At the dawn of the three hundred and eleventh moon in the starry sky of a small planet, named the planet of Short-hands, located in the last row of the Rainbow System, the mewling voice of a baby rose from the heart of a lotus-like ivy house.
Her name was three hundred and eleventh short-hands because she was the three hundred and eleventh Short-hand who was born on this planet. On this planet, all the houses were made of abundant ivies of lilies. The occupation of most of the inhabitants of the planet was nurturing fragrant and colorful petunias. For this reason, when one of the inhabitants of the Short-hands was lost in the Rainbow System, he could easily find his way back home from the fragrance of petunias and the colorful view of the planet. Three Planets, located near the planet of Shorthands, were the planet of Balloons, the planet of Roses, and the planet of Narcissi and Primroses. On the planet of Short-hands, the full moon only rose when a new baby was born on the same day. The moon would get close to the planet such that the newborn baby could remember her. And when he’d get a full glimpse of her in his eyes and heart, she’d smile on the child and gradually get away from the planet and disappear in the depth of the system. After the moon’s departure, numerous fireflies, shining in Petunias’ farm would illuminate everywhere because full moon nights happened rarely. There was an old legend saying that the inhabitants of this planet, who had long hands, were living together happily. They had everything, and the full moon would make the planet shine. But after a while, the greed of having more power took over the planet. And people realized that the secret to their power is within the moon. Finally, they trapped her one night and took her down from the sky. They tried to steal her light and power for their own but, as the moon shined less, their hands would become shorter, and they would lose more of their power.
Having realized their mistake and regretting their decision, they freed the moon …. Their moon went back to the sky but she was so heartbroken and sad that she left this planet’s sky forever and the people got punished. It was their punishment to always have shorter hands unless they’d do kind deeds to each other, and only then, their hand could grow longer with each of their act of kindness. For this reason, the moon gave them a second chance. If their hand would become long enough to hold the moon, she’d come back to their planet again. From then on, the moon on every baby’s birthday night would rise in their sky to inform them of this legend and tell them that they only had time until their next birthday. When the three hundred and eleventh Short-hand was born, most of the planet’s inhabitants’ hands were long or very long, because of living better and happier lives. They needed to be kind and help each other. But, the legend of reaching the moon was still a dream, and no one’s hands were long enough to reach the moon. The three hundred and eleventh Short-hand opened her eyes with this dream and decided to reach for the moon. She had to wait for three hundred and eleven days until her moon would rise up again. Thus, she had this much time left to try to be so kind and help others so that her hands could reach for the moon.
She started helping, sowed the seeds of petunia on the farm with the help of the inhabitants of the planet, and after they turned into the colorful petunias, they exported them to the other planets. She, every day, told stories to the children and sometimes appeared among the people with funny clothes and faces to amuse them. Her hands got so long that she could easily plant a hundred petunias in the flowerpot, and carry them in her hands. She helped old people, who were less capable or had shorter hands, and also helped the children with hands so short that couldn’t even reach their mouths. And she’d feed them from her own stash of food.
