Fingernail Fire

Eavesdropping at a campfire.

“Where is it? It should be up by now.”

“It’s there. In the trees. You can barely see it.”

“Oh, there’s the fingernail.”

“Why does everyone make such a big deal out of the full moon? You get loads of light before and after. For days. It’s special, but not as unique. This moon is the rare one. The one you don’t notice. It barely lights the night.”

“True. Subtlety is often lost in the crowd.”

“Now it’s over the trees you can really see the sliver. And the rest of it, too.”

“Did you believe it was truly a sliver when you were young? I did. I thought it was all that was left.”

“I believed that was all, but with a twist. I thought each one was brand new like a flower blooming and dying back every month.”

“I wonder when I stopped believing and knew it was really all there the whole time?”

2019

Illustration by Mar Startari, 2019