The man in the moon spends a lot of time looking down on Earth. He likes it best when the people he can see on Earth are dancing. He likes the wolves that howl up toward him. He dances and howls, too, kicking up great glittering clouds of moon dust.
The moon is full of ghosts. The scariest kind of ghost is a moon ghost. The dust gets in everything and sticks to the space behind your ribs. You can’t shake it from you.
Evelyn is haunted by a dead woman. She lives in Buffalo, New York, on the Westside near a really good Puerto Rican restaurant. Her boyfriend, Charles (never Charlie), lost his sister to suicide twelve years ago. It’s the sister who haunts Evelyn. The sister’s name was Miranda.
The man in the moon looks out from the moon, looks out from the moon and says, “Gee, I wish I could try Earth pastelillos.” The man in the moon only has moon peas and moon beans and moon potatoes. How he longs to try adobo.
Evelyn buys pastelillos almost once a week. It’s a ritual. Miranda’s ghost follows along, going “boo” and weeping at not being able to eat anything. No one else notices Miranda’s ghost so Evelyn pretends in public that she is alone. Not even Charles can see Miranda’s ghost and that breaks Evelyn’s heart every day.
When they are alone, Evelyn talks to Miranda. She asks the ghost to perform miracles. Miranda never does but Evelyn figures it doesn’t hurt to ask.
The moon ghosts rush through the man in the moon and he doesn’t dance and he doesn’t howl and he doesn’t kick up the glittering moon dust. Instead, he sits. He stares into the middle distance.
Evelyn has bipolar disorder. So did Miranda. This is how Charles confuses them with each other. He tells Evelyn she is hypomanic without asking why she is having trouble sleeping. Then, Evelyn says, “I’m angry with you,” and Charles says, “Is this because of the hypomania?”
The man in the moon drags himself out of his soft moon bed and looks out on the Earth.
At just that moment, Evelyn is outside looking up at the moon, smoking a cigarette. Miranda is whispering in her ear that Charles will never be able to see her clearly, not with Miranda lingering around. Evelyn isn’t so sure.
The man in the moon waves. He can see the ghost, too.
Evelyn can see the man in the moon. She holds up a hand and quiets Miranda. Then, she waves back.
Two people in circumstances they didn’t entirely choose.
The man in the moon is still trapped on the moon, but for a moment he feels less lonely.
Evelyn is still stuck with a ghost no one else sees. But for a moment, she feels acknowledged, like the ghost is a part of her finally being seen.
Evelyn will leave Charles, eventually, but Miranda will come with her.
The man in the moon will never rid himself of the moon ghosts. But he will hold onto Evelyn’s wave through every moon year after. That’s enough.
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Axel B. Kolcow is a trans and bipolar writer, editor, and artist living in Buffalo, NY. He is the co-editor of Taco Bell Quarterly. Find his work at kolcow.neocities.org.