Space Wizards

7. To the Moon!

Murphy slipped the rainbow ring onto her left hand like she was getting married and held it up to the light. 

"It's very beautiful, thank you." 

"It will protect you from elements. Keep it on your finger and you'll never drown, burn, freeze or suffocate. I wish you both the best of luck. I'll be here if you need anything," said Sid with a wink. 

"Until we meet again," said Melock. 

"Travel far," said Sid. 

They went downstairs, the two wizards performed a series of complicated gestures and manipulated various runes in the room as Murphy looked on. Melock gestured for her to join him back on the symbol they arrived on. 

"Are you ready to go to the moon?" he asked. 

She stood straight and tall. "Yes, are we going directly?" 

"We'll use my portable tower. Think of it as an old-timey rocket ship."

"A what?" she said as they vanished from the room and arrived on the second floor of Melock's tower. 

"Here we are. Now, do you need anything before we go over to the observatory?" 

"Is the tower on the moon?" asked Murphy. 

Melock pulled his mobile device out of his bag, looked at it, and saved their location. 

"Let's go find out," he said and headed down the stairs. 

Murphy followed him down and out the heavy wooden door. She stepped out onto a vast gray barren landscape. The sky was black, cloudless, and full of stars. Her boots sank ever so slightly into the fine powder that made up the ground. She held her breath. 

Melock's hair floated about his head like a halo. He gathered it up into a messy bun and smoothed down his long mustache with his hand. His body appeared to have a soft blue glow all around it, just beyond his skin. He led her around to the other side of the tower and pointed to a dull domed structure on the next ridge. Floating above them, massive in the clear sky was the blue marble of a living world she called home. 

She stared in awe at the globe of blue and green with massive clouds drifting across its surface. The continental landform she knew from the few maps she had read was there, as well as others in shapes and sizes she could have never dreamed of. The perfect sphere hung there frozen but as she watched, the planet swirled with life; a hurricane out over the great ocean, snowcapped mountain ranges, and giant whispy green neon snakes wiggled in the high atmosphere over the poles. 

She opened her mouth to say she had a thousand questions but no sound came out. 

Melock smiled at her, placed a hand over his heart, gestured at their world, and beckoned for her to follow. They made good time across the vast valley, which revealed itself to be an impact crater as they climbed with relative ease up the ridge to the observatory. Walking was easy and each step felt like taking two. They hopped and bounced and jumped like children playing in the low gravity all the way to the top. 

Sunlight beamed over the ridge, peeking out from behind their world in the distance. The rays felt warm and made Murphy realize that it was freezing on the moon. She looked at her rainbow ring and reached for it with her other hand. She wanted to feel what it really felt like.

Melock grabbed her hand, shook his index finger at her, and turned his head left and right with a serious face that said NO. 

She heard in her mind as if a whisper in her ear, "I'd hate to lose you in our first moments. Please keep your ring on always."