The little boy was coming back from his cherished part of the day looking as if he had just returned from war. Bouncing in his soiled linen and dirty skin, he couldn't help but notice his grandfather seated on his rocking chair on the patio, with a fixed gaze toward the direction where the orange sun was disappearing into the edge of the clouds. He leaped closer, and after he sat, he bagan inquiring, wearing an innocent smile filled with curiosity and anticipation.
Boy: Grandpa, tell me a secret.
Grandfather: Life has many secrets my boy. Love is one of them.
Boy: How so?
Grandfather: Love glows bright like a day, but it also hides like a thief in the night.
Boy: (Lost) How can it be found?
Grandfather: Love lives in us. Nature gifts us what to nurture. Tell me boy, what is the first thing you like to see after a day at school with your teachers and friends.
Boy: My parents, you, grandma...
Grandfather: Then that is love.
Boy: Oh, but that sounds simple.
Grandfather: There's nothing simple about love my boy. It takes strength to love, and the weaker of men usually fail to.
Boy: How can I be strong for love?
Grandfather: By allowing yourself to be swept away by its power.
Boy: How?
Grandfather: (Takes a sip of something from a cup rested on a stool beside him and then continues) For us, men, love is bounded by duty. Duty to your people, duty to those around us, duty to the things that serve us, and duty to the world and its elements. Duty is showing up, and showing up is caring, and caring is love.
Boy: You have said for men. What about for women?
Grandfather: (Chuckles)...My boy, I have been on this earth for a while now, but I can't fully say that I understand how the mind and the heart of a woman work. Women are both mysterious and lovely. All I know is that in my world, however, if you love them, they will love you back.
Boy: So, you love grandma and she loves you back?
Grandfather: With all the old bones and soul in me. I love your grandma and she the same. She is my life.
Boy: Tell me more about love grandpa.
Grandfather: Be there to help, that is love. Be willing to choose, that is love and also care. Be open to life, that is love. Empathize, that is love.
Boy: (Full of enthusiasm) Love sounds good.
Grandfather: Yes, you are right. Love is pure and in its purity lies its goodness. But it is not always sunshine with love.
Boy: What do you mean grandpa?
Grandfather: Just like the moon has its phases and the seasons change, love also tries us in different ways.
Boy: (Stares blank)
Grandfather: Sometimes love tire our hearts. It pushes us around and not in a pleasant way.
Boy: Then what do you do?
Grandfather: Like a kite against the wind, love is meant to be free. Embrace its turns and learn its ways. Love, and you will know of love.

© Ommie