Light weaved pass hundreds of suspended worlds in the shape of cubes. In the early stages of his experiments, he created simple shapes for his small worlds and their inhabitants. On one of them lived Alexis and Steven. Each was made out of a combination of three-dimensional blocks. The head was the shape of a single cube attached to a bigger cuboid body. The limbs were more segments of cuboids of varying sizes.
On the very first day of existence, they found each other at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. After some awkward moments, they came to appreciate each other. They held hands and stood for a long time, staring out into the open sea. In the distance, the setting sun hovered just above a valley between two great mountains. Its ray cast a beautiful golden glow on everything. They spent many seasons together and started a family.
On one mid-autumn season, as the temperature started to drop and leaves turned to shades of red and yellow, Alexis thought of baking something special for her family to celebrate their harvest. She wanted to reward them for their hard work. While Steven and the children were out, Alexis looked for inspiration. As evening gave way to night, she stared up into the sky and saw a full blocky moon rising. She smiled and moulded the dough in the shape of the moon. She had always loved the moon - simple and easy on the eyes - a total contrast from the sun.
“Surprise!” Alexis chanted as her family made their way to the dining table.
“Smells great!” Steven said.
“Mom, it looks like the moon!” their daughter exclaimed.
“Can I name it? Can I? Can I?” their son asked enthusiastically. “Let’s call it a mooncake!”
The cake tasted so delicious that it became a tradition. Every year when the air started to cool, Alexis would bake mooncakes to usher in the mid-autumn harvest. Over the years she had improved the plain cake to one with patterns on the outside and fillings on the inside. The family was content with their lives and they lived happily ever after… until Darkness passed by the cubic world and noticed the blossoming love in it. He decided it was time to intervene…
Before the sunset, Alexis washed in a lake. After she was done, she looked at her own reflection in the water. Over the years, she had acquired lines on her forehead and the corners of her eyes. Her golden blonde hair that she was so proud of had darkened over time and started to lose its lustre. She let out a sigh and was about to get out of the lake when her blocky reflection morphed into a beautiful figure with smooth outlines. She reached out to touch it but her fingers triggered an eddy of water. Her heart sunk as her image disappeared in the ripples.
“You can look as beautiful as what you’ve just seen,” Darkness’ deep, booming voice startled Alexis. “All you need to do is to wish it. Do you?”
“Yes!” she replied without hesitation.
“And so be it.”
Water swirled around Alexis, slowly enveloping her within. Storm clouds loomed above. A column of spinning wind formed a tornado that reached down to merge with the vortex of water. Intermittent flashes of lightning revealed Alexis’ shadow within the cyclone. Coldness coursed through her skin. Every edge and corner of her body transformed into gentle curves. She was no longer confined by the constraints of her blocky figure. Her body became a new definition of flexibility she never thought possible.
When the transformation was completed, the sky cleared. The cyclone receded. Floating above the lake with a full moon behind was the most beautiful woman that future humankind would come to love. Alexis looked down and saw her family staring up at her. The commotion had no doubt attracted their attention.
“Alexis, is that you? You looked... you looked...” Steven was lost for words. He could not find any way to describe his wife. He was still not entirely sure if she was, indeed his wife. The woman that slowly descended in front of him bears little resemblance.
Alexis reached out to touch her husband, “Steven, you still looked... the same.”
“Ouch!” Alexis cut her palm as she ran it across Steven’s blocky face. “I’m sorry. We can no longer be together. You are no longer… perfect,” Alexis said.
She turned to look at the night sky and flew away towards the moon. “Yes, a perfect place for a perfect person,” she whispered to herself.
As she got nearer, the moon morphed into a sphere, a ball of light. Slowly, Alexis’ new form merged with the moon. She was not prepared for the pain of a thousand needles as her skin cracked and hardened into moon rocks. Her immortalised form became encrusted to the moon as mountains and hills. Her proudness of her new found beauty made way for pain and regret. Her eyes crumbled into hollow caves as her soul ceased to exist. The new terrain that was once Alexis cast shadows on the surface of the moon that served to remind Steven and the children she had existed.
Steven brought his sleeve up and wiped a block of tears from his eye. Every time there was a full moon, Steven and the children stared longingly at the image of Alexis. Eventually, the children had come to accept that their mother would never return. They went on with their lives and left their father to grieve alone.
Light was intrigued by Steven’s persistence. Despite the hurt he felt, he was not willing to let the memory of Alexis go.
“I can never understand these humans. I wonder...” Light snapped his fingers.
Steven felt a presence behind him but he did not care. It was probably one of his children. A hand reached out and gently touched his shoulder.
“Don’t be sad, Steven,” a female voice said. “It’s not the end of the world.”
Steven turned his head and saw her. She was a complete contrast to Alexis. Her hair was dark but she had deep blue eyes. While Alexis had fair skin, hers was bronze. Most importantly, she did not possess Alexis’ curves. She was all blocks, just like Steven. He felt his heart thumping. He had not felt that way since he first held Alexis’s hand. Finally, Steven was willing to let go of the past, a past that was as distant as the moon.
- End -
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