Luna and her younger brother, Turtle, lived in a house haunted by broken things. It was a scary place, full of terribly-horribles. The only thing that wasn’t terribly-horrible was each other. Luna had known from the very beginning that Turtle was hers to care for. No one else with care existed, and it was up to her to make sure Turtle didn’t feel so lost that he actually went missing. This job wasn’t easy. It was a job that involved getting in front of monsters and an ice queen to make sure Turtle got less hurt than she did. Luna was very good at this job, and it felt like she would do it forever since monsters and ice queens don’t ever leave or die.
Years and years went by…
Turtle grew up on his outside, but not inside—just like Luna. Turtle and Luna moved away from the haunted house and each other, and Luna took the ice queen with her to make sure Turtle would be free.
More and more years went by…
The ice queen called Luna a liar, and Turtle took the ice queen away with him, telling Luna that the ice queen was EVERYTHING. Luna didn’t understand. She thought she was EVERYTHING to Turtle, the same as he was to her.
More and more years passed…
Luna rarely thought about Turtle on the grown-up outside, but inside, she thought about Turtle all the time. Luna knew she’d never see him again. The ice queen had gotten what she always wanted—Turtle.
In front of a middle-aged fairy princess, Luna told a story about Turtle and thought maybe she would cry. She couldn’t cry, not anymore. In the haunted house, a monster had told Luna he wouldn’t stop hurting her until she cried. Luna knew not crying would delay Turtle’s hurt, and so she refused to cry. Turtle didn’t know that was Luna’s job. Turtle thought Luna’s job was to make the monster mad and sad and happy. Turtle thought Luna’s other job was to do whatever the ice queen told her—no matter what.
After Luna finished telling the story, the middle-aged fairy princess said,
"Maybe taking care of Turtle helped you survive. And, maybe, just maybe, for your whole life, Turtle has been the only one you ever allowed yourself to truly love—the only love you allowed yourself to accept. And if that’s true…”
“…maybe that love is what kept you alive.”
Somehow, the middle-aged fairy princess had discovered the labyrinth to inside Luna. And that Luna, thought about what happened when the love that helped you survive told you you’re NOTHING and the ice queen was EVERYTHING.
Luna finally cried.