"Can this fly? The skeleton looks frail". I asked while holding the colorful kite.

"Of course." Jade said. "Now, let's go."

With the handcrafted kites on our hands, we walked to the grandstand.

We passed by military offices and barracks. In one of the barracks, a man was cleaning his rifle while talking to his mate. They just smiled at us when we passed by. There were gunshots in the background, too. They were doing their firing again. You see, I grew up in a military base. The sound of helicopters, alarms, gunshots, the national anthem, the 'hooyah' of the early morning jogging were music to my ears. Ever since I was a kid, I knew what being a soldier means.

We reached the big grounds at the center of the camp. The weather was great. The sky looked orange and the wind was warm. Nobody else was in the grounds except us young kids. Peaceful.

We sat for a while under a mango tree at the corner. I can still remember my mom told me that my grandpa planted them.

"You sure this is going to fly?" I asked my cousin again.

"Look. You see that man in camo over there?" She pointed to a soldier walking to the Station Hospital. "He was as small and thin as uncle Don before. Look at him now. Muscular.. looking tough.. snappy. The perfect looking soldier.". She looked and pointed at the kite that I'm holding.

"Just because that kite looks fragile and weak, doesn't mean it cannot fly. Every kite can. A kite can never be called a kite without its sail. As long as you know how to do it, it will fly.".

She picked up her kite and unrolled the string attached to it. My other cousin Von unrolled his, too.

"It's breezy. We can fly this easily.". Said Von. He stood up and asked my cousin to hold the kite and be the launcher.

"Go!". Jade shouted.

Von ran fast while pulling the string. As the direction of the wind changed, he went along with it. He slowly released the length of the string as he ran across the grounds. The kite was soaring high up the sky in no time.

"Your turn.". Jade said as she picked up my kite.

"I don't know how to do this but I'll do my best.". The little 8 year old me said. I got up and ran as she released the kite. I ran across the grounds with the kite above me.

"Run faster!" They cheered for me.

I ran faster. As fast as I could. I just ran and ran and ran. I was like Forrest Gump being told by Jenny to run. I was taught to just run to let that kite fly. That's probably how I learned to run away to escape things.

I slowly released the length of the string just as Von did. I was running for so long but the kite wasn't soaring high still. Then it crashed.

I stopped running. I was exhausted. That's what you do when you get tired, right? You stop. Then I looked back.

I enjoyed the process. The bond. The moment. I cherished every second of it.

It surely wasn't the thing that I expected. But I learned something.

There was no need for me to fly the kite

because I can be the KITE.

When we say best parts of life, all we can think are all the happiness that we experience. But in every happiness, there is sadness. In every success, there is downfall. In every pleasure, there is pain.

The best part of life for me is overcoming the struggles that we encounter in life. Initially, we may be deformed, injured and broken upon experiencing these challenges but instead, the weakness made us strong and it became our strength. Hence, the situation is symbolized through a young woman in twisted form holding a half formed daisy while the other girl is holding a full-blown daisy signifying our full potential. Despite the negativity around us, the daisy as a flower is made to use because of its symbolic stance on purity and innocence.

Furthermore, the doodles in the background with the bright color are symbolic of the storms that will bring us rainbow someday.

-K