Fiction Friday - The Moon Fairies

Only a few were out tonight. The moon had risen early in the afternoon, so it would be already quite high in the sky when it was dark. A short night's work before it set in the wee hours. 

Lala looked around at her companions, and blushed when Crios caught her eye. The bioluminescent moon fairies were scattered around the park, illuminating plants as the gibbous moon shone down. The trick was to move appropriately as Luna traversed the sky on her slow, nightly pilgrimage. 

Lala flew around the big tree that cast its shade everywhere and found a patch of grass where moonlight needed a fairy boost. Light came through the tree's leafy shadow, and Lala had skill in finding the right spots to brighten. She had aced her Astronomical Geometry class, and was trusted to handle the tricky shadows. 

Crios eyed the moon and flew to her side, gauging that he had a few minutes. "Hi Lala. Nice to see you here tonight."

"Yes! I mean, you too. Were you out last night?"

"Off duty. This is your specialty." He gestured around at the park, a glorious blend of shadows and glowing, moonlit trees, shrubs, and flowers. Lala looked away in humble pride and distracted herself by glancing up at the moon and attaching moonglow to a new patch of grass that just opened into the light.

"They call you in special for mixed weather nights, though, right?" Everyone was good at something. Yes, Lala had impressive credentials and was on her way up to supervisory Moon Fairy. A title with Capital Letters, but no one did the job alone. Crios was an attractive, sweet boy. She wanted to return his compliment and remembered he had a gift for Astronomical Meteorology. He grinned at her praise.

"That's true. That makes my schedule a little hard to pin down, but it is nice to do what I enjoy."

Lala graced him with a wide-eyed stare. "I don't know how you can enjoy it. Weather-nights are so chaotic to me! I'm good with Luna following her schedule, but ... clouds? Moving clouds? Winds that might pick up and change the shadows? Better you than me!" He laughed, but a shadow passed over them and they both looked up, startled.

"Must've been a hawk," he said. But they'd both noticed the new position of the moon. "I'd better get back to my post. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah..." Lala wanted to say more, to ask him to stay after their shift and drink the dew from the new flowers as the night darkened before dawn, but she said nothing. "See you tomorrow, Crios."

It's FICTION FRIDAY!

Every Friday I write a new flash fiction piece. If you have a writing prompt you'd like to see turned into a story, just leave it in a comment.

This story was inspired by a Chinese student of mine who goes by the English name "Moon" and called herself a moon fairy during one of our classes.