The Pink Moon And I

"Have you heard about the upcoming full moon coming up?" my friend Adam asked while passing me a wine glass.

I take off my coat and sit on the couch. "What full moon?" I look outside the apartment window to see the moon a lot bigger than usual. "Is that tonight?"

Adam nods. "Pink Moon. According to Maya is a moon of love." he kisses the air while opening the wine bottle. I roll my eyes. Maya is our best friend and since we could remember, she has always let us know of either the Mercury Retrograde or the moon phases.

I get up and walk to the window, the empty wine glass still in my hand. The energy from the moon is potent, though almost like it's pulling me forward.

I feel Adam's eyes on my back. "Hey, George, why don't we go rowing and drink some wine and eat some sub sandwiches." A smile creeps on my face. "That is the drunkest thing I have ever heard you say." After some silence, I turn to him.

"So are we going to Wawa?" Adam smiles and runs to the kitchen and pulls out a brown bag with the Wawa logo. "Talk about 10 steps ahead, dude." he smiles and hands me the bag.

I stare at him, stunned.

"I know you're still grieving from your breakup with Agate. But I want this night to be at least enjoyable for you." I blush. I guess he's heard me crying for the past couple of nights since the breakup.

"Okay then," I say. After a few glasses of wine, we head to the pier with the canoe and row off.

"I wanna row to the horizon." Adam slurs. I throw back my head and laugh. "Whatever you say, man." As we row in rhythm, I look around and admire the aesthetics of the night. The trees are painted blue and black, the lights from the houses glisten the night. The sound of the crickets chirping and the frogs croaking in the distance. The night felt peaceful.

Finally, we were at the perfect spot. Adam pulls out our sub sandwiches, and we begin eating. There's a silence between us that's almost deafening.

I look down at my sub and remember the night Agate and I broke up. I was screaming at her while she held her hands to her ears and cried. She opened up to me about her mental struggles, and instead of being supportive, I was selfish.

"How could you do this to me?!" I screamed, and she cried harder, admitting to having depressive thoughts. I wince every time I think about that day. Why wasn't I good to her? It wasn't even about me, and I ended up hurting her.

"I understand why she broke up with me." I finally say. Looking up at the moon, I sigh. " I wasn't the best man for her. I was always so critical of what she was going through or what she was struggling with. She's a great person. I need to be better. I want to be better not only for her but for myself."

Adam pours a glass and hands it to me. "I think you seeing that is the first step of growing and being better." I look at him.

"George. You are not a bad person. You didn't have the intention to hurt her. Bad people are the ones who intend to hurt people and don't show remorse. You truly realize that you need to be better, and you're actually sorry. That means you're a good person." Adam reaches to hug me, and I reach to him.

After we both let go, he sees I have tears in my eyes. "It's okay to cry. Crying relieves stress." I nod, happy he's supportive.

I look back up at the moon. Man, it's beautiful. But why isn't it turning pink? I look at my wine glass, full of pink wine. I hold up the glass and see the moon through it. The pink color makes it look haunting but beautiful.

"Cheers," I say. "To love and friendship." Adam raises his glass with a happy grin.

Suddenly I get a text. It's from Maya. I open the message.

Its says:

"Hey, best friend, I just wanted to check up on you to make sure you're okay. I wanted to let you know that the pink moon is tonight. Sadly it's not going to be pink, but the moon's energy is full of love & compromise. Please take this time to be. You deserve it."

My eyes begin to blur as I read the text, and a wave of sadness comes over me. I wipe my tears and let out a loud exhale. Adam looks over at me.

"It's time to go home now buddy," I say. He nods, and we row back to shore.