Looking For The Shooting Star

(1)

A boy was holding his chin near a window while looking at the sky, with great concentration. It was a peaceful and silent night without much shrill chirping noise of the crickets and cicadas. Countless glittery stars crowded the sky as if they were competing to see which of them shone the brightest.

A middle-aged woman slowly approached the boy covered the boy in with a blanket. “Adrian,” gently, she whispered the boy’s name. “Why aren’t you on your bed yet? Aren’t you feeling tired?”

The boy named Adrian never left his sight out of the sky. “Mom, I am waiting for the shooting star.” He said, without the slightest move of his head.

“Oh, honey. Come here.” The woman called the boy to sit beside her on the boy’s bed.

Reluctantly, the boy walked to his mother and cuddled up to his mother. “You can’t see a shooting star everyday, silly boy. No one knows when will a shooting star appears. Why you want to see a shooting star so badly, honey?” said the woman while gently fondling the boy’s hair.

“Carmen told me that we can make a wish when we see a shooting star, the wish we make upon a shooting star will come true.” Said the boy.

“Carmen? Isn’t she the little cute girl living next door?”

“She is not cute, mom! She took away many of my favourite toys! Carmen is a big bully!” The boy responded immediately.

“Is that so?” The woman whispered in the boy’s ear, with a skeptical face expression. “Then why is my baby boy blushing now?” The woman suddenly tickled Adrian and made him burst into laughter.

“Mom, stop it! Hahaha, mom! Mom, stop it! Haha!” The silence of the night was disturbed by the laughter.

A hunting owl that was scared, roughly flapped its wings and flied to other place. After a short while, the laughter suddenly stopped. Inside the house, the woman was holding her son closer to her and they gazed the sky together through the window. For a long moment, they never made a sound, both of them cherished this rare moment where they could spend time together.

The woman was taking two jobs to make ends meet. She worked as a cleaner at a primary school in the morning while at night; she washes dishes at a restaurant. Tonight was an invaluable day where she got to spend time with her son as the restaurant owner was taking a vacation.

“Mom, mom?” The boy suddenly spoke, kind of startled the woman who was obviously falling into deep thought.

“Yes? Yes, my baby. I’m here.”

“Where is daddy?”

This was the same question that woman had kept seeking for two years. The only difference was that the woman was looking for her husband, the same person whom her son called ‘daddy’.

There was no news, no compensation whatsoever of her husband from the military and the government. All she got from the authorities who sent her husband to the front line was “Your husband is serving the country, ma’am. You should be very proud of that instead of keep asking your husband to go back home when the country needs him! We can give you nothing 'cause everything about the war is classified. We’ll update you as soon as possible when we receive any news about your husband from the war zone, we promise you! All I ask you to do now is, try to be patient, ma’am.”

And so she waited, for two years, holding the empty promise given by the authorities, bearing the fantasy that one day her husband will suddenly open the front door, give her the deepest kiss and tell her how much he loves her. But, deep down in the other corner of her heart, she knew that she might never see her husband again.

“Mom, why are you crying?”The boy’s nervous voice broke the silence again.

The woman, sobbing and she couldn't stop her tears from falling down. She hugged her son tightly as if she was going to lose her son in such the way she had lost her husband.