genrated with meta.ai
Ahmad tossed and turned in bed until his sleepy eyes opened and rested on the full moon outside his window. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was still staring outside when suddenly, he saw something round and silver bounce off the moon. Ahmad became stunned and curious at once. He loved to sleep off watching the moon but had never seen anything fall from the sky like that.
He jumped to his window when two more round silver objects bounced off again. His eyes popped. Ahmad held on tight to the windowsill for another five minutes, anxious for another wonder but nothing happened. His shoulders dropped as he went to sit on his bed. “Maybe it was just a dream,” he mumbled.
“Good morning.” Ahmad hugged his mother. He rushed to the breakfast table and kissed his grandmother’s cheek as he sat. “I’m starving,” he announced, reaching for the toast on his sister’s plate.
“Cut it out you little roach.” His sister slapped his hand.
“No fighting on the table Sisi. Ahmad, Here you go.” His mother cut in.
“I think I had the weirdest dream, Grandma.” Ahmad sipped from his grandma’s coffee. “I saw round and silver things falling from the moon last night. But then they disappeared again.”
Sisi choked on her food as soon as she heard Ahmad. “Haha! Maybe if you stopped drinking so much of grandma's coffee, you would stop having weird dreams. I'm off to school,” she announced, still laughing.
“Hmmh. Don't listen to your sister. When I was eight just like you, my mother used to tell me these stories.” Grandma sipped her coffee. “She said that as a kid, she had seen silver-bellied creatures with long twinkling tails bouncing off the moon like fluffy marshmallows. She said they often come down to play and when they do not make it back in time, something very dark happens.”
“So you believe there are creatures on the moon, grandma?”
“Umhmm,” she nodded.
“Oh, Mum. Don't encourage him. You are late, Ahmad. Time to run.” His mother kissed his head.
“They always come out to play. They bounce around with their silver bellies, wagging their tails and playing in the dark.” Ahmad was whispering to his classmates and the entire class began to laugh.
“Creatures on the moon? That is your imagination, Ahmad.” His teacher turned from the board.
“No, Miss Kins. I saw them last night,” Ahmad argued.
“Now that's enough Ahmad. Do your classwork.”
Ahmad sighed and stayed quiet for the rest of the lessons at school.
“They all just laughed at me, grandma.” Ahmad sat on his grandmother’s bed.
“I believe you, Ahmad. Come, I've got something to show you.” Grandma retrieved an old box from beneath her bed. She opened it and brought out a very long woven yarn. It was in the form of a ladder.
“A knitted ladder?” Ahmad touched it.
“Yes. My mother made it before she died. She had said that someday if she ever wanted to visit the moon, she would climb the ladder.”
“But this isn't a real ladder grandma,” Ahmad said.
“Perhaps it isn't. What do I know?” His grandmother shrugged.
“Can I keep it?” Ahmad asked.
“Sure. Just don't let your mother hear about this. She thinks I am a bad influence.” Grandma winked and they both chuckled.
That night, Ahmad stayed glued to the moon. He stood by his window for hours until he began dozing off. When he almost lost his balance, Ahmad blinked. He had seen something. He stayed focused again until he saw another creature fall.
“Yes!” Ahmad exclaimed. He jumped through the window and began running around the street in the middle of the night. He finally came to the park and sat on one of the benches. Just then, he sighted a fluffy tail wagging behind a slide.
Ahmad jumped and ran to the slide. The creature instantly rolled into a ball and stayed still.
“You don't have to hide. I know you came from the moon.” Ahmad crouched.
The creature slowly rolled out revealing a pair of dreamy round eyes first followed by its silver belly. Then its tail began to shimmer and wag. It bounced and landed on Ahmad’s feet.
“Wanna play?” Ahmad began running around the park playing tag with the creature. Soon, a dozen more creatures peeked out of several corners and joined in.
Ahmad felt so surreal having the time of his life. “My friends would never believe me.” He yelled at the top of his voice.
Ahmad and his new friends played for hours until suddenly, the moon began to fade. The creatures stopped abruptly and their eyes blinked with fear. Shortly, it became pitch-black. Ahmad recalled his grandmother's story. “Something very dark happens,” he repeated. “You are late, you should have returned earlier and now it is too late.” He looked at the creatures and paused for a moment. “Grandma’s ladder!” he announced. “Come on guys, I've got an idea.”
In the dead of night, Ahmad led the creatures to his home. “Wait here,” he said. He snuck back to his room through the window. He could now hear his mother conversing over the phone. “It is pitch-black outside. There is just this dark shadow in place of the moon. Could it be some sort of eclipse?” she’d said.
Ahmad quickly grabbed the yarn and jumped back out. “Maybe this will help,” he said to the anxious creatures as he quickly spread out the yarn. The creatures exchanged glances and instantly, they began linking up on the rails of the yarn. As soon as they all assembled, the yarn began to give off a silver glow beneath their feet. Just like that. The strings of the yarn transformed into metal and elevated vertically, towering to the sky.
Ahmad held his mouth open the whole time in amazement. “Will you come down here again?” he yelled.
The creatures looked back and smiled before bouncing into the sky. The ladder collapsed back into yarn and in that moment, the moon regained its lustre. Ahmad smiled. He rolled the yarn and snuck back into his room.
“I told ya, didn't I?” Grandma’s voice startled Ahmad. “Go to bed now kiddo. You've had quite an adventure.”
Ahmad went to bed smiling and reminiscing about the night. He could not wait for the creatures of the moon to return.
