Microstory 68: Selenophobia

Melvin Leo suffered from selenophobia; fear of the moon, and he had his entire life. He hadn’t left the house at night for several years. He even directed his career path so that he could live in England half of the year, and Australia for the other half, so as to maximize daylight hours. He went to therapists regularly, trying to get his anxiety under control. They were making progress, but he still kept this sinking feeling that something dangerous was hiding on the far side. One day, he was in the middle of nowhere on the train from Oxford to the airport when the power went out. It was twilight, so as they stepped out of the train, the passengers could see the skyline dramatically blink out little by little. Melvin gathered all of his strength; calling on the lessons that his therapists had taught him. And then he ran. He ran towards civilization as long as he could, but eventually had to start walking. Long before he was anywhere close to the safety of a building, it grew dark. Still, he kept walking. He even slowed his pace, reveling in his newfound fortitude. When he finally found a public building, he smiled and climbed up to the roof. Just like that, he no longer felt fear of the moon. He stood on the ledge, and yelled his revelation up to it. And while he stood there, he watched in horror as invading spaceships broke off from a mothership that appeared from behind the moon.