BBC - The Sun and The Moon (2024)

A long, long time ago, the Sun and the Moon walked the earth, living among humans as equals. Without their light, the Earth turned peacefully beneath the light of the stars.

For generations, the people of the world were happy this way, watched over by their two guardians.

The first guardian was mysterious and beautiful, with flowing hair that glistened silvery white, glowing eyes of deepest blue and skin paler than milk.

Every step she took caused new stars to burst from the ground and leap into the sky, and her people worshipped her as a symbol of feminine beauty. They called her Moon.

The second guardian was strong and handsome, with warm golden eyes, copper-brown skin and a mane of soft black curls.

Even his very laugh could make spring roses bloom from their buds, and his followers adored him for his easy ways and the bright glorious smile with which he could light up the whole world.

He was the Sun, and despite their differences, he shared with the Moon a great friendship and respect.

Although the humans loved their Sun and Moon, they took little notice of the other force with whom they shared their land.

The Wind was vicious, and he had long been jealous of the power the Sun and the Moon held over the earth, and of the love that the people had for them.

Nobody loved the Wind, for he blew icy breath across the land, and howled in the ears of children.One day, the Wind began wondering how he could claim the land as his own.

"If the Sun and the Moon go to war," the Wind pondered to himself, "they will destroy each other and I will be free to take their lands and people for myself!"

The Wind plotted and schemed and plotted some more, forming a deadly plan. He sent a message to the Sun and Moon, sending them on an urgent fool's errand to the North.

Slipping through windows and under doors, the Wind whispered poisonous lies into the ears of the people, turning them, against each other.

To the Moon's tribe, he claimed that the Sun himself had lured the Moon away from her home and was planning to lock her in the darkest cave far away, where her light could never shine.

"Surely not!" they cried, horrified. "It is so," he assured them, "and I hear that the Sun followers will lead a march, here, soon! They seek a battle to destroy the Moon's home so that the Sun alone might rule."

Aghast, the Moon's followers began gathering their forces, determined to defend their goddess against their former allies.

In turn, the Wind blew over to the Sun worshippers and whispered into their ears.

"The Moon worshippers are planning a brutal attack on your tribe!" he told them. Furious, the Sun followers thanked the Wind for his support and mustered their armies to retaliate.

When the Moon and the Sun returned, they were appalled by the devastation that greeted them. They pleaded desperately with their people, but to no avail.

"Stop!" cried the Moon, but alas, they could not hear her for her voice was too soft and the people's anger was too fierce.

"Enough!" begged the Sun, but the people would not hear him either.

Unable to make themselves heard, the Sun and the Moon retreated from the battlefield, sitting together in deepest despair. The war raged on, but neither side would admit defeat, and soon even the Wind grew sick of the chaos he had wrought.

"O Sun," sighed the Moon, "I am so very weary of these battles."

"As am I, sweet Moon," replied the Sun woefully, "but what can we do?"

The two sat in mournful silence for a long, long while, wondering what in the world could have caused such a conflict. After some time, the Moon's keen ears caught the sound of the Wind, talking idly to himself as he ruffled the surface of a lake behind a distant mountain.

"Poor Wind," said the Moon, "I fear that this endless fighting has driven him quite mad. We should visit him, and see if we can ease his troubles."

With the Sun in agreement, they began the long journey to join the Wind beside his lonely lake. Before they reached him however, his words became clearer and they heard quite distinctly as he raved about the uselessness of his failed plan.

Enraged by the Wind's betrayal and distraught at the damage he had caused to their people, the Sun and Moon swept over the mountain. Determined to stop the Wind from ever hurting their people again, they took from him all words and ability to speak, leaving him helpless to howl his wordless rage to the sky for the rest of time.

Now that they knew the source of their people's troubles, the Sun and Moon returned to the battlefield strengthened and with new purpose.

They threw themselves between the warring tribes and together their voices boomed out, stopping the fighters in their tracks. They explained what the Wind had done, and declared that the battles must cease at once.

With the Wind silenced, the Sun and Moon hatched a plan of their own to prevent the war from starting anew.

"We shall rule together, high in the sky," said Moon, "so that we may never stop guarding you against danger."

"For twelve hours, I will rise and watch over you," continued Sun, "and we will call this 'Day'."

"And when those twelve hours end," proclaimed Moon, "I shall rise with the stars and we shall call this 'Night'."

The people agreed, laying down their arms and returning to a state of richness and calm.

So it was that the Sun and the Moon took to the sky, rising in turn with Night and Day, to watch over their beloved people in peace and harmony for evermore.

Shortlisted for the BBC Young Writers' Award 2015