Elsa glanced at both astronauts asleep on their seats. Whatever had happened to them, it had been her fault, and now she was worried. She didn't want to harm the Farmer's son—he was her close friend!

She approached them. They didn't seem to be in pain or anything like that; that relaxed her a bit, but she still wanted to help them.

And then something odd happened.

All the colors of her surroundings washed out, replaced by shades of gray. The Farmer's son and his astronaut friend Mark remained frozen in midair, not moving an inch. Actually, nothing was moving anymore—not even the floating pieces of broken plastic, the remnants of everything she had crushed with her body early on. The Lunar Module didn't seem to move toward the Moon anymore, either.

Everything seemed to have paused.

Time had frozen still.

But Elsa wasn't worried. Instead, a pleasant calm feeling filled her. She stopped floating and waving about, relaxed and calm.

What was happening? She had asked herself that question way too many times already.

"Hi there," a voice spoke in a warm tone. "Are you doing okay in there?"

Appearing out of nowhere, a human sat in The Lunar Module, staring at her with kind eyes. For some reason, he wasn't floating, like Elsa was. He was old, like the terrifying human that had chased her in The City, but his beard and mustache were well-combed, clean, and white. He didn't wear astronaut clothes, but a nice suit and polished shoes instead.

Who was this human?

"Who am I?" the human replied to her as if he could read her thoughts. "Who am I..." he whispered to himself, thoughtful and running his fingers through his beard.

He grunted as he stood up from his seat. "Come with me. I want to show you something," the bearded human said, extending a hand to her.

Without a doubt, Elsa had never been so confused in her entire life. But just like it happened with Sophia early on, this human inspired her confidence. For some reason, it was easy to trust him, and lately, she had a hard time saying that about humans.

Elsa waved her legs and hovered toward the bearded human. As soon as one of her hooves touched his hand, her surroundings expanded indefinitely as if everything had turned into rubber. Before she realized what was happening, they were outside The Lunar Module and floating in the darkness of the night sky, among its bright lights. The surface of The Moon was before them, shining.

"Nice view, isn't it?" the bearded Human said, looking down at The Moon.

Indeed, it was a nice view. It was everything Elsa had strived for since she'd left The Farm. This had been the ultimate goal of her journey: to meet The Moon. Even so, she still wanted to know who this mysterious human was. He seemed to bend all the rules of the humans. He went wherever he wanted and did whatever he wanted like Elsa in her dreams. Reality molded to his will, and he could even fly across the night sky and around The Moon.

"I see you have many questions, child." The bearded human peered at her, amused. "See, I don't have a name. Humans, as you call them, had given me many names."

A Human with many names, Elsa thought.

"Yes, many names—but you can think of me simply as a friend. I am the one in charge of everything you see around here. I give things a place and a purpose—humans, animals, the sky, the clouds ... The Moon."

Elsa stared at this human in astonishment. How could he be in charge of so many things at the same time? This journey had been perilous for her, and yet he had just appeared before her as if he had simply jumped from The City and landed onto The Lunar Module.

"Even so," he continued, "I never expected to cross paths with someone like you, my child. You've come a long way. Farther than most humans, actually. Look there..." He pointed at a ball floating behind The Moon; it was unevenly colored in green, blue, and white, and it was very, very far away.

It wasn't The Sun.

What was it, then?

"That is The Earth. That's where you live."

Elsa stared at the colored ball. So that's where The City was, and that was where The Rocket came from.

"The Moon, which you see here before us, circles around The Earth. They're friends—very close friends. That's why you see The Moon in the sky at night."

But then why does it hide during the day?

"The day belongs to The Sun—there." He pointed at yet another bright light in the distance; it gleamed brighter than any other. "Just like The Moon circles around The Earth, The Earth circles around The Sun. It bathes one side of the Earth with its warm light. They're all good friends, and they all live here." He threw his arms wide. "Space!"

So, just like The Farm was home to Elsa, The Farmer, and the other animals, this infinite, dark place called Space was the home of The Earth, The Moon, and The Sun.

Who would've thought?

The Earth sure was nice to her, letting her and her friends live on it! But in spite of all this new information, Elsa was really astonished by the extensive knowledge this human had. She hadn't met anyone so smart since Tee-bee! The bearded human, though, spoke with less-complicated words—Tee-bee sure could learn a couple things from him.

"As you can see, the world and everything in it is complex, but that gives us a chance to learn new things every day. I know how much you like to learn things."

How did he know that? Just by the way he looked at her, Elsa could tell he somehow had known her for a very long time.

"I have. I've known you ever since you were born. I've been observing you this whole time. I find the likes of you to be quite interesting—always trying to escape from the conventional." The bearded human wheezed a chuckle. "See, you couldn't just stay at The Farm with your friends. You had to buck the norm and travel all the way here to see with your own eyes what others didn't dare to see." The bearded human patted her on the back, congratulating her. "But your journey must come to an end. You know that, right? I mean, you've reached The Moon. This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

Indeed, that what she had always wanted.

