luminaria

I talked of walking along the edge of a 37-storey building, and of seeing land masses that resemble chocolate mounds, and of holding adorable doe-eyed tarsiers and colorful butterflies. I spoke of pretty much everything that I have encountered during my trip to Migs, the seven-year old son of a friend who tagged along. His mom graciously offered to fetch me from the airport.

"But what about the spider?" He asked. The kid looked at me with curious eagerness in his eyes.

"The spider was this big." I said measuring a space of half-a-foot between my hands.

"What was it doing?"

"It was waiting for a butterfly to land on its web."

"Will it eat the butterfly?"

"Yes."

"What else does it eat?" The little boy asked.

"Small insects, like dragonflies and fireflies and..."

"Fireflies." He said. "What abut the monkey? Does the spider eat the monkey cos you said the monkey's like really small?"

"Not really." I said smiling. "But I think it bites the fingers of little kids that are makulit!"

Migs flashed a toothy grin, quicky stuffing his hands into his short's pockets.

"Hey, look!" I motioned for Migs to come closer and look out the car's window. My friend slowed down her driving as we neared the Ayala Triangle Gardens. The lavish decors, the majestic string of lights hanging down from the tree tops make up for a very enchanting scene, one that's likely to be seen in a Taylor Swift video.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" I asked. Migs stared at the light show but he appeared nonchalant about it. We turned right to Paseo where more LED lights are strewn on the trees on the street's center island. Pretty blue lights, dripping, moving in a steady rhythm. They're supposed to simulate rain, or snow; to me, they're tears flowing in silence.

"Do you know they put those lights up so Santa would know where to go when he gives out his gifts?" I told Migs while pointing towards it. The boy beamed from where he's sitting; his eyes widened. "Have you written a letter to Santa yet?"

"Yes, and I asked for more Ben 10 Ultimate Alien toys." He rummaged through his back pack to show me the ones he already have. "What about you? What did you ask Santa?"

With half a smile, I looked at Migs who was now busy playing with the Ben 10 wrist gadget. His question caught me off guard. I stared at the view at his side of the window. I don't know why but I was hoping that the light displays, those teardrops - they'd give me an answer but one by one they coalesce into a mass of incadescence as we sped down the avenue; and ultimately, they turn into an indistinguishable blur.

It is not unlike what I am right now.

I need to get my shine one. I need to know what I want for Christmas, and I need to know what I want in this life.