She explained the concept of being kind and helping one another to any adult who still had shorter hands and told them about the dream of the moon. The three hundred and eleventh day was close, and she was looking forward to the rise of her moon. However, she was worried that her hands weren’t long enough to reach the moon. She decided to go to the other planets as well and help them. But, she had only three days. She packed her travel equipment, circled her hands around herself, and departed for the planet of Narcissi and Primroses. The inhabitants of the Narcissi land dressed up in white woolen clothes, and the people of the Primroses’ land were in colorful and thin spring clothes. The people of the Narcissi and Primroses were in a war and arguing on their borders. The three hundred and eleventh long-hand approached them quickly and separated the two groups, and then, she asked the reason for the fight. One of the Narcissi’s inhabitants and one of the Primrose’s inhabitants came forward, and both said together: “they have encroached upon our border. This region is ours.” The Long-hand thought for a while and then said: “I can help you on one condition that you listen to my words, never get into another fight, and be kind to each other.” The inhabitants of the Narcissus and Primrose accepted. She stood on the border, passed one of her long hands from one side of the planet, and the other long hands from the other side until her hands met each other on the opposite side of the planet. The Long-hand said: “my right and left hands are equal in size. My hands have met each other on the other side of the planet. Report to your border guards there and ask them the location of where my hands met. If it is on the border, both of you have an equal share but, if it is on the land of anyone, it means that one of you has encroached upon the border, and he must return it. They accepted sent words to their border guards. The border guards reported that the Long-hand’s hands have touched each other on the border. The inhabitants regretted their behavior and apologized to each other. They thanked her and escorted her happily to the planet of Roses. She had
no more than two days. She entered the planet of Roses. Rose flowers were abundant with big and sharp thorns that the planet’s inhabitants weren’t able to eradicate. The Long-hand stayed for a full day there and helped them. Then, Rose’s inhabitants thanked her and escorted her happily to the planet of Balloons. The planet of Balloons was located among the three other planets, Roses, Narcissus and Primrose, and Long-hands. Due to having lots of balloons, it was likely that the wind blows the planet away at any moment. It was full of colorful balloons there,
and several guards were guarding the balloons and were busy inflating them. For any baby being born in the Rainbow System, the guards would inflate a balloon and raise them on the planet. Each of those balloons was the dreams and hopes of a newborn baby. Long-hand helped the guards inflate the balloons and raise them all day long. The moonrise was close, and she had to return to her planet. Her hands were so long that she could easily take her moon in her hands. She did not seem to feel her legs because she was jumping out of joy and was so excited as if she was
flying. She picked up her equipment and said goodbye to the guards. She had to hurry to arrive on time, but suddenly, the guards’ clamor of voices rose in screaming: help …, help, the children’s dreams. The Long-hand went toward them quickly. The wild giant bees had attacked a farm, and guards weren’t able to tackle them. The giant bee’s stinger could burst two balloons at once. These bees had come from the exiled planet of angry insects, from the depth of the Rainbow System. They probably had escaped from that planet, or the fragrance of the roses, Narcissi, and Primroses had drawn them here. Sabotage was so delightful for them that they would spend a lot of days on the planet, destroying all children’s hopes and dreams. The Long-hand dropped her equipment desperately. She was on the horns of a dilemma …, she didn’t have much time …, either saving the children’s dreams or her three-hundred-and-eleven-days dream … She had to decide. She soliloquized: “I have counted down three hundred and eleven days for this moment. This moonrise is my only chance.” She picked up her equipment and preceded a few steps. Her steps were as heavy as mountains. The shouts and clamors were getting louder and louder. Finally, she cast her equipment to a side and ran toward the guards. She circled her hands around all of the balloons several rounds. The Long-hand’s hands were wounded and swollen; the bees, suddenly, left and disappeared; The Long-hand fainted. She woke up after a few moments.
The inhabitants of the planets of Roses, Narcissus, and Primrose had scattered their nectar of flowers in the farthest point of the System for helping the Long-hand to draw bees to the other side. Bee’s failure of sabotage had caused them to walk away. This time, guards, all of the children, and the inhabitants of the planets were happy and thanking the Long-hand. But, her heart got broken. To thank her, they gave her a big dandelion so that she could get to her planet faster. She picked up her equipment and took the dandelion’s stem. The guards and children started
blowing dandelions away. The Long-hand returned to her planet, but the moon had nearly disappeared. Being so upset, she started watching her moon setting while her eyes became full of tears. Suddenly, her hands started getting longer and longer. Her hands got so long that as soon as she raised her hands to the sky, she could touch the moon. The moon got closer to the planet slowly again, and not only three hundred and eleventh Long-hand embraced her moon entirely, but also, the moon embraced her and turned her tears to happiness. That night was the only night that the moon rose twice, and the Long-hand realized her dream. Now, everybody believed in their dreams and was more kind. And all of the inhabitants of the Rainbow System told the story of the three hundred and eleventh Long-hand who got embraced by the moon for thousands of moonrises.
The end
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