distant summer days
by Amanda Thuy
We were in a new country, new home and everything was a bewilderment. I was learning English, meeting new family members and trying to make new friends. All these things added to the loneliness. The moon was a constant thing. I remember playing late on many summer nights outside. When the moon rose up high, I knew my mother would search for me. She always knew just when to call for me to come home with the last bit of sunlight receding. I was never too far from home but with little kid legs, everything seemed a bit far. The walk home sometimes became a run as I thought the moon was chasing me. Still each night as I came home, I would stare at the moon through the living room curtains. Back then as a child, I knew not why the moon sat up high in the sky. I did not understand why as I moved, she did too. What I thought was a chase between moon and child, was nothing but a fixed point like those days are now fixed in my mind. As the years rolled by, I better understood my true friend in the sky.
My time watching the moon at night was mine alone. During those summer days and nights, I pondered even as a child why things were the way they were. Sorrow and loneliness were a constant feeling albeit not for a lack of having people nearby. I spent many summer nights wondering about my place in the world, even this universe. Still to this day, I am fascinated in the night sky, about space and our place in it. Those many thoughts in my 5 year old head are still with me ever so I find myself now longing for those summer nights. Those nights back East were long and humid. The crickets sang their nightly tunes and I was their captive audience. Through all the sorrow and loneliness, the carefree spirit still filled the air those
The moon chased me that summer when I was 5 She was persistent in her pursuit and as frightened as I was, I could not help but also seek her out. Oftentimes, it was when I was most lonely that I would wait until she rose to the evening sky. Sometimes while hiding behind curtains, I would steal a glance or two. It is only now, many eons hence, that I understand all she wanted was just a friend. The truth is, I did too.
has been with me my whole life. I confided in her when I could confide in no one else. I still do. She reminds me of where I was and how far I have come. The whole world has changed so much since then and I long to have summers like that. How I do long for more simpler times. My nostalgia these days manifests still sometimes into sorrow, a yearning for times that are no longer here. My father has since passed and now oftentimes as I look into the night sky, I think of him and the wonderful memories we shared. The moon is that constant reminder for me of such memorable times. Oh, those distant summer days and nights, how I miss them so.
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