Out of This World
All through the afternoon, Luis and I were in my room
Cocooned with our computer games. Then Mom
Appeared and asked, "Do you two even know it's summer?
Go run around, play tag, do something!"
But when I tried to walk,
I stumbled. My legs had gone to sleep!
"Okay, we need to move," I said.
Just then the news came on.
"A lunar eclipse," the newsman said.
"The moon will hide its face!"
He sure did seem excited, but I didn't understand.
I asked my mom, "Eclipse—what's that? I never heard of it."
"It happens when the Earth, the moon, and the sun line up.
The moon goes through our Earth's shadow,
And it's very strange to see.
I know a place to see it from. Shall we go out and watch?"
Luis and I both wanted to, and so when evening came,
The three of us got on the train and rode out to the end.
We walked and walked. The sun went down,
The moon came up and peeked above a hill,
Where people sat just waiting for the show.
The full moon climbed up high and higher
As we sat in its bright glow.
We were all bathed in light almost as bright as day.
I said, "Hey, look, I see my shadow!" and then I jumped up high.
We danced and watched our shadows stretch out far behind us.
Then someone said, "It's starting now,"
And everyone looked up.
A curving, fuzzy shadow crept across the big, bright moon.
Behind the curve, the moon's face became a smoky orange.
The spectators grew quiet as the moon turned almost black.
How strange it was to think that Earth
Could block off all that light.
And then Luis jumped up and started waving both his arms.
I said to him, "Luis, my friend, what are you doing now?"
"An astronaut just waved at me!" he said.
But then he laughed.
"Ha-ha, I'm just pulling your leg," he said.
"This moon is making me silly!"
Earth's shadow slipped away and then—our bright full
the moon was back!
We oohed and aahed and cheered out loud. I felt
so glad to be a part of this big crowd cheering for the moon.
Just think, I would have missed it if I'd stayed in my room.
And later on the train home, I watched the moon sail on
so cold and white, so high, with us down here on Earth.
How does the narrator feel about the eclipse? Support your answer with details from the passage.
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