They flew higher and higher, between the stars, into the gap where the Moon had been. Aneira’s house was a tiny speck far away and all around Aneira and Mrs O was a sea of darkness with stars like tiny pen marks. Up here, the darkness felt heavier but not like arms – more like a blanket that made Aneira feel calm.
As they got closer, Aneira worried more and more about what she would do when they got there. Mrs O said that Wise Owl had given them all the information they needed but she still hadn’t told them exactly what to do. Aneira thought back to the Owl Parliament and what Wise Owl had said.
“The... Moon... is... a... night... light. It... can... be... turned... on... like... any... light.”
But what did that mean?
Then…
Aneira spotted a white line running down from the darkness above them. She rubbed her eyes thinking it might be a collection of stars but no, it was definitely a line and it was getting closer.
“We are almost there, dear,” said Mrs O.
Aneira looked around her at the darkness.
“But I can’t see the Moon,” she said.
“Of course not, its light has gone out. We need to switch it back on,” said Mrs O.
Aneira looked around again, confused. Switch it on? Hang on! It was a night light. That is what Wise Owl had said. Every night light had a switch to turn it on and off, maybe the Moon was no different!
The line in the sky seemed to be getting closer. As Mrs O flew them nearer and nearer it was looking more and more solid. It almost looked like…
No it couldn’t be, could it? It looked like… string.
“Of course!” cried Aneira. “The Moon has a switch and it’s a piece of string, like the light in my bathroom at home. I pull the string, there is a click and the bathroom light comes on!”
“Yes, dear. That must be it! Oh, I knew you would work it out. Wise Owl always gives us exactly the information we need,” said Mrs O.
“I can see the string, Mrs O,” called Aneira. “Do you think you can get me right next to it?”
“I will get you as close as I can. All you need to do is reach out, grab the string, pull down on it and then let go. You are the only one who can switch it back on, Aneira. Wise Owl said that it had to be you. Can you do it, dear?”
Aneira looked at the darkness below and now it just seemed like a really long way to fall.
“Yes I can do it,” gulped Aneira.
“I am glad you said that, as we owls would really like the Moon back on. Also, I am afraid I would tip you off my back if I tried to pull the switch and we don’t want that,” explained Mrs O.
“No, I’d like to stay on your back I think,” said a nervous Aneira.
The string was getting much closer now.
“We are almost there dear, just remember to pull down hard and then let go straight away,” reminded Mrs O.
The owl swooped towards the string. Aneira held her arm out ready to grab it, although it was rushing towards them rather fast. She opened her hand to clasp the string and lent towards it. Aneira felt a rush of wind on her face.
“Did I get it?”
“I can’t see the Moon dear, so I don’t think you did,” said Mrs O.
Aneira couldn’t see the string anymore and then she realised something.
“Oh, I think I closed my eyes as we got close,” admitted Aneira.
“Well dear, I know human eyes aren’t as good as owl eyes but I do think keeping them open will help.”
“Yes sorry,” said Aneira.
That had been a silly mistake! Keeping her eyes open was definitely a good idea.
“I will circle round and come back. Remember: eyes open,” prompted Mrs O.
This time, Aneira kept her eyes open and she stretched out her arm and grabbed the string!
“I got it!” she cried.
Aneira held on tightly to the string in celebration. She was so pleased that she had managed to grab it this time. She looked down and realised Mrs O was moving a lot more than usual underneath her.
The owl’s body was swooping away from her! She held on tightly to the string and to Mrs O.
“Aneira, I can’t stay still and hold you up!”
“Ahhhhhh,” cried Aneira as Mrs O’s body tipped underneath her.
Aneira looked down and was suddenly very very terrifyingly scared. It was a very long way down in the dark, nowhere near her house and her mum.
“I don’t want to fall,” cried a terrified Aneira.
“Pull down and let go,” shouted Mrs O flapping and lurching around trying to keep them up as Aneira was holding onto the string which was holding them still.
“You have to pull down and let go or you will fall,” shouted Mrs O again.
