"The Man Who Hated the Moon" by Chris Ankney
He dropped his glass and it shattered, spilling the water, when he saw his mother lying facedown in her new garden, now a pile of upturned dirt. Next to her, on the ground, there was a huge piece of moon rock. He ran to her, nearly tripping down the steps, and turned her over. Her face, which was the spot of impact, was crushed in. Nothing in her face was recognizable and it was all covered with warm blood. Herman shrieked and dropped his mother back on the dirt. He fell to his knees, vomited, and wept.
After calming himself down to a reasonable manner he called an ambulance. He told them not to hurry; he knew she was already dead.
*****
Later that day, after the ambulance had left with Momma, Eric Wade showed up. Eric entered the unlocked house to find Herman crying on the couch.
“She’s gone,” he said, without looking to see who had come through the door.
“Her and four hundred other people,” Eric said. “I know you did this.” He was very calm. “I found the machine.”
“Well, I didn’t hide it,” said Herman before he burst into another crying spurt.
“Oh, shut up!” said Eric. “Get over it.”
Herman was taken aback.
“...Eric!”
“I’ve been telling you for years,” Eric said without skipping a beat, “For years! And you still don’t get it! Don’t you see? You can’t live a perfect life! Oh sure, you can throw away a nasty box of cereal, you can turn the thermostat up if you’re not warm enough, you can even make chemicals to expand your life! But how far are you willing to go, Herman? Your life is not perfect without your mother and you were the reason she died! You can destroy the moon for ruining a date, but are you man enough to destroy yourself for ruining her? You couldn’t be perfect in life, so ask yourself this one question, Herman: will everything finally be perfect after death?”
After a moment of silence, Herman rose from the couch, whispered something, wiped the tears from his face, walked to his room, and slammed the door.
Eric stood silent for a minute then turned to leave. He cringed when he heard a gun fire from Herman’s room.
It wasn’t until the funeral that Eric finally understood what Herman had whispered as he walked to his room:
“Here I come, Momma.”
Page 7
Next: "Closer Than They Appear"
