Joshua Boon Goes Up To The Moon

oshua Boon was a good boy. He worked hard at school and he loved to read books and help his grandpa in the garden.

He lived in the country, far from his friends at school, so he often had to play by himself. As Mum and Dad both worked in the city, he spent a lot of his time down the garden at his grandma’s house sitting under the sycamore tree and watching the clouds go by.

“I wish I had some friends who lived near me,” he said to his grandma.

Grandma kissed the top of his head and said, “You’ve got me and Grandpa, and we both love you up to the moon and back.” Then she got back to her baking.

Joshua stood at the door of the sitting room and watched his grandpa snoring in the armchair. He knew that they both loved him, but he really wanted to play with somebody.

Sitting back under the sycamore tree, Joshua picked up a stick and started to draw in the dirt. “Up to the moon and back,” his grandma had said. So he drew the moon. “I wonder what it’s like to go up to the moon and back?” he thought.

As he drew the final line, his stick bumped into something and the line went in the wrong direction. “Oh!” thought Joshua. “What’s this here that’s messed up my drawing?”

He dug into the ground with end of the stick and pulled up a strange lump, all covered in soil. Knocking off the dirt, he could see that it was shaped like a star.

And then the strangest things started to happen…

The star began to glow in his hand, and just as Joshua was about to say something out loud about this, a voice sounded in his ear, which surprised him so much he quite forgot about the star for a moment.

“Well done young man! You’ve found one! Now if you would kindly jump into the basket in front of you, I will lift you up and you can help me to put it back where it belongs,” said the voice, a big creamy, warm and friendly voice – like the voice of a kindly old gentleman who has a library full of books and a grandfather clock in the hallway.

Joshua looked up and around for the owner of the voice, but all he could see was a shopping basket just like his grandma’s on a long piece of string lowering down from the sky and stopping just in front of him beside his drawing of the moon.

“Come on, jump in – and bring the star with you!” said the voice.

Joshua looked at the shopping basket. There was no way he would fit in that, he thought, but as he drew closer to the basket it magically grew bigger until he was able to fit into it with no trouble at all. It was actually quite comfortable, with a big checked tea towel at the bottom of it, just like Grandma’s.

“Okay!” shouted Joshua and, looking up into the sky, he tugged on the string.

The basket began to rise up into the sky, slowly at first, swaying a bit in the breeze, then faster until he could see Grandma in the garden hanging out the washing. He waved, and she waved back, smiling.

“Hello Grandma!” he shouted, but she probably couldn’t hear him, because by now the basket was going into the clouds.

An aeroplane flew past, and the pilot waved to Joshua. Joshua waved back and smiled.

A big red balloon floated by. Joshua tried to reach out and catch it, but the basket kept rising and soon he was above the clouds where the stars live.

“Hello Joshua,” said the big creamy voice, and Joshua turned round to see the wise old Moon right beside the basket.

The Moon was a big friendly face on a long curved shape of yellow rock – just as Joshua had imagined it would be when he drew it in the dirt under the sycamore tree. Joshua climbed out of the basket and sat on the Moon’s chin.

“I’ve got your star,” said Joshua, and he held it up for the wise old Moon to see.

“Excellent!” said the Moon, “Now if you tie it to this piece of string, we can hang it back up in the heavens where it belongs.”

Joshua tied the string to point of the star and slowly it swung back into place in the night sky, twinkling softly.

“Why did the star fall out of the sky?” he asked.

The wise old Moon smiled his big cheesy smile and said, “Have you never seen a shooting star, Joshua? With so many stars to keep shiny in the sky, sometimes I knock one off by mistake, and then they fall down to earth and get lost until somebody like you finds them.

“And now you’re here, you can help me put some others back. If you lower the basket down to earth, I can ask the other children to put their stars into the basket so that you can lift it back up into the sky. Would you do that for me, Joshua Boon?”

Well, of course Joshua said that he would be happy to help the Moon in this very special job, just like he was always helping his grandpa in the garden shed.

So Joshua Boon sat on the Moon, dangling the basket down through the clouds, while the children of the Earth put their fallen stars into the basket. Time and again, he lifted the basket up into the night sky, and tied the stars back on the right pieces of string so that the sky was nice and tidy once more.

The Moon was very pleased with Joshua’s work.

“You have done a splendid job, young man,” said the Moon. “Now why don’t you take a nap, while I finish off sailing through the sky.”

Joshua lay down and rested his head on the wise old Moon’s chin, and fell gently asleep to the sound of the stars twinkling.

“Joshua! Joshua, it’s tea time! Come on sleepy head, I’ve baked your favourite – shortbread stars,” said Grandma.

Joshua lifted up his head to see his grandma standing looking down at him. He had fallen asleep under the sycamore tree.

“Where have you been, sleepy head?” said Grandma, “Somewhere good?”

Joshua took her hand as they walked back up to the house.

“I’ve been up to the moon and back,” he said.

 

Story and illustration by Kalahari © 2011 Up To The Moon Trading Limited