Little feet dashed across the grey passageway, replenishing the plane compartment with his giggle. Unexpectedly, a big hand wrapped around his small tummy, stopping him from running. Soon after, he was lifted in the air, yet his giggle didn't repress.
With a face beaming with a smile of fulfillment, Hansel raised his brows, as he inquired, "Where do you think you are going, young man?"
"Papa!" Mac draped his hands around his neck and rested his chin on his shoulder before complaining, "Noona (older sister) is chasing me. Save me!"
"No, I am not," growled Angle, as she marched towards them. And once she stood befor e them, she glanced up at Mac and added, "You are the one who is bullying me."
"Mac, is that true?" Diana, who was sitting by the window, implored, "Are you bullying her?"
Before Mac could speak up for himself, Angel hurriedly explained, "Yes, he is. He pulled my hair and ran away."
"That is a bad thing, Mac. Say sorry," Diana instructed, sounding strict, not wanting to spoil her son.
"But, momma…" Mac whimpered, scrunching his nose, hesitating to apologize.
"Fine, if you are not going to apologize, then just Noona will watch the moon with me. Come, Noona!" Diana said, lengthening her hand towards Angel.
"What no!" It didn't take a second for little Mac to feel jealous of his elder sister.
Gawking Angel getting on his mother's lap, he struggled to get down from his father's arms.
Once he was finally on the ground, he rushed to them as he confessed, "I also want to watch the moon."
Stroking his hair, Hansel signified, "You know what you need to do!"
Approaching them, Mac finally reached his ear as he apologized, "I am sorry, Noona."
Wrapping her hand around her brother's neck, she gave a gentle hug, replying, "That's alright, Mac. Don't do that again, okay? It hurts when you pull my hair."
As Mac nodded, Angle pulled away and planted a kiss on his forehead. Seeing their adorable children, Diana and Hansel glanced at each other, gleaming in contentment.
A dream of having a happy family was finally there and they couldn't get enough of it. They were so on cloud nine and didn't want to relinquish that feeling ever.
"Now, can I see the moon?" asked Mac, with excitement glistening in his blue eyes, which were precisely like his father's.
Shifting to Hansel's lap, Angle replied, "Sure!"
Embracing Diana, Mac rested his head on her chest as he stared outside the round window. The black sky was sprinkled with beads that people named stars.
When he drifted his gaze at the big circular shiny object between those beads, he felt like it was gawking directly at him. Timid, he buried his face in Diana's chest, which surprised her.
Out of concern, she inquired, "Are you alright?"
"I am scared," he whimpered, "That moon looks dreadful! It was never that enormous when we watched it from our balcony."
Chuckling, Diana peeled his face off her before replying, "No, it is not dreadful!" Then caressing his head, she added, "It is just like a sun that illuminates the object. You should not be scared of it. The Moon is our ally who helps us to defeat the darkness. Also, we are inside the plane, close to the sky. That is why it looks enormous."
"Really?" Mac's eyes enlarged as he added, "Then can I invite him to play with us?"
All three laughed after hearing him, which pissed him off. So, he hopped down from her lap, as he grumbled, "I am not gonna talk to you all."
"Where are you going?" asked Diana in between her laughs.
"I am going to my granny, who loves me more than you all," he replied with a temperament.
As he ran to Hope, his grandmother, halfway, he fell on his butt due to the immediate jolting of the plane.
Standing in terror, Diana stuttered, "What… What was that?"
Scared to hell, Mac cried out, "Momma!"
Extending her hand towards Mac, Hope called out, "Mac, my love, come to granny."
Just as he was about to get up, there was another jolt, which scared him more. Before he could cry out again, Hansel reached out to rescue his son.
Wrapping him around his arms, he picked him up, before rushing back to his seat.
As Angel clinged to Diana, Mac stayed in Hansel's arms feeling safe. But little did he know something horrible was awaiting them all.
Shutting his eyes tight, Mac waited for it to end but he could hear his mother speaking in terror, "We need to save our children."
Even though he felt like being lifted, he kept on burying his face in Hansel's chest. Only when he was peeled off by his father was he able to see his father having an expression that he had never caught a glimpse of before.
