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IN the silence of the night and the stillness of my shadow, I was gazing at the night sky. It was pitch dark and I suddenly noticed a bright beam of light, peeping from behind the clouds in a corner. At that moment anybody who looked at the sky would fall in love with the moon. For a moment I felt pity for the moon being beautiful though lonely.

The rest of the world was asleep except for me and the moon, meditating on each other's faces and expressing our loneliness. At 12.45 am, I was pretty bored that I thought of making friends with the moon. I looked up at the moon and asked her what she was doing up there, all alone that late at night.

She replied: "I'm always here watching the waves of the deep blue sea and the greenery of the earth. But one half of the world doesn't see me and the other half shut their eyes when I come up." But she was still shining brightly, all alone.

I was just thinking, why do people feel so sad when someone close to us doesn't care about us? Though sad at heart, why can't we face the world with a smile, just like the moon?

I said to the moon: "But there are few people who keep gazing at you all night. How can you feel lonely when they admire you that way?"

The moon had a slight smile on her face. She said, "Oh! You mean the scientists behind telescopes! They look at me because they get paid for it. And, the astronauts come to me for fame. How typical of you humans!

How true, I thought. We humans would do anything if paid - be it staring at the moon or the sun. These days we even have to pay someone to keep secrets or make them speak the truth! Wealth and fame are all that we think of. Money is our ultimate aim and we think that money can buy everything. How can we be so greedy and materialistic?

The moon continued: "But I do have friends like you, who make me smile and keep the night sky shining." I said to the moon: "Hey, whenever you wish to smile, just try saying CHEESE. He he!"

Our chat flowed through a lot of topics. We spoke about my family, my school, my friends; then the moon told me about a few of her friends, just like me in different countries. She spoke a lot about earth's natural beauty and about present day pollution.

At 3.15am we wished each other good night. I saw the moon leave and go back behind the dark clouds. We had been such good friends for just a few hours. I promised her that we would meet every day... sorry, every night. I think when I left she got some new company on the other side of the globe. At least I hope so.

I went to bed and was content that I made my new friend smile. But nobody saw the moon smile except for me, because half the world couldn't see her, and the other half was asleep! It's so easy to make friends. All it costs you is few hours of talking and a slightly warm smile; or in my words, just say "CHEESE"! Friendship is not a light year or even a mile away, it's just a smile away.

Sabreena Basheer,

Nuwaidrat.

WITH reference to last week's front page and inside reports on the devastation in Pakistan. Well done on letting people know about the real plight of flood victims. This will be an ongoing mammoth task for years to come. So thanks and keep up the good work.

Shahana, by email.