The House on the Moon

Chapter 1: Never Again

He hadn’t seen his father since his 7th birthday.

It was the same night. The same night his father gave him his birthday present. It was wrapped in navy blue paper with a collage of different planets. It was firm and a little too heavy to be considered a baseball bat.

Charlie was now 14 years old. That’s seven years after he received the last gift from his father. It was the same night. It was the same house, the same set-up, the same bedroom, and the same melancholy. He’s wearing his navy blue pyjama with rockets and moons and his plain orange shirt with “The Sun is a star, dude!” printed on it.

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Chapter 2: Box

Charlie was sitting beside his bedroom window. Drizzle poured softly as he watched in complete sadness. The inky night sky was covered with dark rain clouds as if he and the sky were sharing the same sorrow. Charlie was resting his head on the window, with his two arms supporting his chin. He suddenly got up, grabbed his flashlight and crouched down. He knelt on the floor to see what was under his bed. He saw spider webs and one lost slipper that had been forgotten for a long time.

Charlie extended his arms, grabbed, and pulled a long thin box. He blew away the dust-covered top, making him sneeze hard, and his eyes tear. Inside was his tiny telescope. Excitement ran across his spine as he reassembled his telescope. The rain outside poured harder, and the sky turned darker. The rain hasn’t stopped, yet he thought he would still be able to see the house on the moon.

Charlie closed his windows and put down his telescope on his study table. He lay on his bed and covered his whole body as he tried hard not to imagine the moon and the face of his father. He prayed to God that the moon would not show that night because tomorrow would be his first day as a 14-year-old. It was his birthday, and his father had not come home yet.

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Chapter 3: He Kept Floating on the Moon

Charlie accepted that he would never see his father again. He would just recall and endure everything about his father’s memories.

Charlie felt his eyes getting tired. He dreamt of lovely things and beautiful places. While he dreamt of sailing away, alone on a boat, he felt that his dreams went warm like arms curled around him, or like a soft summer cloud. He felt that everything grew warmer and warmer. Waterfalls drew out of his eyes, and he felt unusual about his dreams. He kept floating on the moon.

That morning, Charlie found something beside his bed. A box. It was wrapped in navy blue paper with a collage of different planets. It was firm and a little too heavy to be a baseball bat. Charlie knew it. He excitedly jumped out of his bed and hurried down to the kitchen. He knew it. Someone slept with him last night and cuddled him. Time slowed down while his heartbeat pounded hard and fast. He tried to clear his mind out of a pile of expectations. Everything around him went invisible and blurry. Everything was in slow motion. He ran and did everything he could not to burst into something hilarious and adorable.

“Dad?!” he shouted.

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Chapter 4: Vast

A man in a familiar shirt was cooking with his mother. The man did not turn and just stopped cooking. Charlie called again. Silence covered the whole room as his mom stared at him, tears filling her marble-black eyes. His mom hid her smile and wiped her bulging tears. The man turned to Charlie and opened his arms. Charlie’s crumbled world didn’t hesitate to rebuild itself again. His thoughts were running a million questions and stories. Finally, an absolute dream that he could relive once again. A dream that once felt vague and fake.

Charlie ran as fast as he could, like The Flash, he and his father’s favourite character. He burst into tears as a bright endeavour filled his heart. His mother hugged him and his dad so tight he did not bother to complain. He had waited for this moment. He had waited so long for this moment, to feel his dad’s love again in his arms. He knew that his dad was finally real and not just a blurry memory or an illusion. His dad whispered something in his ears. “Happy Birthday, son.” Charlie just cried and cried hard. He knew that this was real.

In that moment, he thought they were living in a house built on the moon, and he felt it was as vast as the wandering galaxy of dead, noiseless space. He kept his fingers piercing his father’s shirt. He missed him so much. He loved his dad so much.

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Epilogue: House on the Moon

Sometimes you wake up in your dreams. You are forced to accept that in reality, this is the place where you belong. This is the place where things are both beautiful and unpleasant. Where corpses and flowers share the same soil, the same rainwater, and fate. Flowers wilt in time to give another one the chance to bloom.

Charlie’s eyelids slowly felt alive after many years. Dazzling blue lights surprised his pupils, and when he opened them, he could see figures of people huddled around him in blur. His veins hurt. His body ached. His knees felt like melting popsicle lollies, and he could feel the dripping of dextrose course through his veins. He could not hear what they were saying. But the last words that the woman said were, “He’s awake! Charlie’s awake! Call the doctor! My son is awake!”

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Charlie visited his dad. He stood in front of a plaque made out of aluminium. The plaque was placed next to the certificates showing where his father graduated and finished engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science, and pilot-in-command time in jet aircrafts.

Charlie hugged his mom. He could not forget his dream in his coma. His dad visited him while he was asleep. His dad cooked for him. His dad gave him a present. It was a telescope with his name engraved on it: “Yuri Gagarin“.

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