Aarav and the Shy Moon

One night, the sky was very dark. There were no stars. There was no moon. Little Aarav looked out his window and felt a bit scared.

"Mummy, where is the moon?" asked Aarav.

"Maybe the moon is hiding," said Mummy. "Sometimes even the moon feels shy."

Aarav thought about this. He knew what it felt like to be shy. On his first day at school, he had hidden behind Mummy's legs. He didn't want to talk to anyone. But then a boy named Kabir had smiled at him and said, "Do you want to play?" And everything felt better.

Aarav had an idea. He grabbed his torch and went to the balcony. He pointed the torch up at the sky and waved it gently.

"Hello, Moon!" he called. "You don't have to be scared. I was shy once too. But when someone was kind to me, I felt brave. You can be brave too!"

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, slowly, a tiny silver glow appeared behind a cloud. The cloud drifted away, and there was the moon — small and shy, but shining.

"See?" said Aarav. "You are doing it! You are so bright!"

The moon seemed to grow a little bigger. It shone a little stronger. Soon, the whole garden was covered in soft, silver moonlight. The moon was smiling.

Aarav smiled back. "Goodnight, Moon. You were very brave tonight."

He switched off his torch, climbed back into bed, and pulled the blanket up to his chin. The moonlight poured through his window like a gentle hug. Aarav closed his eyes, feeling proud — proud of the moon, and proud of himself for helping a friend.