Beginning

REBORN

Yvonne sighed deeply as she rubbed the swelling on her belly. It's been eight months since the moon disappeared. Eight heart wrenching months of pain and agony, if only the moon could smile on her, serenading her with the peace it brought, she wished. But part of her knew that she didn't deserve it and that she was part of its absence. Her face squeezed as she tried hard to wade off the thoughts that came knocking.

...…

"you know you shouldn't be out after 7pm, remember the priest's words, your danger would come at the dark hours and shadowy corners, tread with caution" her mother warned one night.

"mother oh mother, away with those prejudices, I'm an optimist, priest's just saying. I am 22, and can take perfect care of myself, the moon walks with us" she replied as she rubbed her hair and crossed her chest, a sign the people in her town used to reverence the celestial bodies. She walked out humming leaving her wide agape mouthed mother.

Yvonne cat walked her way to her meeting point with Becca, her best friend who convinced her that she was old enough to get "laid" as she termed it. So she decided that today is the day she was going to let go of what she had held so dear. She was twenty-two and Becca never ceased to remind her that she was letting her youthfulness slip away. Honestly, Yvonne didn't make up her mind to be deflowered because Becca was pressing it, in fact the morals her mother had instilled into her was haunting her as she tapped her feet on the pavement of the lonely alley that has never ceased to be her rendezvous with Becca since when they were nine. "finally" she whispered as she heard rapid footsteps approaching, she had been wondering what kept her friend who promised her a great night at the town's club, so long. She frowned as she realized the approaching silhouette wasn't that of her friend. "passerby maybe" she said to herself although deep within her, she knew very well this alley was rarely used as a passage reason why it was she and Becca's favorite hideout. She looked to the opposite end of alley, trying hard to evade her fears and worry, she prepared to make room for the passerby but was surprised that the footsteps came to a halt right beside her.

Although the moon shone brightly, she couldn't decipher who it was, as the person wore dark clothing and was completely covered, at least she knew it was a man. Scared she turned to take her leave through the opposite end of the alley, when she noticed another approaching figure, same as the one standing right beside her, same type and color of outfit, same outline and same kind of footsteps like well-constructed robots. She shivered even though it was not from the cold, the details of what happened after was carefully locked away and hidden in the deepest part of her mind, but

...…..

Dearest receiver of my tales, this isn't a documentary about Yvonne, my beloved mother (odd smile). Many do not believe in superstition, Para normality or even the alignment and mysterious wonders of the celestial bodies, believe me I used to be that person, but all that changed…

CHAPTER

Most people say that our names form an important aspect of our lives, and that they form a significant role as well, but I tell you what, I don't totally agree to that. Since, a classmate of mine called Peace chose violence as her everyday thing, always disrupting the peace of the class, and there's Justice, the class captain, who always backs up his friends (the bad guys) when issues spring up, puts the innocent ones in trouble and always bears false witness. Yeah, and there is Joy, who is in real sense a kill joy, who tries her possible best to put at least 4 people in a foul mood each day.

My name is Luna, at first I felt my name was kind of weird, although somewhere at the back of my mind, I knew certain circumstances surrounded the selection of my name by my mum and grand mum since I had no father. Growing up, my mum and I never had the bond between a mother and daughter, I was always like a mistake and regret, sometimes her eyes carried a lot of pain and self-pity, it hurts me anytime I looked at her tired face. A face not just tired from hours of work at the mining site, a place she chose to break barriers and single out as the only female miner in my town, a face not just tired from long agonizing bargains with precious stones buyers from the city, a face tired from life and wishing the lids glued to it would shut forever.

I can remember vividly how she scolds me anytime I attempted to uncover my hair at night, plausible reasons she never gave me, I could play around and flaunt my cloud like colored hair but at night I wouldn't dare and even when my mum was absent I was too scared to try it, truthfully I wasn't scared to do it, I was only scared to anger her, her countenance would be too scary to behold. The covering of hair has never stopped till now, I clocked fifteen a month ago but its saddening that I can't go out to the apples corner with girls my age at night time. Phyna had told me how the girls let their hair fly and looked up to the moon chanting the apple song as they hoped the wind carried their songs to the boys at their own corner. Although, I always got excited when she told the stories, I knew there was no way I could go even if I tried hard to convince my mum, she knows what goes on at the corner since she was part of it while growing up, so it will be totally impossible for her to accept it.

Letting phyna's stories be the propeller of my imaginations, I shut my eyes and wandered the land of my fantasies, a slight tap brought me back to reality.

"can we step out to talk, the moon smiles widely tonight, she wants me to talk to you" my mum said, as she carried a dull smile. I mouthed an alright and followed her out.

"do you by chance know what your name means?" she questioned as we sat on the knoll by the house and before I answered I took time to study her face, my mum was a very beautiful woman, one can tell even though time has left a very noticeable impact on her, her dull smile even though weary could still melt hearts, her slender frame even though slightly bent as a result of the hard labor she has been engaging in could still turn heads.

"the moon I think" I replied awkwardly, trying to understand what this was about.

"yes, it is also the name of the goddess of the moon" I wasn't surprised when she said so. But a goddess, that's cool though, I said to myself and smiled.

"don't smile just yet. The day I was raped and you were conceived afterwards, was the day moon disappeared, and the day I was delivered of you, the moon appeared. The people of this town lived without the presence of the moon for nine agonizing month, honestly I blamed myself for it, because the priest warned me, only he, your grandmother and I have linked your birth to the moon, everyone else feels it's a mere coincidence, but the moon graced other towns and even the city with its presence at that time. People claimed the bodies were gradually turning their backs on us, until it reappeared and its gaze eliminated all the fears and worries we bore. Luna it's hard to delve into details right now, those events are tucked away and I'm not ready to bring them up anytime soon. But I want you to know that you're a special human, you carry the most beautiful soul the celestial bodies have bestowed on you, and I know you'll positively affect the world someday, forget that we don't share the bond we are supposed to. Your mom is busy wounding this scarred hands, to give you a comfortable life, I'm sorry I'm not the kind of mother you wanted for yourself" she completed.

"but mom, coincidences happen every day I'm just a normal child, except my cloud like colored hair which is quite an exception. But it's no big deal, I read of unique physical features every time" I replied totally surprised at my mom's superstition. I had thought the trio (grandma, mum and priest) were chronic Catholics, were they gradually succumbing to our town's extreme believe in the celestial bodies and their actions affecting our lives? I asked myself, and what is not uncovering my hair at night about? Plus, so mom was raped and I might never get to know who my dad is, it's bad I can't ask too much questions, it seemed it was hard telling this to me.

As if reading my thought, she calmly stretched her hands towards me, then to my hair and shockingly removed the silk bonnet that housed my elbow length hair, letting it fall like a bird set free. "what will you say about this, then"