“I see it,” she said. “May I go in now?”
“No,” I kissed her.
“Let’s watch until it totally eclipses. Besides, you haven’t looked through the scope yet.”
Aurora was a true champ to be outside in twenty-four degree,
snowy weather at two in the morning.
We cuddled in a blanket and watched the last bright lights disappear
from the edge of the moon until the dark rusty red covered the surface
completely. A blood moon.
The next morning she would be the sun, Adeline the earth,
and Adeline’s shoe the moon as lunar eclipse became a game. Her happy girls would watch the
reenactment and chatter on about the special event, Aurora would fuss at her
sister's wiggly toddler-esque alignment, and we would all sit together to watch
NASA’s video explanation of the event on TedEd.
But in the cold crisp night, once the moon was an eerie
chestnut red, Aurora asked again if she could return to bed. She cuddled her happy girls tight and
as she fell quickly back to sleep she suggested that Adeline might like to see
the moon too.