Elsa had escaped from The Farm, hopped onto the Farmer's son's machine, survived The City, and then traveled all the way to The Moon. She had done everything she had set herself to do.

"However, I admire your perseverance. I have a proposal for you; my superiors think you deserve it." He smiled. "Now, come with me." The bearded human grabbed her by her hoof once again, and they left The Moon, The Earth, and The Sun behind. Soon, all she could see was the bright lights of Space. "I'm sure you've seen these up in the sky at night. You like them, right?"

Elsa did. She really liked those lights; they accompanied The Moon each time it came out at night.

"Those lights are called Stars. They live in Space, too, along with The Sun, The Earth, and The Moon."

Were the Stars related to the Earth and the others?

Were they brothers of some sort?

"You could say that. The Stars are all a big family!"

Well, that was interesting. All this time, Elsa had been looking at the night sky ignoring the fact she was actually looking at a family living in Space!

"All right. It's time for business." The bearded human's expression turned all serious. "You see, across history, other humans and animals have achieved very admirable things—either down on Earth or up here in Space. For example, there you can see a dog." He pointed at a group of glittering Stars, and suddenly, the image of a dog appeared over them. "An Eagle." He looked at another group and, likewise, the image of an eagle appeared over it. "A goat, a swan, and a lion."

Elsa's jaw dropped. How hadn't she seen this before? Those figures had been there all along, and yet she had never noticed them.

"They don't have names anymore, but all of them were like you once and did incredible things that earned them a place in the sky—they became Constellations. Unreachable yet beautiful."

Constellations?

"And now it is your turn. I'm here to offer you a place here, in the night sky, next to your beloved Moon. You'll be able to see it any time you want, be it night or day. During the night on Earth, your friends and everyone you love will be able to see you in the sky, shining bright like any other star. You've come along a great distance, and I'm here to offer you the opportunity to stay here and live with us." He gave Elsa a wide smile.

Elsa could hardly believe it.

Stay in Space?

To live with The Moon and its big family?

That sure was a tempting offer. Elsa had many friends back at The Farm, and the Farmer and his family were like a family to her, but she had never known her real family. She didn't know who her mother was or her father or whether she had any brothers. Elsa was the only cow on The Farm. But here in Space, she would have a real family! And the idea sure made her very happy.

However, she still wanted to get back to her friends and tell them all of her stories. She had many things to tell them: the outside world, The City, The Rocket, the mysterious bearded human, and also that the Farmer's son was an astronaut!

If she chose to stay, would she be able to return there?

"Sadly, if you choose to stay here, you won't be able to go back to The Farm. Constellations get to know things earthly beings are still not ready to know. It's a risk we can't take."

The sentence filled Elsa with sorrow. She looked back at The Earth behind her, in the distance, with sad eyes.

This was a difficult decision.

She wanted to stay, but if she wouldn't be able to get back, she wanted a chance to at least say goodbye to her friends and the family that had embraced her for so many years. Also, she didn't want all her stories to go away with her and be left untold.

And what about the Farmer's son? Was he going to be okay after the mess she'd made in The Lunar Module?

Elsa remained there, still and with a troubled expression. She was pretty downcast and unsure of what to do.

The bearded human smiled at her again. "It's a tough decision, I know," he said, rubbing her head. "You know? Let me see what can I do for you..."

And with that, the bearded Human pulled a rectangular box of plastic with buttons out of his pocket. It made funny noises with each press of a button. Then he placed it next to his ear and waited.

"Um ... just one second," he said after a while, noticing Elsa's puzzled look. "The signal is not very strong out here." But then he started speaking to the box as if someone was inside it. "Yeah, she wants in, but you guys know how difficult can this be. Can't we let her go back once before she signs up?" Then he stopped to listen. "Mmhm. Mhmm," he mumbled while nodding.

Who was he speaking to?

And most importantly, what was that magic box?

"Come on, she's been a good girl pretty much all of her life. I see no harm in letting her get back just once ...

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying—

"Mhmm.

"Sure! That'll do just fine. We don't want our new family member to be sad, right?

"All right, I'll let her know." He placed the box back in his pocket and then gazed at Elsa with a big, excited smile on his face. "Well, lucky you. My superiors seem to be in a good mood today. They say that if you accept, you'll be able to go back home for a whole day. But not a minute more or a minute less! Isn't that exciting? Oh, and don't worry about your astronaut friends. For them, it'll be like nothing ever happened."

Elsa waved her legs in excitement, forgetting for a moment that she was floating in Space. There was no way she could refuse to stay now. She would be able to get back to her friends before she moved to live in the sky with all the other Stars and Constellations.

That sure was good news!

❖

Author's Note

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