Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a lovely moon who stayed in the sky all night to watch over the Earth while it slept. The moon had companions, those who did not sleep in the dark. Among these creatures were the owl, the bat, the ghost crab, and the cat. They loved the moon, for she gave their darkness light. One night, the sky was unusually dim. The night critters knew something was amiss and called upon the moon from an answer. The moon emerged from behind a cloud to reveal a large scoop missing from her usual, spherical shape.

“Oh my little wild things, I am so sorry to have let you down,” the moon whimpered. “It seems that a portion of me has fallen, leaving my guiding light a muted shade.” The moon began to snivel and yowl, tears fell from her eyes like rain, saturating the Earth below.

“Oh moon,” the cat purred, “please cease your crying, we will find your missing piece.” All the animals nodded in agreement.

Then chimed in the wise owl, “but whooo… Whooo would have the piece? I wonder.”

“Oh no my owl, not who, but rather ‘what’,” the moon replied.

“What? How could a what have your piece?” The bat questioned.

“Well,” the moon explained, “my piece fell with such great force that the atmosphere shattered it into four fractions during its downward plunge, sending the sections into the four elements.”

“What are these ‘elements’?” Asked the ghost crab.

“I am glad you asked,” the moon started, “the four elements are the earth, the wind, the fire, and the water.”

Moments later, the owl had an idea. “Cat! Bat! Ghost Crab!” He called, “we are four you see? Each of us resides in one of the elements, together we can search our homes for the pieces and bring them back for our moon.”

The animals leapt in excitement, and the moon gleamed her white, rocky smile. “Let’s get to work!” The cat exclaimed, and the creatures went their separate ways.

The ghost crab scurried into the ocean’s wake, the cat pounced through the green forest, the bat dove into the depths of the great, fiery volcano, and the owl soared through the blithe air.

For the ghost crab, finding the moon’s rock was not difficult at all. Immediately upon entering his terrain he saw a crowd of sea creatures gathered around an object in the sand. “What dares to wake us from our slumber?” the dolphin griped. The ghost crab then made his way to the group and quietly told the animals what had happened. They were all touched by the crab’s story, and gave him the moon’s piece, sending their regards to her and wishing the crab luck.

The bat, excited to explore her volcano, floated over the lava scanning for the rock. She was taken aback by a screeching yelp echoing through her sensitive ears. “Help! Help! I am being crushed!” a squeaky voice yelled. The bat soared to the spot on a ledge in the volcano from which she heard the call and was shocked to see a baby bat, pinned down by the moon’s boulder on it’s little wing. “Oh do not fret little one, I will save you,” the bat ensured. She then pushed with all her might and released the baby from the stone trap. “Oh thank you miss, you will be forever in my heart” the baby bat exclaimed. The bat then hugged her new friend, grabbed the piece and descended from the volcano.

The owl flew through the wind, wondering where he would find the moon’s piece in the air. He searched in the thick, cotton ball clouds, the dusty, whipping tornados, he even ventured to the eye of the great hurricane- but no prevail. The owl rested on a puffy cloud, scratching his head in deep thought, when suddenly, he was hit on the head! He fell flat on his back, seeing stars, as he shot up in anger. “What in the world!?” He cried. When the owl could finally see straight he realized that it was the moon’s piece that had hid him on his noggin! He collected the portion of the rock in his wings and headed back to their meeting place.

The cat was the only one left to find the fourth and final piece. She slyly crept through her woodsy earth, smelling everything in her path in an attempt to seek out the moon’s rock. Just as the piece’s scent began to become quite pungent, the cat heard something in the brush beside her. She turned, and with one motion leapt into the tall grass, bounding after the mystery creature. She knew she had to get the chunk of rock for the moon, but the chase was too tempting for her. Her prey’s scent was strong, and she knew it was a mouse. She got low into the grass and kneaded her paws into the wet dirt, and away she went, pouncing onto the mouse with such great force that the ground beneath her shook. After she finished her tasty morsel she was delighted to see that she had in fact landed on the moon’s piece when she caught her mouse! However, in the process, she managed to leave a large paw print on the chunk’s surface. “Oh my,” she purred. “I suppose this is my ode to the moon, a new beauty mark on her perfect face.”

The moon was so anxious to get her pieces back to her that she could hardly stand to glow a second longer. When the animals all arrived back to her she released a sigh, which spun the earth around double time. They all connected their portions of the rock together into a picture-perfect sculpture. The owl and the bat then flew it up to the moon and placed the piece back in her empty space. The moon was so exuberant that she illuminated the sky to a point at which the creatures could not tell if it was still night or day. The moon was full once again, and the cycle of the earth could carry on as usual. And if you look up at the sky on a night when all of the moon’s pieces are present, you might just see a round paw print on its face.