The Three Moon-Thieves (Part 1)

In ancient China, two rabbits and a tiger are brazen enough to steal the moon from a mighty dragon

In the green, majestic mountains of China, many centuries ago, there lived two rabbits who were life-long friends. The white one was named Haixiu, and the brown was named Pingjing. These friends had decided to take the moon from the sky and keep it for themselves, but this was a bold and dangerous thing, for the great dragon, Huo, lived in the mountains, and he had claimed the moon as his own. But its glistening beauty got the best of two friends and drove them into obsession. So one night they went to work.

They could see that the highest mountain came right under the moon, but they knew it would be just out of reach for their little bodies. So in desperation they sought out Liliang the tiger, and offered to share the very moon with him if he would boost them high enough to reach it and promise to do them no harm. Won over by the irresistible moon, the tiger guaranteed their safety, and together they climbed the mountain for many days and nights.

When at last they had reached the top, Haixiu got on the tiger's back, and Pingjing got on Haixiu's, so that they were all stacked up on each other. Then Pingjing stood on his hind legs and carefully grabbed the moon -for up close it was only the size of a cabbage. But it was fixed tightly in the sky, and he had to gingerly cut around it with his teeth to free it. And when he pulled it down, there was a hole in the sky where it used to be.

The three climbed down and marveled: The moon was gouged with craters and dark spots, and beneath its surface it appeared to be filled with a beautiful glowing sand, which had been responsible for lighting up the night sky so grandly. Presently it lit up the animals' faces like a lantern, and little Haixiu said, “Surely we are the greatest ones in all the mountains, for we have the moon itself to call our own!”...

Author's Note

This is a draft of a story I wrote in high school. It's part of a small collection of mine, the Defective Fairy Tales.
Let me know your thoughts, and I can post more upon request =D