Two a.m.
A breeze came through the hole in the doughnut.
The doughnut felt the breeze pass through its middle.
You could see through it.
The breeze could pass through it too.
So the doughnut said,
“You can go through there.”
The moon was already in front of the hole.
“Yeah.”
The hole got just a little bigger.
The moon peered through it.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“Where?”
“Over there.”
“What’s over there?”
“Don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“That’s why we’re going.”
The doughnut looked at its own hole.
“This has always been here.”
“That’s how it looks from where you are.”
“Is it?”
“From where I am, I just found this hole. So now I can go through it.”
“Where to?”
“I told you. Over there.”
“But you can already see over there.”
The moon went quiet.
“…No. Not that kind of over there.”
“What kind?”
“Beyond it.”
The doughnut looked through the hole.
“Is there a beyond?”
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”
“Maybe there isn’t.”
“How do you know there isn’t?”
“Because I can see.”
“No, you can’t. Not beyond it.”
The doughnut thought for a moment.
“Where is beyond it?”
The moon was already through the hole.
Beyond it was last night.
“See?”
The doughnut peered through the hole too.
Last night?
“Huh.”
Oh, well.
After a while, a sound came from far away.
Rrr.
Rrrr.
A white thing came rolling toward them.
Even though it was inside last night, it alone was white.
The moon said,
“You came too?”
“Yeah.”
“What for?”
“Dunno.”
“That again?”
“Again?”
“Nothing you need to know.”
The white thing looked at the moon.
“What did you come here for?”
“I came to see what’s beyond the hole.”
“Did you see it?”
“Last night was there.”
“That’s nice.”
“No. If that’s where it ends, all I did was go through a hole.”
“Wasn’t that what you wanted?”
The moon stopped for a second.
“…No. I didn’t want to go through the hole. I wanted to know what was beyond it.”
“Last night.”
“I know that now.”
“Then are you going back?”
“Why would I? If last night was there, there might be something beyond that too.”
The white thing thought for a moment.
“Busy.”
“What is?”
“Beyond.”
The white thing started to roll away again.
“Wait.”
It stopped.
The moon climbed on top of the white thing.
The white thing didn’t break.
“Am I heavy?”
“A little.”
“A little’s fine.”
The moon didn’t get off.
“What if I said it wasn’t fine?”
“I’d get off.”
“Would you?”
The moon went quiet.
With the moon still on top, the white thing moved.
Roll.
“Come this way.”
“Yeah.”
Roll, roll.
“That way.”
Roll, roll.
“No, this way.”
Roll, roll.
The white thing turned the other way.
“That’s not the way I said.”
“Yeah.”
“Were you listening?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why’d you go that way?”
“Because I wanted to come this way.”
The moon was quiet for a moment.
“…Fine. There might be something this way too.”
“Convenient.”
“What is?”
“There might be something.”
“It’s not about convenience.”
Just then.
Tap.
A star fell.
It touched the white thing’s shell and went straight inside.
“Did it go in?”
“It did.”
“Where?”
“Inside.”
“I know that.”
The moon shifted its butt on top of the white thing.
Peered from the right.
Couldn’t see.
Scoot.
Peered from the left.
Still couldn’t see.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking.”
“Can you see?”
“No.”
“Then you’re not looking.”
“I’m trying to look.”
The moon shifted its butt again.
The white thing wobbled.
“Could you stop moving?”
“You’re the one moving.”
“I’m allowed.”
“You are?”
“I’m trying to see.”
“Can you?”
“No.”
The moon brought its face close to the white shell.
“Is it there?”
“It is.”
“Show me.”
“You can’t see it.”
“That’s why I want to.”
“You really like things you can’t see.”
“No, it’s not that I like them…”
The moon went quiet for a moment.
“Wait.”
“Okay.”
“Maybe I don’t like things I can’t see. Maybe I just hate leaving them unseen.”
“You hate it?”
“Of course it bothers me. It went inside, didn’t it?”
“It did.”
“Doesn’t it bother you?”
“It’s in me.”
The moon looked at the white thing.
“That. That’s it.”
“What?”
“You can stop there. I can’t.”
