The Glowy Moon

Meeting a long lost story that was

incomplete....

THE STORY BEGAN HERE

I am Galassia.When I first met him, he was just so quiet and gentle. He never fought back against anything, almost like he just let the world push him around without saying a word. I could barely believe that someone as fierce and fiery as me would meet a person like him and gradually start liking him.

Liking him wasn't an intentional choice. An eight years old girl wouldn't even know the true meaning of love. But now, at twenty-two, when I think about the person I want to spend my life with, I cannot think of anyone else but him.

He lived in the neighboring town, but we attended the same Taekwondo class. I had forced my parents to enroll me there, whereas he was forced to attend by his parents.

While we were learning the basics, he would daydream. He watched the coach like someone sitting through a film they had no interest in, wondering about the color palettes he wanted his parents to buy him after completing his first week of classes.

A few of our batchmates decided to ruin his daydreaming, and a quarrel broke out. Just as he was about to be punched and crushed by those crooks, I stepped in.

I seized the moment and verbally warned them not to dare touch him. Seeing that I was already excelling in our first week and had become the coach's favorite, the bullies backed down and ran away.

That was the first time I saw him up close. I shook his hand. Afterward, we shared our lunch and talked about his passion for painting and his real feelings about being in the class.

Weeks passed, and our friendship grew beautiful. We frequently met each other's parents and shared dinners.

Then, one day, his father was suddenly transferred to another city, and they had to leave by the next morning. Before he left, I wanted to give him a clay model I had made of our very first handshake. Unfortunately, I couldn't give it to him in time, and he was gone.

GLIMPSE OF THE GLOWING MOON

Years have passed. I now run the only Taekwondo coaching center in my city. I live in a house with my parents, surrounded by all the luxuries needed for a happy and healthy life. Yet, something is still missing. The hardened, molded clay is still waiting for its owner.

Whenever I admire the beauty of the moon from my glass bedroom window, it triggers a memory. I remember us gazing at the moon while sitting on the branch of the mango tree in my garden. We would eat our favorite dessert after dinner and share small talk while our parents helped each other with the nightly chores.

I had never been fond of stargazing or looking at the moon before I met him. He loved to watch the moon because he was drawn to how the warmth of the sun made it glow, erasing the darkness of a silent, abandoned night.

He had been weak at birth,but his mother completely adored him. She used to tell him that his face lit up the whole room, which is why she named him Celio, after the sky. Every gaze at the night sky brings back a glimpse of our life together.

Sometimes, I feel as though you will suddenly appear from the moonlight right beside me. I want to tell you all about my life during these long, lost years without you. I want to tell you that I now encourage all my students to pursue their artistic passions. I prepare them to compete against students from other cities, and they make me proud in both fields whether it is Taekwondo or the arts.

There are so many things I need to tell you. As you know, I do not make friends easily. I haven't made any close friends over the years with whom I can share things the way I did with you.

There is one friend named Charlotte, but she is pursuing her graduation in a neighboring town and only visits during her vacations. Even after all this time, there's still a part of me that just feels completely empty without you.

An intercity art and painting competition is being organized by a major company next week, and ten of my students are participating. It is a highly competitive event, and many famous artists will be there. I wonder if I might find you there, but it feels like a dream that is unlikely to come true.

I wonder if you are still just as fragile, hating violence, loving solitude, and capturing the beauty of nature in your gaze. I often think about how beautiful our lives would be if we had stayed together all these years. Watching each other grow mature and responsible would have been wonderful. But these are just thoughts. I have no idea when we will meet again, or if we ever will.

A LONG PATH STILL TO WALK ALONE

I ordered fresh, vibrant, and well-fitted outfits to boost my students' confidence for their art competition. They are young and excited, so before departing for the venue, I reminded them that winning doesn't matter; participation is what matters most.

Of course, as their Sabomnim and mentor, I wore a peach satin silk, full length gown paired with a white velvet coat. The texture of the coat was so soft that I kept running my hand over it, finding comfort in its warmth.

My students were amazed to see me dressed up. At first, they jokingly refused to greet me because they couldn't believe that I am someone who barely wears any color other than black, was wearing this. Initially, I hadn't wanted to buy this kind of dress. But then, I remembered seeing a man from behind, admiring this exact gown in a shop window. He was likely looking at it for his beloved, but he walked away without buying it.

Suddenly, I remembered that Celio loved the color peach more than any other. Without wasting another second, I bought the dress. Art is something I only love because of him, so by going to this exhibition dressed like this, I wanted him to accompany me in spirit.

The whole venue was packed with famous painters and big name guests from all over. Everywhere you looked, people were crowded in circles, arguing about art and talking about the future of the younger artists. The trustees provided free art supplies to all the participants. In the end, my students took either first or second place; none of them failed.

The first place winners walked away with a massive one million dollar prize to jumpstart their careers, and the runnersup got half a million. My kids were absolutely ecstatic.

I wish you could have seen them, Celio. I wish we could have shared the pizza fritta I recently learned to make. We enjoyed eating it on our journey home, watching the evening view of the mountain ranges fade into twilight.