Fates and Art (MeenPing)

Little Moon

Moon stumbled into the house, his eyes swollen and his heart feeling unbearably heavy. Every step echoed the weight of his thoughts, and he finally collapsed onto the sofa, letting out a shaky breath. He pulled out his phone, hesitating only a second before typing, "Let's meet at my place today," and sending it to his two closest friends. He threw the phone onto the table, the loud thud punctuating the thick silence in the room.

Hearing the noise, his mother peeked out from her bedroom, a concerned look on her face. "Oh, you're home! I thought you'd be at Vee's place. How is he doing?" she asked, her voice warm but probing. 

Moon forced a smile, "I had work to take care of, so I left early. His aunt and sister are there, so I didn't want to disturb his rest," Moon replied with a lie. 

Moon's mother could see the exhaustion and redness in her son's eyes, she chose not to press him further, trusting that he was mature enough to handle whatever he was going through.

"Well, alright," she replied, though her eyes lingered on him, still anxious. "Have you eaten yet?"

Moon nodded. Just as his mom was about to return to her room, a memory surfaced in his mind. "Maa...wait," he called. Moon scrolled through the photos on his phone. "Look... isn't that you and me?" Moon found the one he was looking for and showed it to his mom. 

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Where did you find this? This picture..." His mother sat up, "Hold on," She continued, heading to a cabinet to retrieve an old photo album. "I have another version of that photo. Let me show you." She flipped through the album pages until she landed on the image she sought. "Here, look at this..." she said, handing Moon the photo.

Moon took the picture, comparing it to the one on his phone. The setting was the same, but there were four people in the other version. A young Moon, his mother, and two strangers; a little girl and a woman with a kind face. The memory started to bubble up as his mother began to speak, "Do you remember? This was when I had my accident,"

"The little girl you're holding here, she's the child I saved before, this picture was taken on the day when they were moving to Bangkok and we lost touch." Moon's mother laughed as she looked closer at the picture "You were so adorable then. You loved drawing so much! Look, you covered the hospital walls with your drawings." 

Moon smiled a little, his curiosity taking hold. "Who took this picture, Maa? Was it Dad?"

His mother's brows furrowed as she tried to remember more clearly. "No, it wasn't your father. It was her older son," she murmured. "Don't you remember? That little moon-shaped keychain you carry everywhere was a gift from him."

The day seemed unfinished in surprised Moon. Moon was speechless. He never would have guessed that he and Vee had crossed paths as children, and yet again, fate had intertwined them through May.

"I wonder how Khun Preecha is doing now," his mother mused, lost in nostalgia as she looked down at the photo.

"She's passed away, Maa," Moon replied softly, answering the unspoken question in her tone.

His mother's face froze in surprise, her eyes fixing on him with sudden seriousness. "How... how do you know?"

Moon took a deep breath. "Maa, do you remember how I failed the entrance exam because I was late after helping a little girl?"

She nodded, confusion flickering in her eyes as she tried to connect it to the conversation.

"It was the same girl you saved all those years ago," he said, the certainty clear in his voice.

His mother was struck silent, almost at a loss for words.

"And Khun Preecha's son..." Moon continued. "He's my boss."