One of your favorite pastimes is to go out at night and just watch the moon. It still amazes you that you live on a ball of rock and dirt that's being orbited by a tiny white planet.

You've gotten out your telescope to watch it better this week. The phases of the moon proceed as normal, at least at first—it slowly fades away into a thinner and thinner crescent.

But then it disappears completely.

And it doesn't come back.