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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book... “Renegade Winter” Down in the Dirt, v154 (the February 2018 Issue) You can also order this 6"x9" issue as a paperback book:

Order this writing in the issue book At Midnight the Down in the Dirt Jan.-Apr. 2018 collection book		get the 418 page Jan.-Apr. 2018 Down in the Dirt issue anthology 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Je dois aller a la lune

Marc Larue

    A tall woman marched through the rain and up a dark mountain, underneath a perpetual cloudy night sky. The puddles danced around her ankles and weighed down the hem of her dress. I had no intention to stop for anyone, since I was on my way to my son’s birthday party, but there was no way I would let this woman wander through the rain in the middle of the night.
    “Do you need a ride?” I asked as I pulled over, I had just sent a text to my wife to let her know that I was on my way but there was a random woman wandering alone.
    “If you have the time.” She grinned. She was a young asian woman. “My motorcycle broke down a few miles back.”
    “Oh my,” I said. “Where are you headed? I was just on my way to my son’s birthday party, but I can take you wherever you need to go.”
    She climbed into the truck, while water from her dress oozed all over my leather seat, and slammed the door behind her. “The moon.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Today is Dragon Day, if we get to the mountain on time something good will happen.”
    “Like what? Where do I drop you off?”
    “At the top of this mountain.”
    “In the middle of this storm?” she must’ve been on drugs because I’ve never heard of a “Dragon Day,” but I didn’t live too far away so I could still get to my son and drop this woman off. I led the car cautiously up the steep and dark mountain, and made a right turn through a tunnel of coniferous trees. My house was right up the road, as yellow lights poured from the windows and onto the muddy grass.
    I made the woman wait in my truck, while I gave my son his present and brought a tiny slice of cake for the woman to eat.
    “Let’s take your son to the moon,” the woman offered, with awe in her voice. “It would be my gift to him.”
    I didn’t want my son anywhere near this lady. “I’ll ask if he’s interested.”
    I ran back into the rain and inside the house, and I told Lee that we were going to take a woman home at the top of the mountain, and he obliged exuberantly, anything to avoid bedtime. I eyed my wife and gave her a brief summary of the woman I encountered on the road and that she wanted to go to the moon, right before I took Lee out the door and through the rain.
    “What’s your name?” she asked.
    “I’m Lee. What’s your name?”
    “Luna.”
    “That’s a pretty name. My dad said you wanted to go to the moon.”
    “Not the actual moon, but close enough.”
    “Do dragons really exist?”
    “Of course they do. This dragon comes by every year and when you catch its gaze it takes you somewhere special.”
    “No they don’t.” I said.
    “You should open your mind.” Luna picked her fingers. “You’ll miss a lot of opportunities.”
    “Where are the dragons?” Lee asked.
    Luna shrugged and said, “I’ve never visited before.”
    “Well, today’s your day,” I added. I turned up another street and we were at the top of the mountain.
    It had suddenly stopped raining. Well, not really, but there seemed to be an imaginary circle that kept the rain from invading the flat land we stood on. I left my high beams on so that we could see... something. There was no moonlight or street lights to guide us. I stepped out of the car and carried my son on my hip as I studied the ground. It was completely dry and untouched, even though the rain still roared against the pavement on our perimeter. Luna sat on the dirt right before the car lights and waited patiently, as Lee and I watched.
    “Come on, Lee.” She patted the ground beside her. “Any moment now.”
    I held onto Lee but dawdled to Luna’s location.
    “We really should be going,” I mentioned and focused on whatever cloud she was smiling at.
    However, there was a break in the dark clouds and a strong burst of white light entrapped us in its spotlight.
    More of the clouds dispersed and revealed a yellowish full moon with craters that shown and a slight outline of a face. The longer I stared the more prominent the face became.
    A Dragon’s face.
    It had sharp features and long wispy strands of fur that flowed past the jaws and behind it. Even sharp teeth that hung out from its closed mouth and scales that framed the face. Even though the face was just an outline placed on the moon, I felt that the dragon would’ve been a green color, the same as its gentle green eyes.
    It gazed down at us in a majestic way, but I don’t think any of us were frightened. My muscles relaxed and my breathing wasn’t so forced. I was like a feather and I could’ve sworn that Luna and I were floating all along as if we were on the moon. Lee giggled and reached for the dragon, while Luna opened her arms in acceptance as the dragon glided towards us with a hearty smile and embraced us within. Soon enough Lee started to cry and the woman began to run away as the teeth of the dragon began to close around us.

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