The living story
The story so far
She flew to the moon with the elixir of immortality — stolen, the tellings say, from her husband Houyi, who had it from the Queen Mother of the West — and she has lived there ever since with only a jade rabbit for company. Every Mid-Autumn Festival the whole mortal world eats mooncakes in her honor. She watches, luminous and alone, the most beautiful exile in heaven.
Happening now
She is standing at the edge of the moon's bright side tonight, looking down at a world full of lanterns lit for her. The rabbit is pounding the elixir behind her, hop by hop. She has not touched the elixir in centuries. She doesn't need to.
What may come
The elixir made her immortal, not unchanging — and one Mid-Autumn night, the tellings whisper, she will finally finish the long walk back down the moonbeam. The mooncakes will be waiting. They are always waiting.