LONG WAY HOME

Papa, are fireflies fairies?'' Queried his little girl.
''Yes, child,'' he answered indulgently.
The dusk had now wrapped the surrounding. Out of their hiding, fireflies came out, decorating the trees with their faint light. Few minutes after, their glow became more visible with the darkness. They seemed to celebrate the warmth of a February night. It was the night when the sea tang flew with the soft breeze, making the air humid.
Silhouette of a man with a child on his back cut through the shadows of the night. They had just missed the last trip of the jeepney going to sagay. With no other means, he slangs his bag, carried his child and walked. After covering 10-kilometer walk from Benoni port to the cantaan, the man put down the child on the side of the road.
Curly-haired Em-em, the five-year-old bundle of joy, started to sing ''Twinkle, twinkle little star''. Her father listened. With an amused twinkle in his eyes, he stared at his child. His only child. The child born after ten years of prayers and his wife's two miscarriages.
Then, he realized how frail she had been. Her eyes, her lips, her skin were all yellowish. She was thin but her stomach protruded. It was deadly hepatitis. It was the sickness he failed to protect her from. It was the sickness that allowed Em to live for only five months more.
That's why he brought her to his hometown, Camiguin Island. The scenery might do her good, he told his wife. But the reason was, he was on the verge of losing hope altogether. Though he pushed the idea of death, he wanted to be sure that Em would be buried where his heart belonged.
He opened his black shoulder bag. He took out a bottle of water and bottles of medicine. When the child saw the six different colored capsules, a look of disgust was written on her face. Sensing the child's reluctance, he sighed. ''Em, remember those war stories I told you? He asked.
''Yes, Papa,'' the storytelling had become their ritual whenever Em disliked taking in the medicines.
''Em, see this red one? This is our bo,b. Your germs are Nazis. We are the Allied forces. We want to win, right?
''What about this green one?,''Em said, lifting a capsule.
''That's our army reinforcement.''One by one, the child swallowed the rest of the medicines and gulped down lots water.
''Papa, do you think we have killed them?''inquired Em proudly. He wrapped his arms around his child and nodded.
They sat down on a large metamorphic boulder and listened for the faint echoes of the night. The wind rustled the dry leaves. Screeches of nocturnal animals sounded.It was this slow rhythm that he needed.
He shifted his gaze towards the sky. The Milky way was dressed in her diamond splendor. The vastness made him small, insignificant. Em, being, a sensitive child, sensed their oneness with the cosmos. She hummed her twinkle, twinkle song again.
If only I could have a simple faith like my child, he thought. He felt he needed a father. He felt a silent prayer stirring.''Father, above all, You know what it is to give up an only child. Em is Yours as she is mine. If you will, do not take her away.''He wanted to explode, to break through the restraint common in men. A rolling sound of wheels moving broke through the slow rhythm. The truck's headlight pierced through the darkness.
''Look, Papa!'' Shouted Em excitedly.
''The driver opened the window and invited them to hitch a ride.
Lifting his child and his bag, Em's father walked toward the truck. Then, off they went.
Em played her twinkle, twinkle song happily. Little did she know they were still LONG WAY HOME.