Found

Paul Ivan Quezon

“See, I found you!” the father exclaimed, finding his six-year-old son hiding behind a bush while playing hide and seek. The young boy chuckled as his father scooped him up and laid him on the green grass in their backyard. They lay side by side as the sky starts to turn a darker shade of blue with the gray moon above them.

“Papa,” said the boy, staring at the sky. The father rolled his head to one side, facing his son. “Do the people on the moon see us?” he asked naively.

He knew it was just a curious question from a kid, but for someone who is going to the moon, the question was a bit tricky to answer. In a few months, he will be a part of history in the first space mission, and that means leaving his family behind.

His father smiled. “Of course, son. They also wonder the same thing, you know— if we can see them, and when I come up there, too, I will always find you.”

Eight years after the tragedy of the failed space mission, the once young boy lay awake in the same backyard where he and his father used to spend time looking at the moon.

I will always find you.

But the moon was hiding behind a sea of clouds tonight. A few moments later, the clouds cleared away, giving the moon its moment to shine again.

“See, I found you!” he whispered.

Enlightened Soul

Photo by Mary Aileen Labios