WEBVTT

1
00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:10.400
<v Speaker 1>The night the moon stayed was a Tuesday, though no

2
00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:14.439
<v Speaker 1>one remembered that later. What they remembered was the light.

3
00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:18.839
<v Speaker 1>It came through windows and over rooftops and between the

4
00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:23.079
<v Speaker 1>leaves of every tree in the valley, soft and silver

5
00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:28.199
<v Speaker 1>and somehow warmer than anyone expected moonlight to be. Elena

6
00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:31.320
<v Speaker 1>noticed it first. She was sitting on her porch with

7
00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:34.320
<v Speaker 1>a cup of tea she had forgotten to drink, watching

8
00:00:34.359 --> 00:00:37.159
<v Speaker 1>the sky the way she always did after dinner. The

9
00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:41.079
<v Speaker 1>moon had been full for two nights, already hanging low

10
00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:45.759
<v Speaker 1>and bright above the eastern hills. But tonight it seemed closer,

11
00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:50.320
<v Speaker 1>not bigger exactly, just closer, as if it had drifted

12
00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:53.600
<v Speaker 1>a few thousand miles nearer to the earth. While she

13
00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:56.359
<v Speaker 1>wasn't looking, she set her cup down on the railing

14
00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:00.679
<v Speaker 1>and leaned forward. The moonlight fell across the garden and pools,

15
00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:04.719
<v Speaker 1>pooling in the hollows between rose bushes, and pooling on

16
00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:07.680
<v Speaker 1>the stone path that led to the gate. The shadows

17
00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:11.439
<v Speaker 1>of the birch trees stretched long and thin across the grass,

18
00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:14.799
<v Speaker 1>and in the moonlight, every shadow looked like a river

19
00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:18.519
<v Speaker 1>flowing toward the house. Elena went inside and called her

20
00:01:18.519 --> 00:01:22.959
<v Speaker 1>neighbor Marta. Marta lived three houses down in the blue

21
00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:26.000
<v Speaker 1>house with the green shutters that she had painted herself.

22
00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:29.200
<v Speaker 1>One summer when her children were away at camp, Marta

23
00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:33.319
<v Speaker 1>answered on the second ring, Are you seeing this? Elida asked,

24
00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:36.319
<v Speaker 1>I am, Marta said, I was about to call you.

25
00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:40.040
<v Speaker 1>They stood on their respective porches and looked up at

26
00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:43.599
<v Speaker 1>the moon. It had not moved. It hung in the

27
00:01:43.640 --> 00:01:47.719
<v Speaker 1>same place it had been an hour ago, directly above

28
00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:50.480
<v Speaker 1>the old oak tree at the end of Maple Street,

29
00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:55.519
<v Speaker 1>its light pouring down like milk into a glass. Elena

30
00:01:55.599 --> 00:02:00.879
<v Speaker 1>thought of that image and smiled, the moon pouring the

31
00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:05.879
<v Speaker 1>world drinking. By nine o'clock the whole neighborhood was outside.

32
00:02:06.599 --> 00:02:11.120
<v Speaker 1>Familis brought blankets and spread them on their lawns. Children

33
00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:14.400
<v Speaker 1>lay on their backs and stared up with wide eyes,

34
00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:20.000
<v Speaker 1>their faces painted silver. An old man named Henry brought

35
00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.680
<v Speaker 1>out a telescope he had kept in his closet for

36
00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:26.400
<v Speaker 1>twenty years and set it up on the sidewalk. He

37
00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:31.280
<v Speaker 1>adjusted the focus and peered through, and then stepped back, blinking.

38
00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.560
<v Speaker 1>It is right there, he said to no one in particular.

39
00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:39.919
<v Speaker 1>It is right there, and it is not moving. The

40
00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:46.080
<v Speaker 1>moon stayed through the night it stayed. Elena fell asleep

41
00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:48.560
<v Speaker 1>on her porch swing and woke at two in the

42
00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:52.120
<v Speaker 1>morning with a blanket some one had draped over her shoulders.

43
00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:56.639
<v Speaker 1>The moon was still there, still hanging above the oak tree,

44
00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:01.240
<v Speaker 1>its light still pouring into the valley. She could hear

45
00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:06.960
<v Speaker 1>crickets singing, and somewhere far away a dog barking softly,

46
00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:10.319
<v Speaker 1>and beneath it all a silence that felt like the

47
00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:14.919
<v Speaker 1>world holding its breath. She went inside and made more

48
00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:19.319
<v Speaker 1>tea through the kitchen window. The moonlight fell across the

49
00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:23.039
<v Speaker 1>counter in a perfect rectangle, so bright she could read

50
00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:26.120
<v Speaker 1>the label on the honey jar without turning on the light.

51
00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:29.680
<v Speaker 1>She carried her tea back to the porch and sat down.

52
00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:34.560
<v Speaker 1>The swing creaked gently beneath her. At three in the morning,

53
00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:38.840
<v Speaker 1>a woman named Rosa walked past Elena's house with her dog,

54
00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:42.639
<v Speaker 1>a small brown thing named Biscuit, who stopped to sniff

55
00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:46.599
<v Speaker 1>at every lamp post. Rosa paused when she saw Elena,

56
00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:51.039
<v Speaker 1>you are still up, Rosa said, I cannot sleep. Elena said,

57
00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:54.800
<v Speaker 1>the moon will not let me. Rosa smiled and looked up.

