Eddy and the Moon Dance Night

Once, on an evening when the moon hung big and round over the savanna, silver light lay like a blanket over the grass and acacia trees. Eddy the little elephant was sitting in his favorite meadow, wiggling his ears and staring in wonder. “Why does the moon look like a giant gummy bear tonight?” he murmured, tapping the tip of his foot in the grass. Pit-pat.

Behind him something rustled, very softly at first, then louder. Crunch, giggle, hop. Eddy turned around — and froze with his mouth wide open. Across the meadow hopped tiny, colorful gummy bears, as cheerful as if they were wearing springy shoes. A red gummy bear jumped in front of Eddy’s trunk and called, “Good evening! Tonight is Full Moon Dance Night. We need someone with big feet to stomp the beat. Will you help us?”

Eddy looked down at his broad elephant feet, grinned, and nodded. “I can do that. I’m the best stomp-dancer far and wide.” “Yay!” shouted the gummy bears and lined up in a long, colorful row.

“Ready? One, two, three — go!” Eddy lifted his legs and set them down on the meadow. Thump-thump, thump-thump. The ground vibrated, the moon sparkled, and the gummy bears spun in circles. The green bear whirled like a spinning top. Wheee! The yellow one jumped into the air. Hop! The blue one tried a somersault, landed on its bottom in the clover — plop — and immediately started to laugh. Then everyone laughed along, even the crickets chirped in rhythm. Chirp-chiiirp.

Eddy really got going. “I’m the king of the Moon Dance Night!” he trumpeted happily. Tooooot! The gummy bears clapped. Pling-pling, clap-clap. Glittering dust rained from their tiny hands. In the moonlight it looked like a thousand tiny stars hopping across Eddy’s back. The red bear shouted, “More stomping! One more round!” Eddy stomped, the bears spun, and the moon seemed so close it looked as if it were nodding along.

After many rounds, a yawn tickled Eddy’s belly. Huuuaah. He lay down in the soft grass. “That was the best dance of my life,” he said and closed his eyes. The red bear bent down to his ear. “Sweet dreams, Eddy. When the moon is this round again, we’ll come back.”

The wind stroked the meadow. Whooosh. The gummy bears hopped more quietly, then even more quietly, until their steps sounded like soap bubbles. Pop… pop… One last giggle floated over Eddy’s forehead, then it grew still. The moonlight lay warm on his ears, and the stars watched as a big friend closed his eyes.

In the morning Eddy woke up. The sun stood kindly over the savanna, birds were singing, and the meadow lay there all alone again. “Was that a dream?” he asked and rolled onto his back. Then something glittered at his foot. A tiny speck of sparkling dust was stuck between his toes. Eddy blinked, laughed softly, and gave himself a little nod.

“No,” he said, “you really were here.” He jumped up, tried a little test dance — thump-thump — and called up to the sky, “Thank you for the Moon Dance Night!”

Since that evening, Eddy looks up at every full moon. When the moon is big and round in the sky again, he folds his ears back, quietly counts to three, and stomps the first beat. Thump-thump. Then, in the distance, tiny pling-sounds ring out, and colorful dots scurry across the meadow. Sometimes they only dance a short round, sometimes they dance until the stars grow tired. And every time, a breath of star dust lands on Eddy’s feet — a greeting to the best stomp-dancer in the savanna.