MoonWatcher And The Value Of ‘G’

By : Osiris

 

      One day, MoonWatcher woke up to find herself in Physics class. None of her classmates and friends commented about it so she just shrugged it off and opened her notebook.

     

Up in front, her odd little Physics teacher was drawing a ball getting thrown up in the air.

 

      She spoke, “In all things thrown up, they must, at one point or the other, come down again.” She smiled, “This phenomenon has a value.”

 

      Writing a large ‘g’ on the board, she turned back to the class and said, “This is the value of g”

 

      “Value of g” copied Moonwatcher silently.

 

      “The value of g” continued her odd little physics teacher, “Is negative nine point eight meters over second squared.”

 

      “Negative nine point eight meters over second squared” wrote Moonwatcher.

 

      “Miss?” Her classmate, BrightSummer raised her hand. “Why is it negative?”

 

      Her odd little physics teacher smiled back at the young woman and said, “It is because it always drags everything down.”

 

      Drawing a vertical line on the board, “This value of g is the thing that keeps our feet on the ground. It keeps us from flying off our world.”

 

      “It is gravity?” continued BrightSummer’s query.

 

      “Yes it is.”

 

 

      “Keeps feet on ground” wrote Moonwatcher stoically, “Keeps from flying”

 

      The storm in Moonwatcher started once more.

 

      The class went on, but Moonwatcher detached herself from it. She looked down at the notes she had made and blinked several times, her pale eyes bright with uncertainty.

 

      Breaktime came and WhiteSnow came up to her. “Hey, MoonWatcher”

 

      MoonWatcher looked back at her friend and frowned.

 

      “You looked distracted during Physics” Continued WhiteSnow as they walked to their next room. “You okay?”

 

      “Hmm.” Was the only response she got.

 

      “Hey, speak to me here. Are you okay or what?”

 

      “I don’t know”

 

      “Why?”

 

      MoonWatcher looked at WhiteSnow with no small degree of uncertainty in her eyes. “I don’t understand the value of G”

 

      WhiteSnow laughed softly, “Don’t stress about it. It’s easy to understand.”

 

      “That’s not it.” Said MoonWatcher too soft to hear.

 

      On the bus later on, Moonwatcher leaned on the chair with no small amount of weariness. All day long, she tried to understand what the value of g was.

 

      “Are you okay?” StarShine’s question broke MoonWatcher’s reverie.

 

      MoonWatcher looked down at her sister and said nothing.

 

      They had left the bus quietly, entering the house with a silence that was filled with questions. Moving slowly to the door of her tower, MoonWatcher was stopped by Sandman.

 

      “Hey” he said, stopping his daughter with a smile. “What did you learn in school today?”

 

      “The Value of g” said MoonWatcher automatically, for in truth, it was the only thing she retained during this day full of questions.

 

      “You look like you didn’t understand it completely.” He smiled brightly again, “Want me to teach you?”

 

      Behind him, StarShine and WhiteSpirit were arguing. A typical mother-daughter argument.

 

      Moonwatcher stopped. She turned to look at her mother and her sister. Then back to her father. After a further moment of silence, a small smile appeared on her face.

 

      “No thanks dad.” She turned away, opening her door. “I had just realized what it meant.”

 

      She entered her tower and ran to greet the moon.

 

The End