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The Sun And The Earth Child by Scott Urquhart

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Once, a long time ago there lived the first Earth Child. He was the only child on the entire earth. But he was not lonely. The Earth Child had a playmate - the Sun. And every day the Earth Child and the Sun would play their favorite game, Hide-and-Seek.

When it was the Sun’s turn to hide, the earth child would cover his eyes and count to ten. While he did so the sun would scurry down the sky and hide behind the horizon (that’s where the Earth and the Sun meet) leaving the boy in darkness with only the light of the stars to see by. When the boy was finished counting he would uncover his eyes and say, “Ready or not here I come!” Then he would look all along the horizon for a hint of light that might show him where the sun was hiding.

Now, the Earth Child was very swift and he could cover great distances when he ran. He could run across valleys, through forests and even over water! So when he spotted a little bit of light on the horizon he sped off toward it to find the sun. He ran across valleys. He ran through forests. He ran across the ocean and when he finally reached the horizon he peeked over. And there was the sun. And all was light.

When it was the boy’s turn to hide the sun would cover his eyes and count to ten. The boy sped across land and sea and over the horizon to where it was dark and he could find a good hiding place. When the Sun was finished counting he would uncover his eyes and say in his great big Sun voice, “Ready or not here I come!” And the sun would once again scurry down the sky and over the horizon. Of course, when he got there everything was light and this made it pretty easy to find the Earth Child. But the sun didn’t mind and neither did the boy. They just enjoyed playing their game together.

One day when the Earth Child was looking for the Sun (who’d found a particularly good hiding place) he saw something shimmer in the darkness through the trees. As he got closer, he saw the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. It was another Earth Child! She had long golden hair and wore a green gown that looked as if it were woven from the leaves themselves. Around her neck she wore a beautiful silver medallion that shined a shimmering light. The boy approached her and said, “Who are you? And what is that medallion you wear?”

“My name is Luna.” Replied the girl. “And this medallion gives everlasting life to me and the partner of my choosing.” Then she said, “If you’d like to, I choose you.”

The boy gladly accepted and he and Luna became the best of friends. They played together all the time, but always in darkness, for the Sun had not come out of his hiding place.

Meantime the sun had become jealous and a little sad. Now that the Earth Child had a new friend, the sun had no one to play with. So he stayed in his hiding place over the horizon and did not come out.

Soon the Earth Child and Luna became concerned. For without the Sun the earth would become colder and colder. The plants could not grow and there would be no food to eat. Then Luna had an idea. “We must give the sun a new playmate.” She said.

“But what do we have that the sun can play with?” asked the boy.

“The medallion.” Said Luna, and she held up the silver medallion that hung from around her neck.

The boy looked surprised and said, “But if we give the medallion to the sun, we will not live forever. We will grow old.”

“If we do not give him the medallion we will live forever in darkness and cold in a world where nothing grows and spring never comes.” Replied Luna.

The boy agreed and together they removed the medallion from her neck and hurled it into the sky where it stayed and shone a beautiful silver light upon the earth.

Well, even from his hiding place, the sun could see something new had appeared in the sky. He slowly approached and from a cautious distance asked, “Who are you?”

“My name is moon” she said, “and I’ve come to play with you.”

With that, the sun shined a great big smile, covered his eyes and began to count to ten. And when he did the moon scurried down the sky and hid behind the horizon. So began the first game of Hide-and-seek between the sun and the moon. And although this happened a long time ago, today we can still look up in the sky and watch the sun and the moon play their eternal game of Hide-and-Seek.

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