The Moon Followed Hafsa Home

It was night-night time, and Hafsa was on her way home from Nani's house, all snuggled in her car seat.

Out of the window, high in the dark blue sky, was the moon. Big and round and glowing, like a silver balloon.

The car went hum-hum-hum along the road. The moon came too.

The car turned the corner. The moon came too!

The car stopped at the traffic lights. The moon stopped too!

"Mummy!" gasped Hafsa. "The moon is following me!"

Mummy smiled. "It does look like that, doesn't it? The moon is very, very far away, so it stays in your window all the way home."

"Who made the moon?" asked Hafsa.

"Allah made the moon," said Mummy.

"Who made the stars?" asked Hafsa, watching them twinkle, twinkle.

"Allah made the stars," said Mummy. "Every single one."

"Who made the sky?"

"Allah made the sky."

"Who made… ME?" asked Hafsa.

Mummy laughed a soft, warm laugh. "Allah made YOU, Hafsa. Your button nose, your ten little toes, your lovely laugh — Allah made all of you. And He made you just right."

Hafsa looked at the moon. The moon glowed down at Hafsa.

"Allah made everything," Hafsa whispered. "The moon, and the stars, and the sky, and me."

At home, Mummy carried her up to bed. Through a gap in the curtains, a little strip of moonlight lay across the floor, soft and silver.

"Look," yawned Hafsa. "Allah gave me a night-light."

And under the moon that Allah made, in the bed that felt just right, Hafsa closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.