Nini and Friends

“Mom!” a little girl in her pink dress called – a jar in her tiny hand, “look what I got!” she exclaimed as she showed her mother who was sitting on a wooden chair at the porch – knitting – the jar she was holding. A small creature fluttered inside, a yellow light flickering on its lower body from time to time.

“What is that, Emma?” her mother asked after glancing at what her daughter was holding – trying to act and sound interested to what the little girl was up to.

“Well, it’s my new pet!” she answered and giggled.

The mother paused, and then turned to her daughter, “Your pet?”

Emma smiled widely at her and nodded excitedly, “Yes! My pet. Ain’t she cute, mommy?”

“She?” her mom asked, “how’d you know it’s a she, sweetie?”

“Well…” she shrugged “I just guessed.”

“That can’t be a pet, sweetie. How will you feed that?”

“I, well, I-I’ll ask her tonight… what she likes.” she suggested in a small voice and then went off before her mother could say anything.

The mother followed her daughter with her gaze, “Kids…” she sighed, shaking her head.

Emma carefully placed the jar by the window, letting it sit there with the view of the world turning gray. She changed into her pajamas hurriedly, throwing her pink dress into a corner. With still a messy hair, she turned to the window where the precious jar sits.

She sat there – talking with her new pet like it was a new found friend. She told the little creature her untold stories, her little secrets, her dreams. For hours, all she did was admire the thing and talk endlessly; she even ate her meal inside her room for them to ‘bond.’ She sat and talked there until her eyes felt heavy.

The rays of the sun passed through the windows of Emma’s bedroom, she woke up a little sweaty, her hair a mess. Rubbing her eyes, she waded towards the jar. Her eyes bulged upon seeing her pet with almost no light. She squinted her eyes and held her face near the jar – taking a clearer look of her new friend. Her forehead creased as she stared at it. “Is she lonely?” she thought.

She walked down the stairs with her thoughts still spinning of what she should do for her friend. The fading yellowish fire that her friend carries worried her all day.

“Emma!” her friend, John, called. “Aren’t you going to play?” he asked.

Emma, sitting by the porch, looked at John for a second and shook her head. She returned to playing with the stick in her hand, mindlessly drawing lines and circles on the ground. Her friend stared at her for a moment, studying her as if trying to find out what’s going on inside her head. But then, the calls of their friends echoed and he went away.

Emma sighed as she cupped her face with her hands, her elbows resting on her lap.

The sky started to turn gray again, almost nearing nightfall. She thought about her lonely friend and then suddenly stood. “I should find her a friend – another friend.” she said decisively and went for the backyard.

She grabbed an empty jar from their storage room and pushed her way towards a shrubby place where she found her friend the other day.

A tree stood in front of her, and as the sky turned black, the little creatures started to appear, carrying their small lamps at their back. She caught one, and then two, and three, until the empty jar which she held with her tiny hands was full of the bright creatures. She smiled in amusement as she looked at the flickering little ones inside the jar, and went home – contented.

She hopped her way towards her room, embracing the jar tightly in her chest. With a big smile on her face, she placed the jar next to the other jar she had the other day.

“Look what I got you, Nini.” she said to her lonely friend. “Now, you won’t be lonely anymore.”

At the dining, she ate her dinner with great appetite which made her parents look at each other – wondering.

“You look happy, Emma. Anything good happened?” her father asked, initiating a conversation.

“Well, earlier, I thought my friend was dead but then she was still breathing since I saw her blink but not that brightly like last night,” she started, getting bubbly. “so I thought, maybe she was lonely, and this afternoon, I just had this great idea. You wouldn’t believe it, but I got her a lot of friends so she wouldn’t be lonely.”

She told her parents how she did it, making exaggerated hand gestures as she described what she did. Her parents watched her still, sometimes letting out a chuckle with their daughter’s cuteness.

“Will you let daddy see your friend after dinner?” her father asked.

She rubbed her chin, thinking. “Well, you can. But just for a bit.”

“That’s great, then.” her mother answered and they finished their meals.

Emma and her father sat by the window, staring at the jars Emma had brought to her room. There was silence as they were both busy with their own thoughts. Emma looked at the little friends she brought with sparkling eyes while her father, after a short pause, turned to his daughter and sighed.

“Emma, sweetie, when are you going to free these little friends of yours?” her father asked. Emma looked at her father with a creased forehead.

“Free?” she asked.

Her father nodded at her and softly pulled her towards him, carrying her to his lap.

“I have no plans, daddy. My little friends and I will be together forever.” she said.

“You have to, sweetie. That jar is not their home.”

“But-“ she tried to oppose but then stopped midway. “Is that why Nini was lonely? Does she miss her home?”

She felt her father’s hand stroking her hair. “Can’t I keep them for tonight, daddy? I promise to free them tomorrow night.” she pleaded.

Her father sighed but still agreed to the plea of his daughter. He carried her to her bed and kissed her forehead goodnight.

Emma lay on her bed, dreading about how they will part ways with her little friends tomorrow night. She lay there, with her head full of thoughts and scenes, wide awake. Not being able to sleep, she went to get the jars and transferred them on her bedside table. Then she hid her body behind the comfort of her pink blanket. She stared at the blinking lights inside the jars and moved towards the edge of the bed. Her small hands reached for the jar where Nini was, and slowly tapped its surface. 

As if her body and whole being did not get tired, she stayed awake for hours. The stars started to appear at the night sky outside, the snores of many adults from different rooms of different houses from the neighborhood started to sail, the crickets sounded, but Emma still felt alive and awake amid the darkness. And together with her in the dark were her friends who shone brightly.

“It was nice meeting you, Nini.” she said in between her yawn, and as the sky started to show the hues of pink and yellow, she drifted to her own dreamland.

The day passed quickly and the looming darkness greeted Emma as she looked beyond her windows. Embracing the two fragile jars, she started to walk down the stairs – slowly.

She passed her father who was reading a book by the living room, and went straight to the backyard. Staring at the tree in front of her, she looked up at the other bright creatures fluttering in the air.

She placed the jars on the ground silently, and crouched. With her tiny hands, she turned the cap of the jars carefully and sighed.

“The days with you were great, Nini… and friends.” she whispered as she opened the jars and let her little bright friends out from the walls of the jar. She watched them fly, her gaze following the flickering lamps they carried. She stifled a sob and smiled.

“They’re prettier when they are free, aren’t they sweetie?” a voice asked behind her. She looked back and saw her father who was staring at the bright creatures in the air.

She nodded and her father crouched and gestured her to come closer – she obliged. Her father carefully wiped her cheeks that’s now wet with her tears and stroked her hair gently, “Everything, no matter what it is, is prettier and happier at home and when they are free, sweetie, they live when they're free and so do we.” he said.

“But daddy,” she started “why do their lights die at daytime?” she innocently asked.

“Well, sweetie, no one can shine brightly all the time. We all have our moments, like the sun and the moon. Your friends, well, it just happened that they’re the moon’s children – they shine at night, they’re born in moonlight.” he answered and with that Emma turned her gaze in the air, peacefully watching her friends until she fell asleep in her father’s embrace.