The statues move in the moonlight glowing a pale blue and dancing to music only they can hear. The gods and goddesses of old are all here and so close I could reach out my hand and touch them. Swirling and twirling in long graceful movements they are beautiful. The artists who carved them did poor imitations of the actual people before me now. Many of those statues were damaged when I saw them in daylight but as if by magic the moonlight has made them whole again. Yet they appear just as solid as I am now. Long robes flutter gracefully as the figures move in an intricate dance I am unfamiliar with but that I feel like I would know if I got up to join in. Looking around I see that the buildings are whole again too, freshly painted, and have gold leaf accents causing them to glow all the more. The stone path is level and un marked. All the towering trees are far back from the temple grounds so as to not interfere with the buildings. Clear cold water is running in groves along the path as though it was designed to do so. It smells so sweet I am tempted to drink some. The ornately carved buildings tower to the heavens once more. Golden pillars stretch high in the air. The carvings tell stories that I do not know. Words are engraved that I can not read. I wish I knew more. None of the statues I encountered during the day are where they once were. All the figures are up and moving around. All the rubble has been cleared. Everything is perfect and glittering in the moonlight. Terrified that if I move this dream might end I sit still and watch the silent figures. All are smiling and some through their heads back laughing wholeheartedly in ecstasy. None of them appear to notice me and continue in their revelry.
The women all have long braided hair laced with flowers. Stone jewelry practically covers them from head to foot. Chains with stones drape them prettily. Circulets, bracelets, necklaces, and even draping stone laden belts. Something is odd about the stones. All the stones are the same kind of stone. It hits me suddenly that all the jewels are moonstones. Lots and lots of moonstones decorate the figures from head to foot. Are these the legendary children of the moon? Ethereal spirits which come out only in the moonlight and dance. I have heard many legends about them. They can not harm anyone, many can not even interact with you but beware of going anywhere with them or entering their buildings as it all vanishes with moonset. If you stay too long you can be trapped and turned into one of them. Able to only walk the earth in moonlight. There are so many of them as if the entire community was turned on a single night. The first is said to be a young girl who was lost in a forest at night. She was cold, tired, hungry and very beautiful. The moon saw her and took pity on her placing an inviting cottage in front of her. As she was desperate she entered the house finding food, water, a warm fire, and a bed she made herself at home. She was unaware of the danger and stayed too long. By morning she was trapped by the moon forever being one of his people. As she was lonely she came down every night and would trick strangers with her beauty, laughter, or crying and trap them as well. For the moon was jealous of the earth and wanted people to dance upon its surface as well. This is a legend told from a book found outside the moon house. Each bite of food taken in the house allows you to interact more and more with the moon people but it also weakens your resolve to leave. In the end a trapped young man couldn't find the strength within himself to leave so he threw his journal out the front door. A stranger came upon it and kept it for many years. Eventually the book made it into our library.
I wonder which of these moon people came first or if the moon people can move from site to site and dance all over the world. I suppose it doesn’t really matter. I take solace in knowing that I am safe from capture by the moon as the piece of ground I am sitting on existed before the moon rose and I do not find myself suddenly inside a building by chance. I do not feel afraid of these moon children. Only curious about them and faintly enchanted by them. Their dancing continues for hours and the are still light on their feet given strength from the moon to keep going. So beautiful and happy that my heart breaks for them. Yet there are worse fates than to be trapped by the moon and dancing nightly happily. Eventually the exhaustion creeps up upon me and I fall back to sleep.
Upon waking I explore the temple grounds. So many great stone structures are all around me. The years have not been kind to the buildings and they are falling down. Many have trees growing out of them with great roots thicker around than my arm. People have been gone from this place for a very long time. Those who danced here once before must have been gone for centuries. My heart aches for those people. I must learn more about them, who they were, and why they turned into moon children. I have only ever known one or two moon children to be out at once not hundreds. There is something here worth investigating and I must learn what it is.
With my wanderings I come across an oddly tended garden. Everywhere else in the temple complex there were no signs of habitation for years yet there is a tended garden flourishing in one of the temple courtyards. All of the plants are edible most are annuals, and all of them are growing in straight rows and are weeded. If someone isn’t here now then someone comes here often.
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