I love this story so much, I just have to share it with everyone. If this story touches you, please share it with others so that they can be touched too! (And no, that doesn't sound dirty at all. hee hee)
If you'd rather read than watch the story, here you go:
The Girl Who Climbed A Moonbeam
by Ashley Rae
Once upon a time there was a little girl who really, REALLY needed a hug.
Alone in the Dark Outside, the little girl tried and tried to make a home of sticks and leaves and rocks and things, but the wind blew it down and the rain washed it away.
Then, the little girl heard sounds like footsteps and voices calling her name, but she hid in the darkness, shivering with cold and fear until they were gone.
The night grew darker and colder, until the moon rose high in the sky, softly lighting the Dark Outside. A moonbeam formed a bridge from the sky to the Earth, and a glowing woman with bright, beautiful eyes stepped into the Less-Dark Outside.
The beautiful woman smiled at the little girl and opened her arms invitingly.
Slowly, slowly, the little girl swallowed her fear. Inch by inch she approached those inviting arms until they wrapped around her like a feather-blanket fresh from the dryer.
“My precious daughter, I see you alone, afraid, lost in the dark. May I help you build your home?” the Mother asked in a voice as soft as flowers.
The little girl nodded, and together the Mother and the Child built a house with all the sticks and stones and flowers and mud They could reach. When They finished, the Child saw Her home was a heart, but the heart was cracked and full of holes.
“This heart is strong and will not be blown away by the wind, though it whistles through the cracks; and it will not be washed away by the rain, though the water may leak in through the holes. You can stay here if you feel safe here, my dear. Or You can take My hand and come home with Me.”
The Mother stepped onto the moonbeam and held out Her hand.
The Child stared at the heart-home She'd worked so hard to build. She stared and She stared and though She wanted to go with the Mother, her head screamed NO NO NO. We worked too hard for too long and I haven't even gone inside!
“It's okay if You want to stay here,” the Mother said. “My home is always open to You. Come when You're ready.”
The Mother glided up the moonbeam and was gone. The moonbeam stayed right where it was, and the Dark Outside was not as dark as it'd been before.
The Child sat down inside Her heart-home, looking at the Less-Dark Outside through the holes. Wind whistled through the cracks of Her heart-home and it sounded like a whisper, a questioning whisper. Do you really want to stay here? Really?
The Child shivered and looked around Her broken heart-home. She looked and She looked and She shivered and She shivered.
“No,” She said. “No, I don't want this cold, broken home. I want to feel warm and safe like I felt when Mother held me. I want to go home with Her.”
But when the Child tried to step onto the moonbeam, Her foot passed right through. Again and again She stepped through the moonbeam, tears streaming down Her face.
At last the Child turned to walk away, and She saw that there were chains around Her ankles, heavy chains, too heavy for walking on moonbeams!
The Child pulled and pulled at the chains, but She didn't know how to take them off. She pulled two stones from the walls of the heart-home and banged them against the chains, but the chains didn't even break!
The Child got madder and madder, and the wind blew harder and harder, and the rain poured and poured, until the Child threw back Her head and screamed.
A blinding flash of light struck the ground beside Her, lighting a stick on fire, magickal fire that burned even soaking wet wood, even in the windy wind.
The Child took the torch in Her hand and saw that the chains tied Her ankles to the heart-home. She was so mad she just threw the stick of magick-fire into that heart-home. She watched the magick-fire change that heavy heart-home into tiny, light ashes that blew away in the wind and washed away in the rain, and the chains around Her ankles fell off and melted into the Earth.
The Child finally stepped onto the moonbeam, and she was so, SO tired. Step by step She reached for the moon.
The light was so bright it hurt Her eyes, but She kept stepping.
The path became so soft She thought She'd fall through the clouds all the way to the cold hard ground, but She kept stepping.
Her body became so cold She felt like a thousand needles stuck through Her poor body, but She kept stepping.
And then She saw the Mother standing before Her, Her bright, beautiful eyes shining with pride and love.
The Child felt bigger, taller, warmer. She looked down at Herself and saw the body of a woman, soft and strong, just like the body of the Goddess!
She looked up and saw surprise mirrored in the Mother's face.
Then She saw the frame.
The little girl all grown up looked into the eyes of the Goddess She'd become. She wrapped Her arms around Herself like a feather-blanket fresh from the dryer, and She smiled.
THE END