This month's assignment is to depict aspects of a fairy tale, and I chose the obscure "How the Moon Began", by the brothers Grimm. Here is the story:

There were four brothers who live in the town of Exe. Their names were Arn, who was old and wise; Boz, who was silent; Cass, a man of many deeds; and Deol, who was crafty and cunning. In the town of Exe, however, things were very different. There was no light during the night. All the citizens could only stumble blindly into each other at night, unable to see.

One day, the brothers had business in the town of Wye, so they travelled together. When they prepared to depart in the evening, however, they saw that the sky did not turn black, but had instead a half-light. Not as bright as day, but light enough to see. They went to investigate and saw a beacon shining in a tree. As they looked further, a villager from Wye approached them and told them about the Moon. It had been bought long ago by their Mayor, and maintained via a monthly fee, happily paid by each of the villagers in exchange for this light at night. The brothers immediately decided that their home in Exe needed such a device, so they stole it.

When they returned to Exe, the people were overjoyed, and they were more than happy to pay the monthly fee to keep the Moon stocked with fuel. All proceeded perfectly for years, until Arn grew weak, and his brothers feared he was close to death. Arn's last request was for one fourth of the Moon to be be buried with him, as he was one of the four who had stolen it, and therefore, one fourth of it should be his. He died soon after, and in deference to his request, the Mayor cut 1/4 of the moon from the tree and placed it in his coffin.

The same thing happened when his brother Boz died. Boz was buried with the second quarter or the Moon. Cass received the third when he passed away, and Deol left the land of the living with the last. Sadly, the loss of the Moon plunged Exe back into darkness.

However, in the land of the dead, the four quarters joined together and shone even brighter than before. The dead left their graves, no longer in eternal darkness, and danced in the moonlight. They ate and drank and celebrated until up in heaven, St. Peter heard the commotion and believed the noise to be an uprising of demons from Hell. He went down to investigate and was furious when he saw the dead. He took the Moon from them and commanded them to return to their graves. They were saddened when they heard his proclamation, but they obeyed. They returned to their graves. He then hung the moon high in the sky so that everyone could share its light, where it is today.