Luna arrived in Bali on a warm Tuesday evening.
She stepped outside and felt the hot, heavy air on her fur.
It was different from anywhere she had been before. It smelled like flowers and earth and something sweet she couldn’t name.
She sniffed the air for a long time.
This is a good place, she thought.
Luna was a curious cat. She never stayed in one spot for too long.
She always wanted to see what was around the next corner, past the next wall, beyond the next garden.
Bali was a big island, and Luna wanted to explore all of it.
Her first stop was a town called Ubud.
Ubud sat in the middle of the island, surrounded by trees and hills.
The streets were narrow and shaded. Luna walked slowly along the walls and fences, her tail held high.
She passed temples with stone gates covered in moss. She passed small shops where men carved wood by hand.
She stopped outside one shop and watched.
A man was carving a bird from a piece of dark wood. His hands moved carefully and slowly.
Tiny pieces of wood fell to the ground around his feet. Luna watched the shape of a wing appear. Then a beak. Then two small eyes.
She sat very still. She watched until he finished.
Then she walked on.
That evening, Luna found a restaurant. She sat near the door where it was cool. A woman inside was eating rice with egg and vegetables. The smell was rich and warm. Luna watched with great interest, her nose working quietly.
A kind boy brought her a small piece of chicken.
She ate it without looking up.
The next morning, Luna woke before the sun.
She stretched first her front legs, then her back legs, and slipped outside into the cool dark air. She wanted to see the rice fields before the day got busy.
The fields were extraordinary.
They were bright green, layer after layer, like wide steps going up a hillside. The sky above them was turning pink and gold.
Luna walked along the narrow paths between the fields, her paws wet with the morning dew. She could hear water running somewhere below her.
She found a dry stone and sat on it.
She looked at the rice fields for a long time.
She did not move. She did not make a sound.
A bird landed nearby and looked at her. Luna looked back. The bird decided to leave.
After Ubud, Luna travelled south to the sea.
The beach was wide and white. The water was a bright, clear blue. Luna did not go near the water.
She was not that kind of cat. Instead, she found a patch of shade under a large tree. She lay down in the cool sand and half-closed her eyes.
She listened to the waves.
In. Out. In. Out.
She fell asleep.
A few days later, Luna went north into the mountains.
The air grew cooler as the land rose higher.
The roads were narrow and winding. Luna moved through gardens and along stone walls.
She passed coffee farms and banana trees. She crossed small streams on stepping stones, choosing each step carefully.
At the top, there was a lake.
It was called Lake Batur, and it was wide and still and very dark blue. Luna sat on a rock at the edge and looked at the water for a long time.
Behind her, a volcano rose up silent and enormous.
She could see the sea far away on both sides.
She could see the whole island below her.
Luna stayed there until the afternoon.
On her last evening in Bali, she found her way to a temple by the sea. It was called Tanah Lot.
The temple stood on a rock surrounded by water. As the sun went down, the sky turned orange and red and purple.
Luna sat on a wall and watched.
The light changed slowly. The sea moved below. People stood quietly all around, watching too.
Luna cleaned her face with one paw.
She thought about the rice fields and the wood carver.
She thought about the lake and the cool mountain air. She thought about all the small things she had seen. The things no one else had noticed.
She was already thinking about her next trip.
But that was a question for tomorrow.
For now, she just watched the sun fall slowly into the sea.
Good night, and sweet dreams.