“The sun and the moon balance the sky. You know this. But it wasn’t always this way, with the lonely moon in the dark night and the sun lighting up the day. They used to share the sky together, and they danced and laughed and loved in the heavens. There was no day and no night, no sunrise or sunset.
The sun was so hot, and he burned so brightly. And the moon was so cold and withdrawn, and her light was drowned in him. However close he tried to get to his love, however tender he was, he always seemed to burn her. Her face is covered in scars now, and you can still see it in the sky. But still she loved him.
But the moon had no voice. She had no light of her own. She existed as a shadow in his brilliance. And he, smart and shining and quick to anger, could not understand her. And so it was that one day, the sun scared the moon away.
She fled across the sky, alone, and without his light the darkness became hers. In regret, he chased her endlessly, living always in day, never able to meet the night. Never able to find the moon. All he could do was follow her trail of tears… You know them as stars today.
She loved the sun, but she feared him as well, and her confidence and her light was dim. But to this day, she leaves messages for the sun, written in the clouds. You can’t see them of course. They are on the other side.
In the morning as the sun rises, he sees these messages and they make him blush pinks and yellows behind the clouds. He remembers the sweetness of their love. And so you see the sunrise.
In the evening the sun sets, his longing turns to anger and frustration, and he burns hot reds and purple with scorn and indignation. And so you see the sunset.
And forever since that day the sun has followed the moon. And the moon has followed the sun. Never to meet again… and sprinkled between them, a river of tears.”
Emmulah, on the origin of Night and Day. Image belongs to Vladamir Medvedev, you can buy prints online here: http://www.magnoliabox.com/artist/26431/Vladimir_Medvedev