Night and Day

        Casting its shadow upon the mortals, Night ponders its next move. Its humming echoes in its domain, ringing in ears all over the galaxy. Clouds in the sky, cover them from way up high. Until they’re no more (no more), no less (no less). 

        The mortals retreat from their pastures when night arrives, scarcely shrieking, making not a sound.  Sounds bring the creatures in. And with the creatures comes chaos, Night mischievously laughs. What creatures shall I bring out tonight to play with? Zombies? No… too dull-witted. Vampires? No… too bloodthirsty. 

        “Night, sir.” Moon rises next to the dark sky, slightly illuminating the atmosphere. 

        “Yes, Moon. ” Night glances sideways to avoid the little amount of light at all costs.  

        “There appears to be a small light behind you,” Moon blurts, glancing nervously towards the pitch black void that it calls its home. 

        “Pish posh, there is no such thing, for I am Night, conqueror of all light. I overload the Universe with a plethora of color, mixed together in a fine dust and simmered on low heat. I am the bearer of bad news and all things fright. I…”

        A blast of light interrupts Night’s monologue, blinding Night and Moon which floats before Night.

        “GAHHHHHH. WHO SHALL SHINE SUCH LIGHT IN MY DOMAIN?” Night roars. 

        “Ha ha ha. I’ll always find that amusing.” The light smirks as it rises from the abyss. 

        “Day,” Night sneers in disgust. “What are you doing in MY domain?”

        “My friend, have you no sense of time? It’s a quarter to six.”

        “A QUARTER TO… No, that can’t be. Impossible.” The sky ripples in response. 

        “Yes, I’m afraid it is,” Day sighs in anticipation. 

        “But…”

        “We had a deal, Night.”

        “A deal that only YOU agreed to,” Night sneers once more in an attempt to scare Day away. 

        “A deal that BOTH of us agreed to,” Day reiterates, seemingly not fazed by Night’s efforts to scare it away. “You know what? Forget it. You’re impossible to deal with.” Day proceeds to shove Night out of the sky, exchanging Moon for Sun like a child’s toy trade. 

        As Day takes over and Sun rises above all, mortals awake with naive yawns, eager to resume their lives once again. They make their way out of their tiny cottages and into their pastures, tending to crops or basking in the light. Day smirks. I’ll always be the more-liked twin. 

~~~

        Dark skies roll around once more, signaling Day to retreat into the abyss. Night rises from the shadows, accompanied by the faint whispers of stars and murmurs of Milky Way. Night, a once content soul, now appears displeased, faced with the decision of the century, or many centuries in its case. “Oh Moon,” Night calls. “What should I do?”

        “What do you think you should do?” Moon questions. 

        “My mind calls towards one want, but my heart yearns for the other,” Night sighs. 

        “Come to a compromise between the two,” Moon suggests. 

        “Or, I could try to get what I want for once.” Night glances towards the abyss — the abyss from which it was born. The same abyss in which Day now slumbers. What if I were to…

        “Goooood morning!” Day, with Sun on its tail, bursts from the abyss, startling Night. “Ha ha ha. Did I scare you?”

        “You were terrifying,” Night tries to say with a straight face, but fails as the expression of fear is plastered across the sky. Clouds illuminate the black surface as it slowly turns from black, to purple, to pink, and finally, to a light azure. 

        “So, what’d I miss?”

        “Nothing, absolutely nothing.” Night glances to the side in avoidance of Day’s gaze. 

        “Okay.” Day mischievously grins. “Well, Sun and I better get at it. You know what they say?”

        “Don’t say it,” Night interrupts. 

        “Early bird gets the worm.” Day winks. 

        “Okay, that’s it,” Night spits. Night makes a move towards Day, shoving Day out of the sky and towards the abyss. The sky switches to black almost instantly. Moon and Sun float to the side, aghast. “I’ve had enough of this. Enough of being thrown into an abyss. Enough of sharing the throne. Enough, enough, ENOUGH.” 

        Stars swirl near Night in efforts to overwhelm it, to no avail. Night shoves the stars into the abyss.

        Down below, the humans scramble all over. “Why is the sky black? It’s 10:00 am!!” one shouts. 

        “Enough, enough, ENOUGH!” Night bellows, repeating the phrase over and over as it terrorizes the galaxy above. 

        “NIGHT!” Moon shrieks. Night’s bellows succumb to a low, breathy whisper.

        “YOU HAVE A CHOICE!” Moon shrieks once more. “A CHOICE.”

        “My choice was made a long time ago for me when I was born,” Night whispers, sadness overtaking its anger. “Day was to be the more favored child, and I was to be the epitome of hatred.” 

        “You have a choice,” Moon repeats. “Your choice. Not the Universe’s, but yours!”

        “It was never my choice!” Night weeps. 

        “It was always your choice. You choose who you get to be. Not the Universe, not Day, not anyone else. You, and only you.”

        Night pauses, mulling over Moon’s words. The period of Night’s mulling seems to be enough time for Day to climb out of the abyss once more. Day grasps at the edge, struggling to pull itself out. 

        “I never knew you felt that way, sibling,” Day calls to Night. “Moon is right. It’s your choice. We are equal in my eyes. Always have been, always will be.” 

        “LIAR,” Night sneers. “You always try to manipulate me! You beg for my forgiveness when you are undeserving of it. And in the end, I forgive you. Why? Not because you deserve it. Because you are my sibling.”

        “Day is no better than Night, as Night is no better than Day,” Moon adds to Day’s previous remarks. 

        Night sniffles, breathing rapidly. 

        “Your choice,” Day repeats. 

        Moon and Sun’s eyes follow Night, their glances turned down in worry. Suddenly, Day begins to slip. 

        “My grip!” Day screams. “I can’t…” Day’s voice begins to fade as it slips lower and lower into the siblings’ chamber of nothingness. 

        Equal, equal, equal. We were always equal, equal, equal.

        Night looks over to Day, its sibling, the only entity that has known it since the pair appeared in the world. The two were both lost, floating in space. And what did Day do?

“Night!” Day calls from the abyss. “Help me out!” Night glances over to Day and realizes it's struggling. “Quickly! I can’t hold on any longer.” 

        Day was there for Night, just as Night should be there for Day. 

        Night grabs hold of Day’s hand and tugs. 

        “I’m losing my grip!” Night screams, tugging as hard as it can. “Moon! Sun! Help me out!” 

        Moon and Sun scurry over to Night with worried looks plastered on their faces. 

        “Moon! Sun! Quickly! Help me pull Day out from the abyss!” 

        At this, Sun and Moon grab hands and align themselves across from Night. They reach for Day and scream together, “Day! Grab onto us!” 

        The mortals down below glance up at the sky in surprise. 

        “What is this?” one asks, looking to Sun and Moon in confusion. 

        “I believe they call it a solar eclipse,” answers another.

        “It’s remarkable,” yet another mortal whispers in awe. 

        Slowly but surely, as the three celestial bodies tug and tug and tug, the abyss releases its hold of Day and spits Day out.

        Day, sputtering for air, looks over at Night. “Thank you, sibling.” 

        “Equal.” Night nods, finally realizing its truth. Equal, equal, equal. We were always equal, equal, equal.