but only when we need it.”
“That’s a good wish.” Genie flicked his fingers and sparkle spun in the air, letting them know the wish had been granted. “Anything else?”
“Yes. One more.” Scott was curious to hear her second wish. “I wish that you could have freedom.”
Genie flicked his fingers, then realized what she said. “You mean it?” Francine nodded, smiling. “Is there anything else you want? You do have one last wish.” Francine looked at Scott, then at Genie. She signaled for him to come closer, in order for him to hear her and Scott not to. “That’s a hard choice. I’ll give them both.”
“Good-bye!” Francine waved her hand away. Scott raised his, as if thanking him.
“What did you ask for?”
Francine shyly looked at the ground. “One of them was to be able to go in the sun.”
“And the other….”
“A baby girl.”
Surprised and shocked, Scott smiled, and then turned to Francine. He kissed her forehead. “I love you.” Francine smiled as they walked hand in hand into an everlasting mid-day sun.