Earthshine
The night air was crisp and lovely, the summer sky was beautiful and lit up with stars but that was not what caught Reggie's attention. What did catch him was the moon, a perfect crescent. For years, the inquisitive wolf had wondered why on nights of the crescent moon, a dark-gray part of the moon, somehow visible would appear against the black backdrop of outer space. This was something which had bothered him since he was but a little cub and he wished to know the answers. From attending his college class on astronomy and asking the professor this very burning question, Reggie had discovered that the answer was a natural phenomenon called Earthshine.
This was one of those nights that stargazers could see this phenomenon called Earthshine as the angles of the moon, the sun, and the earth had aligned just so to show just a very bright sliver of light (the moon is after all, illuminated by not one but TWO sources- the sun and Earthlight reflected from the sun) and an ashen gray space opposing the crescent. The lunar circle showed with almost an otherworldly, ghostly glow upon the earth. This glow, this contrast between opalescent brightness and dull gray light served to captivate the attentions of countless wolves from time immemorial but Reggie felt an extra sense of mysticism knowing exactly how the crescent moon worked. Even with the answers, he like his wild brethren was still stunned by the indescribable beauty of nature, particularly the moon.
On this serene and beautiful night, Reggie felt compelled to walk outside his simple house, located far away from the hustle and bustle of the city to behold this natural (and monthly) spectacle. He could see the moon, that beautiful lustrous and silvery orb which had fascinated wolves forever, hovering overhead, over the trees and the stars, and not a single cloud in the sky to rudely stand in the way of its beauty. As Reggie looked on with awe and amazement at the moon, he realized what he was seeing was Earth's faint reflection. And somewhere in the back of his mind, the wolf wondered if there were other people out there somewhere in this grand and endless universe. And he wondered if those people, stranded somewhere across the dark infinity of space were looking for other planets based around this very phenomenon, just as he was seeing only a pale reflection of the earth. All this brought to mind was the words of his astronomy professor.
"So, the light comes from the sun towards the moon and the earth. The light side of the moon is that bright because the moon is reflecting light to the earth. And so if what the astronomer told me was right, the earth itself reflects light back into space and some of it gets captured by the moon. And we see it on crescent nights," the wolf said, as he looked up at the Earthshine. Free of the pollution of the city and on a clear night free of clouds, Reggie could see the heavens un-scroll before him, revealing a generous portion of the Milky Way galaxy. Countless stars, which may very well be suns for different worlds came into focus, making him think of other people who might live in other galaxies, or even other parts of our own galaxy. Was the universe endless or did it have boundaries? And if it did have boundaries, how could one tell the universal border into nothingness and what would the outside portion be called? And more importantly, the wolf wondered, are we alone? If this was the case, then the entire universe would be a colossal waste of effort.
Reggie felt this instinctive urge to raise his arms and paws into the air, the same way one does when worshipping at a church. He knew it was a crazy request but as a lupine, he felt justified in wanting the moon, and the beautiful light which issued forth from it, all to himself. He wanted to own some of the stars, with their light which pierced the darkness but he knew the light and heat from these distant stars was greater than the Sun in many cases. He now realized why wolves howl at the moon- it is beautiful, like an opal which hanged precariously from the night sky yet no one could ever possess. Reggie knew of many civilizations which worshipped the moon for its beauty and he would wish to join them right now. The moon with its beautiful brightly-lit white part and ashen gray earth-lit majority was telling Reggie a story of love between himself and a woman who he had known long ago. The smell of dogwoods and the fragrant aroma of spring set a mood for this star-gazing wolf, whose golden eyes now rested on our planet's satellite.
Many a wolf has dreamed of one day capturing the moon- if he had chosen his career differently, then perhaps his pawprints would be on the surface of the moon itself. But since Reggie didn't all he could do was sigh on this lovely night and think.
"So many people have dreamed about owning various pieces of nature- the sun and the moon and the distant stars. And I know full well that our aspirations, formed when we were children of owning beautfiul things formed dreams and that these dreams..." he said, looking up at the moon and twitching his tail "have risen to Earthshine."