It was hard for him to figure out what it was. All he could know was something bad was happening and his parents were trying to protect them. When he looked around, he found himself near the exit and his family along with relatives surrounding them. Grandparents, uncle, aunt, essentially everyone.
"Do you think they will be fine?" asked Hope, gazing at Diana assisting Angel with a parachute bag.
"They have to be fine!" replied Diana.
Incapable of holding back his curiosity, Mac asked his father, "What… What is going on, papa?"
However, he got nothing in response as Hansel was busy wrapping the parachute bag around his son.
"What…What is this?" Mac asked again, checking the bag.
Once again, his question remained unanswered.
Later, when Hansel was done, he then began to clarify, "Look at me, my children. We are about to play a game."
"Yay! Game!" scared Mac, suddenly excitement filled his expression, making him forget about the terror on his family's faces.
"So, the game is we are going to push you off the plane, and on the count of four you need to press this button for me," explained Hansel, showing them the button on their chest.
"Okay, so, what is the prize for the winner?" asked Mac delightedly.
Diana and Hansel glanced at each other, struggling to hold their tears. They were not able to manage a word to confront their son and instead started to worry.
Hansel then turned to Angel and instructed, "Angel, look at me if anything happens, you need to take care of your brother, okay?"
"What? What are you implying by that?" Mac's voice quivered.
Struggling to keep his voice strong, Hansel announced, "The game is about to begin." "What about you all?" Mac didn't stop asking in the hope of getting the answer.
Kissing his forehead, Diana replied, "We will be behind you, Mac," and hugged him tightly.
As she began to weep, Hansel pulled her away, declaring, "Time to go!"
When he stood at the edge of the door, Mac asked, "Wait, you didn't tell me what the prize was going to be for the winner."
"LIFE!" replied Hansel before pushing Mac off the plane.
Shutting his eyes tight, Mac counted, "One! Two! Three! Four!" and then pressed the button.
As the flapping sound slammed his eardrum, he opened his eyes and glanced up. He found an orange parachute hoisting him in the air.
'Wow!' he gasped and, for a while, he enjoyed being able to fly, but then, remembering his family, he began to search for them.
'Where are they? Momma said they would be behind me. I don't see any of them,' he mumbled to himself, scanning the area.
Far in the distance, he saw another orange parachute and once he was sure it was his sister, he called out, "Noona! Noona!"
Hearing her brother, Angel shouted back, "Mac, are you alright?"
"I am fine. What about you? Where are papa and momma?" He had just completed his words when suddenly he heard a loud explosion in the distance.
Heart throbbing against his chest, Mac stammered in a quivering voice, "Noona! Did… Did you hear that?"
"Yes! I did. But don't be scared, I am here for you." The reply he got from her was so poor that he almost didn't get it.
"Mac, you are going far. Come to me," she shouted, making Mac realize moving far from Angel.
"Noona! Noona!" he shouted, looking over his shoulder at his sister's figure, which was shrinking each second.
"Mac, don't be scared. Just stop that!" she screamed.
"I don't know how to do that! Noona!" Eventually, he got so far that he was just able to see a small orange dot in the distance.
It was the first time little Mac had encountered something that terrifying, yet was striving hard not to give up. His heart was going wild and chills were crawling on his skin.
With the hope of seeing his parents in the sky in some other parachute, coming to rescue him, he scanned the vast sky but all he could see was a dot all around, along with the big round object who was witnessing his misery.
"Mom said you are my friend. So, can you please help me find my family?' he began to talk to the moon.
'Please, friends are intended to help each other! Please!" he mumbled in a trembling voice. However, there was nothing he got in answer.
Suddenly, his parachute got stuck to the branches, making him dangle among the branches. This scared him more and made him weep loudly.
But his teary eyes suddenly saw a white thing dangling among the branches of another tree. Poor Mac was not even able to use the advantage of the moon's light to see what the thing was, as it was shining on the opposite side of the tree.
Suddenly, the thing started to move which scared the hell out of him, making him shut his eyes tight.
"Momma! Papa!"
"Noona! Granny! Uncle Issac!"
"Where are you guys? I don't want to play this game anymore. Please, return to me! Please!"