58
00:03:54.919 --> 00:03:57.639
<v Speaker 1>It is beautiful, she said, I think it is the

59
00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:01.280
<v Speaker 1>most beautiful night I have ever seen. She stood there

60
00:04:01.319 --> 00:04:04.360
<v Speaker 1>for a while, Biscuit sitting at her feet, both of

61
00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:07.039
<v Speaker 1>them looking up at the sky. Then she nodded to

62
00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:11.080
<v Speaker 1>Elena and continued her walk, her shadow stretching long and

63
00:04:11.240 --> 00:04:15.439
<v Speaker 1>dark behind her, a second rosa made of darkness, following

64
00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:18.879
<v Speaker 1>her through the silver night. Elena watched her go. She

65
00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:22.680
<v Speaker 1>thought about how the moonlight changed everything it touched. The

66
00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:26.680
<v Speaker 1>street looked different, softer, as if the edges of things

67
00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:30.399
<v Speaker 1>had been sanded smooth. The cars parked along the curb

68
00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:34.199
<v Speaker 1>looked like sleeping animals. The trees looked like they were

69
00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:38.040
<v Speaker 1>made of silver wire. Even the air looked different, thicker,

70
00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:40.399
<v Speaker 1>as if you could reach out and cup it in

71
00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:45.199
<v Speaker 1>your hands. By dawn, the moon began to sink. It

72
00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:50.079
<v Speaker 1>moved slowly, drifting toward the western horizon like a boat

73
00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:55.120
<v Speaker 1>on a quiet sea. The sky lightened around it, turning

74
00:04:55.160 --> 00:04:59.319
<v Speaker 1>from black to blue to pale gold. The moon grew thinner,

75
00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:03.120
<v Speaker 1>its light fading like a candle flame in the morning wind.

76
00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:07.360
<v Speaker 1>Elena watched it go, feeling a strange sadness she could

77
00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:10.680
<v Speaker 1>not explain. She had not wanted the night to end,

78
00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:14.160
<v Speaker 1>She had not wanted the moon to leave but the

79
00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:20.079
<v Speaker 1>moon did leave. Eventually, it slipped below the hills and disappeared,

80
00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:23.079
<v Speaker 1>and the sun rose, and the world turned warm and

81
00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:28.000
<v Speaker 1>ordinary again. The neighbors went back inside, The blankets were

82
00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:32.439
<v Speaker 1>folded and carried away. Henry put his telescope back in

83
00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:36.839
<v Speaker 1>the closet. Elena poured out her cold tea and washed

84
00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:40.879
<v Speaker 1>the cup through the window. The morning light was golden

85
00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:44.920
<v Speaker 1>and ordinary, nothing like the silver river that had poured

86
00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:48.000
<v Speaker 1>through her kitchen in the night. She stood at the

87
00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:51.800
<v Speaker 1>sink for a long time, her hands in the warm water,

88
00:05:52.839 --> 00:05:56.720
<v Speaker 1>thinking about the moon and how it had stayed, not

89
00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:00.519
<v Speaker 1>because it had to, not because anyone asked it too,

90
00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:04.720
<v Speaker 1>but because some nights are meant to last longer than others.

91
00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:08.439
<v Speaker 1>She dried her hands and walked back to the porch.

92
00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:13.720
<v Speaker 1>The garden was bright with sun, the roses open, the

93
00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:17.319
<v Speaker 1>birch trees swaying in a breeze she could not feel.

94
00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:20.720
<v Speaker 1>She sat down in her chair and closed her eyes,

95
00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:24.519
<v Speaker 1>and behind her eyelids she could still see it, the

96
00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:29.120
<v Speaker 1>moon hanging above the oak tree, its silver light pulling

97
00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:32.439
<v Speaker 1>on the grass like something you could step into and

98
00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:37.920
<v Speaker 1>sink through, soft and deep and endless. That night, when

99
00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:41.279
<v Speaker 1>Alina sat on her porch again. The moon was gone.

100
00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:45.240
<v Speaker 1>The sky was dark and full of stars, but the

101
00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:49.600
<v Speaker 1>moon had moved on, following its own path across the sky.

102
00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:52.720
<v Speaker 1>She looked up at the empty space where it had

103
00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:56.480
<v Speaker 1>been and smiled. She knew it would come back. The

104
00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:00.560
<v Speaker 1>moon always came back, and when it did, she would

105
00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:04.480
<v Speaker 1>be here on her porch with her tea, watching the

106
00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:08.839
<v Speaker 1>light pour down into the valley, Soft and warm and

107
00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:13.800
<v Speaker 1>impossibly gentle, the way only moonlight can be. She closed

108
00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:17.399
<v Speaker 1>her eyes and let the quiet of the evening settle

109
00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:21.360
<v Speaker 1>around her like a blanket. Somewhere in the distance, a

110
00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:25.600
<v Speaker 1>bird sang one last song before sleep. The air was

111
00:07:25.720 --> 00:07:30.279
<v Speaker 1>cool and sweet, and Ailina felt herself drifting, not quite

112
00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:34.399
<v Speaker 1>asleep but not quite awake either, suspended in the soft

113
00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:38.519
<v Speaker 1>space between day and night, between here and there, between

114
00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:41.920
<v Speaker 1>the memory of moonlight and the promise of its return.

115
00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:45.240
<v Speaker 1>And in that gentle space she slept