Aneira could feel her shoulders hurting as they tensed around her ears and her body going cold. She was so frightened. She held onto the string tightly and suddenly pulled down hard and then let go.
Mrs O immediately stopped flapping and lurching but Aneira couldn’t see anything. She realised that she had let go of the string because she had heard a very loud click and then she had buried her face in the owl’s back.
She couldn’t normally hear things like clicks of lights and the beeps of alarms but she heard this click, even without her hearing aids.
Aneira noticed that they didn’t seem to be falling, which was a relief so she lifted her head from Mrs O’s back and opened her eyes.
There was a lot of light. So much light that she couldn’t see anything. Aneira lifted her hand up to cover her eyes.
“Oh,” Aneira cried, “what is that?”
Mrs O flapped her wings once and brought them away from the blinding light.
“You can look now, dear,” said Mrs O.
Aneira took her hands away from her eyes and blinked a few times. There in front of them was the Moon! It was huge this close and she could see all of the patterns on the Moon’s surface, like looking into a marble with colours inside. Wow.
“The Moon! It’s back!”
“Yes dear, you turned the Moon back on. Although I was worried for a minute that we might be hanging off that string forever or that you’d fall,” said Mrs O.
“Yes, sorry about that, I shouldn’t have held on for so long,” said Aneira, realising that she hadn’t followed Mrs O’s instructions.
She’d been so scared that she would fall, way more scared than she’d ever been of the dark. She’d loved her adventure with Mrs O but she definitely wanted to be safe on the ground again.
“We did it Mrs O,” said Aneira.
“You did it and you were very brave too,” replied Mrs O.
Brave! She’d never really felt brave before but she’d been in her room in the pitch black and she’d flown through the dark night sky and she’d met a talking owl and flown on its back to visit the Owl Parliament and then she’d worked out how to turn the Moon back on, so maybe she was brave. She had never been so pleased to see the big ball in the sky.
“Oh thank you Mrs O. Thank you, thank you!”
Aneira wrapped her arms around the owl and hugged her.
“Oh my dear, you are welcome,” said a happy Mrs O.
“You saved me. Thank you for coming to my window, I couldn’t have done it without you!”
“Well that bit is true as you can’t fly due to your heavy arms. However, I was very pleased to help dear. After all, the Moon is rather important,” said Mrs O.
“It’s very important. It’s my night light,” said Aneira smiling at the Moon.
“Well yes, among other things,” said Mrs O. “All this adventure has got me rather hungry. Back to bed for you I think and then I can catch my dinner.”
“It has been an adventure. An adventure in the dark and I enjoyed it, apart from the nearly falling bit. I never thought I would enjoy being in the dark but I did,” admitted Aneira.
“Yes, the night can be rather brilliant, can’t it?”
“Yes,” said Aneira, letting out a big yawn.
She held on tightly to Mrs O, as the owl swooped back down towards the trees and the houses, guided by the light of the Moon. As they flew lower and lower, Aneira could see her house getting larger and larger, and her open window inviting her in.
It seemed like no time at all until Mrs O landed gently on her windowsill. Aneira could see her bed waiting in the middle of her dark room and it looked very peaceful and snuggly. She crawled off the owl’s back and down onto her fluffy carpet.
She yawned again. She was so very tired all of a sudden.
“Thank you Mrs O, for helping me turn the Moon back on and for showing me that the dark is just as good as the light. Night-time without my hearing aids definitely isn’t as scary as I thought and talking owls are pretty great even when they talk really slowly.”
“You are welcome, my dear Aneira. Now off to bed please and no more turning the Moon off, if you don’t mind,” said Mrs O.
“I promise. Goodnight Mrs O.”
“Goodnight, dear,” said the owl.
Aneira turned towards her bed with another yawn.
“Wait. Will I ever see you again?”
But Mrs O had already swooped off into the night.
“I hope so,” Aneira said out loud.
She closed her window and crawled into bed, her arms heavy with sleep. She looked out at the Moon and smiled just before she closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.