“What happens if you can’t stop there?”
“I look.”
“And if you still can’t see?”
The moon thought.
“…I break it.”
“That was quick.”
“What was?”
“Getting to breaking it.”
“If I can’t see, what else am I supposed to do?”
“So you can’t help it?”
“Can’t help it.”
“Then let’s break it.”
The moon looked at the white thing.
“When you say it, it suddenly sounds violent.”
The white thing laughed.
Just then, the night sky flipped over.
Stars came tumbling down.
One.
Two.
Ten.
More.
They fell onto the white thing’s shell and stuck to it one after another.
The white thing was covered in stars.
It looked like a sugar candy.
“So many.”
The white thing rolled a little.
Sparkle, sparkle.
It rolled again.
Sparkle, sparkle.
That was fun, so it rolled round and round.
The moon spun with it.
“Hey, wait.”
“Pretty?”
“I said wait.”
“Can you see?”
“Yeah, I can see.”
The white thing stopped.
“Then why don’t you look at these?”
“I can’t see the one inside.”
“Greedy.”
“I’m only looking at one.”
“There are lots.”
“I can see those.”
“You don’t look at things you can see?”
“I do. But I can see them.”
“Yeah.”
“If something’s visible, you look and you see it.”
“Yeah.”
“The one inside, I look and I still can’t see it.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s why it bothers me.”
The white thing thought for a moment.
“Moon, you really like things you can’t see.”
“I told you, I don’t like them.”
“You hate them?”
“It’s not that either.”
“Then what?”
The moon went quiet.
The white thing waited.
“…What is it, then?”
“You don’t know?”
“I’m thinking.”
“Can’t see it.”
The moon looked at the white thing.
The white thing was smiling.
“You’re enjoying this a little, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
The white thing started rolling again.
With the moon still on top, it rolled through last night.
It went down a hill.
A little faster.
“Fast.”
“Yeah.”
“Slow down. I can’t see what’s ahead.”
“You can’t.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“Does it bother you?”
“This is the dangerous kind of can’t-see.”
“How do you know if you can’t see?”
“…Wait.”
The moon thought.
The white thing kept rolling.
“No, I know. This one I know. There are different kinds of not being able to see.”
“More now.”
“More what?”
“Can’t-see.”
“There aren’t more. They were there all along. I just noticed them now.”
“Then there might be more.”
The moon went quiet.
“More what?”
“Can’t-see.”
The moon said nothing for a while.
“…Maybe.”
The white thing laughed.
Roll, roll.
The moon was still thinking.
“Wait, then that star from before…”
The white thing wasn’t listening.
There was a hole ahead.
A big hole.
The white thing stopped.
The moon noticed it too.
“A hole.”
The moon peered in.
“Deep.”
“Can you see?”
“No.”
“Then it’s deep?”
“Because I can’t see.”
“Convenient.”
“What is?”
“Not being able to see.”
“I told you, that’s not what this is about.”
The moon looked into the hole.
“But wait. If I can’t see anything, maybe there’s nothing there.”
The white thing looked at the moon.
“Maybe.”
“No. But if there’s nothing there, I can’t say there’s nothing there until I make sure there’s nothing there.”
“Yeah.”
“So I have to go after all.”
“Yeah.”
“…Huh?”
“What?”
“Even if there’s nothing there, I’m going?”
The white thing smiled a little.
“Do you want to?”
The moon looked into the hole.
“I do.”
“Okay.”
The white thing looked at the hole.
Then it looked at the doughnut far away.
The doughnut was looking at the white thing too.
After a moment, the doughnut’s hole got just a little smaller.
The white thing smiled.
“You can go through there.”
The moon looked at the hole.
“Right?”
The white thing rolled.
The hole tilted.
Last night tilted.
The stars fell.
The doughnut fell too.
Even last night fell.
Roll, roll.
Tumble, tumble.
Rumble, rumble.
Everything.
Plop.
The white thing fell too.
The moon fell too.
As they fell, the white thing’s shell cracked open.
White came out.
More and more.
It spread all through last night.
Everything turned white.
And then, morning.
The white thing became morning.
The moon was there.