The Moon Hunt

Hey! Long time, no see! I have been quite busy working out lately! With the lockdown in place, we haven’t been able to get out! So, I’ve been going on two-mile walks with my family, while practicing social distancing! One small tradition we’ve started doing with our neighbors is, every day at 7:00 p.m. we sing a spiritual song to get some positive energy in our life! I look forward to it every day! But today because it is Ganesh Chaturthi we cannot go outside! Because we are not allowed to see the moon! Why, you ask? Let me tell you why! Well, hehehe because of me!

One night my mouse Mooshak Raj and I were returning home to Mt. Kailash from a late-night school activity. The route back home was known to have many wild animals - even snakes! - and my mom has always told me to be careful!

I can still hear her sweet voice, “Neshu, (my nickname) please be careful okay? There are poisonous animals. Take care of Mooshak Raj too!”

On this particular night though, out of nowhere, a lime green snake slithered around Mooshak Raj. I can still hear the hissing every time I think about it. Mooshak Raj was trembling with fear and ran for his life, while pushing me off! I was not upset at Mooshak Raj at all! I would have been very scared too!

I lay alone in the middle of the gravel road struggling to get up. I’ll be honest, I have a big belly and because of my trunk I have a lot of weight to carry with a human body. Anyways, back to the story! As I lay alone in the middle of the gravel road, I heard this obnoxiously loud laugh. As if someone were intentionally trying to do that to get my attention.

I looked around me and saw no one nearby. Suddenly, I heard the laugh again. I looked up to find that it was the moon who was laughing at my struggle!

I thought, “Rather than helping me, the moon is laughing at my size and my struggle! I must teach the moon a lesson immediately!”

With immense frustration I pointed at the moon and said, “You will be punished for your arrogance!”

The moon quickly realized that I was upset and started apologizing to me.

“I am so sorry! Please forgive me for this action of mine. I will not repeat it in the future.”

I decided to forgive the moon but on one condition. One day out of the 365 days of the year, no one can look at the moon. This is to show the moon that arrogance can have a negative impact on one’s life. On this day each year, the moon is a symbol of arrogance, and to get rid of it from one’s life, no one should look at it.

With the knowledge granted to me at birth I use it to my advantage for the greater good of society!

Well, I must go inside now before the moon comes out! Otherwise I would defeat the whole purpose of punishing the moon and writing this story!

Stay Safe! I love you loads!

Ganesha

Author’s Note: I was in love with this story when I first heard it! There is such depth and meaning that I had to write this in my storybook! I began by opening the storybook about the current times in the pandemic. I related it a bit to how I spent the first few months of lockdown in the pandemic. I then transitioned it into the Ganesh Chaturthi religious day. I described the incident with the moon as one that could have happened to anyone. I added some dialogue of Ganesha’s mother, just to show that caring nature of her to protect her son. Just like a normal day in a routine life, and then an obstacle comes– the snake, and then things fall apart a little. In this instance, the moon laughs at one’s struggles. It’s very important to highlight this message. The more people who hear experiences will feel not alone. I added some dialogue between the moon and Ganesha to show exactly the emotion at that moment. I think the ending was important to show that arrogance is not a good thing, and it brings a lot of negativity in one’s life. I ended it on the note of the pandemic again and relating it to the story!

Bibliography: Ganesh Chaturthi 2020, Times Now Digital