In the pitch-black darkness of night, empty markets. Whispers of nearby tree leaves mixed with the sound of night crickets. People sleeping in their huts, some at peace from life's hardships under the comfort of dreams, while others are followed by their fears and sorrows into their illusory world, turning their dreams into nightmares. But inside one of the huts, in one of the beds, Jenny was tossing and turning left and right, unable to sleep. She slowly opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling, and after several moments, Jenny got up from her bed heading toward the water jug with a face full of exhaustion. She took a glass of water and began drinking. After finishing, she turned around to find all the girls sleeping in their beds while she was unable to sleep. She began wiping her eyes while thinking, "I haven't been able to sleep well for 5 days while they sleep so quickly, this really bothers me." She took a deep breath and headed toward the door, leaving the hut.
The cold night breeze greeted her outside. She began walking through the streets while the only thing illuminating the place was the dim moonlight. She raised her head upward, looking at the moon in the sky and said in a soft voice: "Just you and me as usual. Lonely as always, dear moon, reflecting the burning sun's light into gentle light that illuminates the darkness of night." After walking for a while, she found a chair in front of one of the huts, headed toward it and sat down. She took a deep breath while looking toward the ground. After several seconds, she raised her head toward the moon and said with a tired face: "Do you know, moon? You're my only true friend. Whenever I'm alone, you're beside me... (a moment of silence) Do you remember the first time we met?" She remained silent for several seconds before a slight smile appeared on her tired face: "You still remember! Haha, yes, I looked silly at six years old."
Jenny closed her eyes, recalling her memories at age 6, sitting in front of her house door (the cave) on a rainy night with a frowning face. The door slowly opened and her father came out. He looked at her with surprise: "What are you doing outside, little one? You'll catch cold." Jenny looked at her father and said in a sad tone: "Why aren't there other people I can play with? I'm tired of being alone most of the time." Expressions of worry appeared on the father's face. He remained silent for several seconds with feelings of tension overwhelming his body, thinking about how to tell her the truth at such a young age, until suddenly an idea came to him. A slight smile appeared on his face and he pointed toward the moon saying: "You're not alone, look at the moon, it's lonely in the sky, shy with no friends. How about you become its friend? It would be happy about that." Expressions of surprise appeared on her face and she said: "Really?" The father patted her head and continued saying: "Of course, it's always there at night and sometimes even during the day, so you can talk to it all the time." Slight expressions of happiness appeared on her face, and she directed her gaze toward the moon and said to it in a shy tone: "Mr. Moon, would you accept becoming my friend?" Silence filled the place, making Jenny think the moon didn't want to be her friend, causing expressions of sadness to appear on her face. The father quickly handled the situation and changed his voice tone to a gentler one, trying not to open his mouth too much so Jenny wouldn't notice he was the one speaking, and said: "Yes, Jenny, I accept being your friend." Jenny directed her gaze toward the moon with wide eyes and a big smile while feelings of happiness filled her heart, and said to it in an excited tone: "Thank you."
(Back to the present)
Jenny laughed softly saying: "Haha, I remember I stayed up the whole night talking to you, those were the happiest days of my life." Silence filled the place while Jenny continued looking at the moon, but suddenly she heard the sound of footsteps from afar, which struck her with sudden terror. Her heartbeat quickened and she quickly directed her gaze toward the source of the sound to see Joseph walking toward somewhere in the distance. When she found it was Joseph, she relaxed somewhat, but she wondered why he too was out at night. "What's this? He scared me, why is he awake at this hour? Is he also unable to sleep?" A kind of curiosity came over her about what Joseph was doing, so she decided to go to him and ask.
She headed toward the place he went to find he had disappeared. Her feelings of surprise and confusion increased as she wondered where he had gone. She decided to head straight forward hoping to find him in the vicinity. She continued advancing until she began hearing Joseph's voice behind one of the huts. Jenny didn't want to reveal herself, so she decided to peek at him from behind one of the huts from a distance. She showed part of her eyes so she could see him while the rest of her body was behind the hut. She found Joseph in front of the village wall looking at it while talking to someone. Jenny couldn't see the person because of the darkness, so she tried to focus on them but couldn't. She remained standing in place for several minutes trying to figure out who the person he was talking to was. The moonlight began moving toward the place where the unknown person was standing, and after some time passed, the moonlight completely reached that person. As soon as Jenny saw him, her heartbeat quickened and expressions of shock and terror appeared on her face. She slowly backed away, being careful not to let them hear her. After several seconds, she had moved far enough away from them, then headed quickly toward her hut, with expressions of terror and shock still on her face. After arriving, she headed directly to the bed trying to forget what she had seen. She remained terrified while looking toward the door, imagining that he had noticed her and would enter at any moment. Although she had looked at him for only a few seconds, she remembered his face clearly: a somewhat tall creature with a human head filled all over with human mouths, with a thin body showing bones beneath his skin, and on his shoulder small bones like goat horns. Since Jenny saw this creature, she kept hearing incomprehensible whispers throughout the night, leaving her in a state of terror until sunrise.
(The End)