It was a cold night in April on the farm. The wind blew on the trees and the grass, singing an entrancing lullaby. For Elsa, the cow, there was no better place to be than that hill where she sat, overlooking the meadow. She came out to her special spot every single night. And like every time, there it was cheering the gloomy sky, round and bright, silent like a tomb.

"The Moon," the humans called it.

The farmyard animals knew its name, but none knew what it was.

What was its purpose? When was it born?

What had they done so wrong it wouldn't talk to them?

The Moon certainly was a mystery to everybody, but only a few cared about getting answers. As for this curious bunch, they gathered weekly behind the kitchen coop to discuss their findings.

"The Moon Club," the others had dubbed them.

Tom and Karen, the pigs, were a stubborn couple. They insisted The Moon was an illusion crafted by humans. It made some sense since humans loved shiny illusions. They sat for hours staring at them on that magic box they called "Tee-bee." Some even had a dedicated room for it and all.

As for Old Luke, the hound, he claimed the answers didn't rely only on The Moon itself. Her big brother, The Sun, was also involved in the mystery. But as it turns out, Old Luke was a huge fan of The Sun. He would say anything to bring it into the conversation, and so nobody took him seriously.

Finally, there was Eddy, the goat. He didn't really have an opinion in the matter—or anything else in particular. He just attended the meetings because the feeder was nearby. Anything was a good excuse for him to eat off-hours.

The Moon Club would ramble over the same theories again and again, sometimes until sunrise. And even so, years after establishing the club, nobody ever came up with any sound answers.

As for Elsa, she didn't even bother attending the meetings.

She preferred to spend her nights sitting there in the grass, staring at The Moon. Its pale, bright light arrested her senses, sending her into a pleasant trance. Such a magical thing didn't have an easy answer, she concluded. But whatever it was, she was convinced the truth laid beyond the gates of the farm.

Far, far beyond.

Humans were curious creatures, and Elsa knew that well. She concluded sticking close to them might yield a lead. So, every afternoon, before visiting The Moon, she traveled all the way from the barn to the farmer's house. She walked slowly and steadily, careful not to make that thing hanging from her neck go clanking and alert somebody. With time, she had mastered the arts of sneaking. She was undetectable, which was saying plenty, given her generous dimensions.

Once at the house, Elsa peered through a window. In the living room, the farmer sat on the couch, as usual, staring at Tee-bee. Tee-bee's face was as shiny as The Moon, and it changed often, and he spoke in many different voices. Elsa wondered why he had such a loose tongue while The Moon was so silent. Maybe she couldn't speak at all. Maybe she was like Randy, the tree, and his siblings, and the grass who were born mute.

Most times went uneventful, but still, Elsa had learned many things from Tee-bee. According to him, there was an entire world past the fences of the farm. She had tried telling the others, but they dismissed her as yet another victim of the illusions. They deemed Tee-bee as an evil, manipulative intruder. They had even plotted to get rid of him, taking advantage he couldn't move from where he sat. And Elsa thought they were very rude for it. Regardless of their accusations, she preferred to learn from Tee-bee than from them. If anything, they had only taught her how stubborn farmyard animals can be.

One day, the farmer went to bed, and Tee-bee stayed up late. That wasn't the first time it happened. Elsa always wondered why he kept talking if nobody was there to listen. Maybe his own light had rendered him blind and didn't know the farmer was gone. Maybe he had a weird condition and couldn't stop talking. Or maybe—Elsa pondered, squinting—, he knew she was there, watching from the shadows. She might have underestimated him. After all, he was a very clever fellow.

Whatever the reason, that night, what he had in store for Elsa, would change her life forever.

A human appeared on Tee-bee's glossy, shiny face. He looked very different from the farmer. He resembled a penguin with a human head, and a thick brush under his nose. 

"With this mission, NASA is looking forward to proving it is possible to land a man on The Moon," Tee-Bee said in a deep voice, with an urgency that made Elsa anxious. "These brave astronauts will travel to our natural satellite, where they will collect rock samples for later analysis."

As he spoke, Elsa remained with wide-open eyes, perplexed.

Collect rock samples?

Natural satellite?

NASA?

Like many times before, Elsa was clueless about what Tee-Bee meant. He had ample knowledge about everything, but he was terrible at getting his message across. And she always tried her best to decode his words.

"If the weather allows, the rocket will launch Saturday next week. It is expected to reach The Moon after three days of travel."

Elsa didn't blink one single time. She didn't breathe. "To reach The Moon," Tee-bee's last words echoed inside her head. It took her a moment to process that. The rocket—whatever that was—was heading there on Saturday. The Moon wasn't an illusion. It was a place—a faraway place. A day was a long time, and getting there would take three times as much.

After Tee-bee spoke about the rocket, the images on his face changed. Elsa always wondered how he could do that. He now showed a vast field, wholly different from those on the farm. It didn't have grass or dirt. It was dull and gray. A massive cylinder towered on the ground, making nearby humans look like ants.

It pointed upwards, making Elsa speculate whether it was one of those strange birds that cruised the sky in a straight line. Those didn't sing like the others. They spoke with the sounds of the storm instead, making her very scared. They were made by humans, she knew that much.

However, their purpose remained a mystery.

There was a symbol on the rocket. "NASA," Tee-bee said each time it showed up.

Was NASA a place like The Moon?

It had to be. On closer inspection, Elsa noticed the symbol was everywhere in that dull field. NASA was where the rocket lived, she concluded. And wherever that mysterious place was, the rocket would leave from there in a week.

She would find it, no matter what it took.