Arise, the Moon said to the Wolf. The time has come for us to play. Slowly the Wolf rose, yawned and stretched. Wolf shook the dirt and leaves from his coat. The Moon smiled at him as he frolicked in the light she cast. Running in and out of the shadows, she watched. Watching his antics made her smile. They became amazingly close.
Every night she rose just to watch him. Sometimes she would watch over him as he slept. He would rise and howl his approval at her and she would smile down upon him. The Moon wrapped her light around him. She could feel his warmth.
The more time she spent with the wolf made her realize that she had known him before. It was another time, long ago. On this night she shone more brightly than usual. The Wolf say and howled to her. Her smile was more radiant than usual and caught the attention of the Sky. The Sky exploded with light blocking the Moon from sight. The Sky turned red and stars flew towards the Moon. She was frightened by the anger she saw. Moon faded into the darkness.
She tried to command her place in the sky, but Sky would not let her shine. She tried to shine so that the Wolf would see her. Sky would not allow it. She was not allowed to shine at all. The Moon was forced to stay below the horizon, not allowed to show her radiant face.
Time slipped by and again the Moon was able to show her face. Her illumination was weak yet below she saw the Wolf with someone new. She had felt this interloper in her heart. The Sky watched the Moon so that her luminescence could not draw the Wolf back.
Moon watched Wolf and his friend cavort. Something she had not felt in a very long time came to her. "What is this I feel" she asked herself. Pain within. Tears fell from her eyes. It was lost as the Sky gathered Moon's tears so no-one would see them. Moon still couldn't figure out the feeling that wrapped itself around her heart. One evening she spoke very briefly with Wolf, afraid the whole time that Sky would see her. Then and there it became clear to the Moon, she was jealous. She knew she had no right to be. Yet she was.
She rose brightly as she learned again what the Sky's love was. The Sky wrapped himself tightly around the Moon, afraid to lose her. The Moon enjoyed the closeness that returned between them.
Moon had wondered why she and Wolf couldn't be friends again. When she shone brightly on the Wolf he did not howl. Yet Moon saw him with his friend. "Was this friend jealous as Moon had been?" Moon wouldn't know for the Wolf ignored her. He howled no more at her.
She turned fiery red instead of her normal cool silvery white, "Why?" Why was she ignored? She offered friendship and light. Nothing more. Moon's color turned dark again, she lay quietly wrapped tightly in the arms of Sky.
The Moon still watches the two romp around, but now she knows it is she who is the interloper. She didn't belong there with the Wolf. Her place is high in the sky keeping watch over the ones she loves.
So if you have ever wondered about the changing moon, you now know her story.