And They Danced by the Light of the Moon (4 page)

The trees were shaking outside, trying to hold in their laughter. Every winter, the cold tried to get rid of the people in the same way that it got rid of giant insects. But humans were still there. Humans could, for better or worse, survive all sorts of awful things. As they began to drift off, Jules and Manon thought that they were safe and that no one, not even the future, could touch them. What neither of them knew was that this night was the beginning of another story. There was somebody new in the universe. How impossibly strange it is when a little life is created. A wee seed in a Styrofoam cup on the window ledge of an elementary school suddenly begins to grow into a beanstalk. And when we first exist, we are so warm. It is as if we are wrapped up in a fur coat, riding in a car with the windows rolled up and the radio tuned to a station that only broadcasts heartbeats.

And so Jules fell asleep with his arms around his new family.

Fearless. Witty. Thoughtful. Canadian.

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COPYRIGHT © 2012 HEATHER O’NEILL
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in 2012 by
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

O’Neill, Heather
And They Danced by the Light of the Moon / Heather O’Neill.

Stories published in the July/August 2012 edition of the Walrus magazine, as part of a collection of three short stories.
ISBN 978-0-9879989-3-4

I. Walrus Foundation II. Title.

PS8501.T86I2 2012 C813'.54 C2012-901829-5

Designed by Brian Morgan at
The Walrus.
Set in Arno Pro
Ebook Conversion by
Coach House Books

Cover image for
And They Danced by the Light of the Moon
COPYRIGHT © CC-BY Mike Bailey-Gates
Source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbg_photos/2794378755/

Story based on characters from
Lullabies for Little Criminals
, 2006, HarperCollins Canada.