NEW MOON

Rafe's early morning jog was the best part of his day, the only time when he ever felt in his element, sprinting through the neighborhood's empty streets with Springsteen hollering in his ears. He, too, had been born to run.

On that morning, however, with every step pounding the pavement harder as he ran faster and faster, the houses started to look weirdly smaller and smaller. Until Rafe noticed it was he who was getting bigger and bigger, as if his morning jog had shifted into some eerie ritual to help him become larger than life.

What was causing this? Forgiveness? No, that was simply a lonely plea displayed on one of the billboards along the highway. He was so tall now that he could see them.

Whatever it was, though, pulsating inside his chest, made him feel lighter than ever, like he could actually stop running and… what? Fly?

He let go. His still-expanding body began to fall upwards. Slowly, at first. Then, faster and faster.

Suddenly, Rafe realized he was in fact bigger than that nowhere town, larger than his soul-eating job, his voiceless marriage, the flat tunnel of his life. And he didn't have to run; he could fly away!

Yet somehow, the epiphany tasted bittersweet as he ballooned into space before finally turning into a second moon.

The tides have been acting funny ever since.

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