How The Eclipse Was Born
Once upon a time all animals were blest with the gift of flight. The sun, moon and stars were given the freedom to visit earth once a year. The sun was only allowed to visit at night with a special blanket that covered light. The blanket could only be used once a year for twenty four hours. The visiting hours of the moon and stars was during the day time. This rule was to ensure that the normal cycle of the earth was not disrupted. The heavenly bodies that stayed on earth longer than twenty four hours lost their light and was replaced by another.
One day the moon lost track of time and it was only a few minutes away from exceeding the stipulated time. The moon knew that if it ran on his own he wouldn't make it in time and so it started begging all the fastest animals for help. They all rejected the moon's offer except the dog who successfully assisted the moon back to its post five minutes before the time elapsed. The moon was very grateful and promised to pay the dog back one day. The dog simply laughed because it reasoned that the moon lacked the means to help it.
Many years later the dog made a big mistake and ate the meat that was meant for the lion who was the king of the jungle. The lion was very happy because it had a secret love for dog meat. It had been looking for ways to taste that meat for a while now and so it thanked the gods for giving it this gift. The rules of the land however stated that before sending any one to death, you must state a condition that will guarantee the person's freedom if fulfilled. The condition could be anything that the lion wished. The lion looked at the sun shining in the sky and laughed inwardly as the most impossible condition came to its head.
"The dog will be free if night comes this morning" he announced. Everyone laughed and the dog's face dropped as it realized that this was indeed the end. However, the weirdest thing happened as the guards brought the dog forward to the execution chamber. Everywhere suddenly started to become dark and as the animals looked up to the sky they saw the moon covering the sun. The moon had heard of the condition and quickly it had come up with a way to save the dog and that was to cover the sun.
The lion was afraid that the dog had witch powers and it quickly ran away from the kingdom. The other animals made the dog their king. That was how the dog was saved and indeed that was the origin of what is now known today as the eclipse.
Anene Ebubechukwu Anthony
#AnsaChildrenLiteratureContest
