Zip and Cee Go to the Moon

One night when the leaves were crinkly and the slate clouds reflected the reddish glow of a sleepless city, Zip and Cee decided to go to the moon.  Zip had never been to the moon, but Cee had gone almost halfway once and knew a bit about the process.

“We have to walk around backwards first to erase our footprints so the moonbeams don’t get dusty. It wouldn’t be nice manners,” Cee said solemnly.

                “But how will we find our way home without footprints?” Zip looked slightly worried.

                “We’ll leave them in the most important places,” Cee said. She handed Zip a small potted rose with a single furled bud. “I have one too. We’ll meet back here when they begin to blossom.”

                The girls started slowly walking away from each other backward, picking up speed as they grew more confident.

                “It’s easier to go fast if you stay on your tiptoes!” Zip called to Cee who was disappearing into the dark, determinedly matching her foot to each footprint.

A little while later, Zip thought she heard a shout and far-off “ooph” but ignored them as she was busy trying to figure out how to leave a footprint on top of a rock. She finally gathered some nearby moss and arranged it to look like a sole and five toes. Satisfied, she straightened up and saw that her rose was almost open. She climbed down and made her way back to the small clearing, well-lit now by the rising moon.