For several days after finding the strange message in that old book, Elara couldn't stop thinking about one thing.
“Meet me when the moon is full.”
The sentence kept appearing in her mind every time she tried to sleep.
She had even started carrying the book with her everywhere. Not because she was afraid of losing it, but because she felt there was something inside it she still didn't understand.
At school, Rani immediately noticed the change in Elara's behavior.
“Why have you been so quiet?” Rani asked as she sat beside her during break.
Elara closed the book in front of her.
“I found something else.”
Rani leaned closer at once.
“Something connected to that book?”
Elara nodded.
She showed her the page with a picture of the moon and a tiny door in the middle.
Rani studied the picture for a long time.
“Did this just appear?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure it wasn't there before?”
“I've looked at this page so many times. That writing was never there.”
Rani furrowed her brow.
“So now this book can write things by itself?”
“I don't know either.”
Rani looked at Elara's serious expression.
“Elara, aren't you scared?”
Elara fell silent.
The truth was, she was scared. A part of her wanted to stop searching for answers. But her greater curiosity always drew her back to the book.
“I am. But I'm more afraid of what will happen if I stop now.”
Rani sighed.
“You really are stubborn.”
Elara gave her a small smile.
“I thought you were my friend. You should support me.”
“I support you, but that doesn't mean I can't worry about you.”
They both laughed softly.
But beneath that laughter, Elara knew this journey wouldn't be easy.
That afternoon, after school, Elara decided to go to the place Damar had mentioned. An old park on the outskirts of town that supposedly held many stories.
When she arrived, the place felt deserted. The only sound was the wind moving through the trees.
Elara looked around.
“Why did Damar send me here?”
She walked slowly along the narrow path, now strewn with dry leaves.
At the far end of the park stood an old bench.
Elara stopped when she saw someone sitting there.
Damar.
“You actually came.”
Elara stared at him.
“Were you waiting for me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because there's something you need to see.”
Damar stood and walked toward a large tree at the back of the park.
Elara followed him cautiously.
Behind the tree was a small wooden box, partially buried in the ground.
Damar picked it up and handed it to Elara.
“This is for you.”
Elara looked at the box.
“What is it?”
“Just open it.”
Hesitantly, Elara opened the box.
Inside was an old photograph.
It showed a little girl smiling as she held a picture of the moon.
Elara froze.
The girl in the photo was her.
“That’s me.”
Damar nodded.
“Yeah.”
“But when was this taken?”
“Fifteen years ago.”
Elara kept staring at the photo.
She didn't remember ever being in that place.
There was a small inscription on the back of the photo.
“For little Elara. Don't forget our promise.”
Her hands began to tremble.
“What promise?”
Damar didn't answer right away.
“You really don't remember.”
“What am I supposed to remember?”
Damar looked up at the sky.
“You came here once with someone.”
“Who?”
“Someone who taught you to see the moon differently.”
Elara tried to remember.
A small shadow surfaced in her mind. The sound of someone laughing. Someone calling her name.
But everything felt blurry.
“Did I really have these memories?”
“Yeah.”
“Why don't I remember them?”
Damar looked at her.
“Because there's a reason those memories disappeared.”
Elara turned to him at once.
“Who erased them?”
Damar said nothing.
The question made the air grow heavy.
“I can't answer everything yet.”
Elara grew frustrated.
“You know so much about my life, but you always stop before explaining anything.”
“It's not that I don't want to explain.”
“Then what is it?”
“I'm afraid the answer will make you lose something else.”
Elara fell silent.
For the first time, she saw Damar not as someone hiding secrets, but as someone carrying a burden of his own.
“Have you known me since back then?”
Damar nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Why don't I remember you?”
“Because you were too young back then.”
“Then why have you only appeared now?”
Damar looked at the moon, which had begun to show even though the sun had not completely set.
“Because the moon is starting to show the way now.”
Elara followed his gaze.
“The moon?”
Damar took a small object from his pocket.
A moon-shaped key.
Elara fell silent at once.
“That key…”
“You've seen it before?”
Elara touched the necklace around her neck.
Its shape was almost identical.
“What does this key have to do with my necklace?”
Damar placed the key in her hand.
“You'll find out later.”
Elara closed her fingers around it.
“I'm tired of these half-answers.”
“I know.”
“I just want to know what really happened.”
Damar looked at her seriously.
“Then come when the moon is full.”
“Where?”
Damar pointed toward the hill visible in the distance beyond the park.
“To the place where you first searched for the moon.”
Elara followed his gaze.
She had no memory of ever going there.
And yet, strangely, the sight of it felt familiar.
As if a small part of her memory were trying to return.
That night, Elara stood in front of her bedroom window.
The moon was perfectly round.
She held the small key Damar had given her.
For the first time, she felt her search was beginning to have a direction.
But at the same time, new questions arose.
Who had made her forget the past?
And why was the moon always part of every one of those stories?
Elara closed her eyes.
Tomorrow night, when the full moon arrived, she would find the answers herself.