FROM BLUE MOON LAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 241, 31 December 1927, Page 23

FROM BLUE MOON LAND

Joan didn’t want to go to bed! She wasn t a bit sleepy; besides, she wanted to finish a story she had been reading—all about the "Blue Moon Fairies.”

After mummy had kissed her goodnight and blown out the candle, she lay and blinked at the ceiling, and all the time she had a funny, bubbly feeling inside, because she was sure that something really exciting was going to happen.

\V hat was that? Joan sat up and rubbed her eyes.

Yes, she could hear it louder than ever—a funny little scratcting noise. What ever could it be?

Jumping out of bed, she slipped on a warm dressing-gown with squiggly patterns all over it, and a pair of slippers. She must find out what it was, so she opened a match-box to light the candle, and that’s what caused all the excitement, because, as she struck the match a bright blue flame shot up into the air. Joan only just managed to light the candle before she dropped the match on the floor. Bang! Joan jumped, for no sooner had the match touched the floor than it disappeared, and up sprang one of the strangest little men.

His thick black hair wa.s standing on end, and his arms and legs were so thin, and his hands—oh, they were large! His black, beady eyes looked up into Joan’s blue ones, and they both laughed. “Who are you, please? And where have you come from?” she asked. “Oh, I’m only here by accident. I am the acrobat from the Blue Moon. Have you ever seen the Blue Moon?” he asked.

“No! But I was reading about it just before I came to bed, and I have often heard mummy speak about 'once in a Blue Moon.’ Do tell me how you came to be here!” “Well, as I told you before, I am the acrobat from the Blue Moon, and one day I was trying to stand upside down on the bottom of the moon when I fell off, right into a match-box a man was holding, and before I could escape he had shut me in.” “Ah, I didn’t know it was you making that scratching noise, and in the dark I used you for a match. I hope I didn’t hurt you,” said Joan. “That’s all right, but you certainly ought to be rewarded for your kindness. You must come with me to the Blue Moon.” “How lovely!” Joan squealed with delight. “Y r ou had better bring the candle with you to give us a light,” he said. So Joan picked up the candle and tip-toed out on to the dark landing, and as she peeped round the corner a sudden gust of wind blew out the candle! “Oh!” cried Joan, and she hastily lit the candle again, but nowhere could she see her Blue Moon acrobat, only a dark, bare passage. So very quietly she crept back into the bed. leaving her dressing-gown with the squiggly patterns hanging over the end of it. But, strangely enough, when she awakened in the morning, it was on its peg in the wardrobe just where she always kept