Childhood Series - A Floating Candle in the Dark

Walking for home in the middle of a night. Total darkness. Only the stars lighting your way. In a road to nowhere. Nary a soul in sight. Do you run? Or do you keep your pace and convince yourself that you have what they call the cojones? Is it enough though? Who are you fooling? Legs are for running, are they not? You feel your body hair beginning to rise little by little. And you feel cold air when there is no wind at all. Eeeekksss! What is that sound? You begin calling the names of your favorite saints in mind. You take a step. Another step. A little quicker this time. Longer. And you hear the crickets getting louder. A flicker of light. An eerie silence follows.

And then suddenly, you see a light. Lingering. Is that a firefly? No, it is brighter. Is that a candle? Yes, and it is moving so slowly. And it's floating! You feel a lump in your throat. You need to shout, and you shouted. You need to run. And run you did. Fast, very fast.

And we could have been there right in the middle of darkness laughing our hearts out. Slapping each other's back. Tears starting to flow, stomachs coming to pain. And only then, we would stop and start waiting for another victim or come to thinking of another frank.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is just one of our childhood franks - a floating candle in the dark. A matchbox, a candle and thanks to a poor little turtle from Lolo Berto's pond. Who could have thought of it? I cannot recall now. Probably, my brother Francis and Cousin Potpot did. Me, I could not have for I am just a silent, meek little kid then .....