Chapter 13

(soundtrack: “The sun was in love with the moon”, a piece by Michelle-Bear Urza, almost exclusively piano and solo voice, with sparse vocal harmony by Nalley Lumia)


The sun was in love with the moon

Though he knew that she would never know what he thought
He fell for her curves and her luminous face
He tried to run with her but couldn’t keep pace
He hoped she would wait for him, but she could not

And oh, how he prayed he would be with her soon
The sun was in love with the moon


“Aw, ’yesu,” Roger said, looking through the window. “I think it’s starting to rain.”

The band followed his eyes and saw that outside, a gentle rain had begun. The late-night pedestrians pulled up their hoods and produced umbrellas, picking up their pace a little bit.


The earth was in love with the sky

Though she knew he would never be able to see
She’d look to his heavens and wish she were there
It was what it was, but it didn’t seem fair
So she pined for a thing that was not meant to be

And although she was low and he was too high
The earth was in love with the sky


Stephen Anderson sat on the toilet in a cramped bathroom stall, her eye makeup streaked down her face with tears. She held her shell to her face and rocked back and forth. After a moment, the shell connected and she spoke.

“Daddy?”


Ooh, ooh, you never knew that you let me down
Ooh, ooh, you never knew that you let me … down

But you did
Oh, you did


Zap Bradshaw stood underneath the awning of The Good Old American Diner, his shell pressed to his face, already in the middle of a conversation. Around him, the rain beat a tattoo against the pavement.

“Yes—thank you. I need to admit, though,” he said, then sighed. “I kissed her back. I did kiss her back.”

A pause.

“No, it didn’t mean … it didn’t mean anything.”

He nodded. “Thank you. I’m glad you understand.”


A girl fell in love with a boy

When she was with him, she could not feel alone
But she never said what she had in her heart
And there were some times that the two spent apart
So during this time he found love of his own

He could never have known that he’d shatter her joy

But he did…
Ooh, he did…

Sometimes we’re blind to the things we destroy
A girl fell in love with a boy.