FLY ME TO THE MOON

IRDINA SOFEA ABDUL HAKIM

SMK TAMAN DESAMINIUM, PETALING PERDANA

“Observe the moon, its brightness is astounding,” my gaze shifted to the starry sky as she
spoke. Indeed, the moon appeared bright. It must be a full moon; my little mind went.

“Oh lunar, do tell, with the sun gone, what chance do you have to illuminate the
darkness as you do right now? Without its rays, you’re unlikely to shine as you have for
millions of years,” her words poured out with wonder.

“Bulan, do you remember what Mrs. Fatima said about courtesy?” My head tilted,
and I recalled the time when I was taught about manners.

"It's like we can't see the moon without the rays of the sun. We are not perceived to
be amiable if we don’t exhibit courtesy in the first place,” she added.

“I want to shine bright, like the moon,” I finally uttered, eliciting a warm grin from her.

“So, seek for the sun’s rays, Bulan.” She planted a kiss on my forehead, signalling
that it was time to slumber.

***

My eyes were pensive as my brows furrowed, confused by the math question in front of me.
I glanced at my tablemate. “Nazurah, put your phone away. Mr. Khaled left us work to do,” I
lowered my voice.

She let out a deliberate loud sigh. “Let me guess: you’re only pretending to get the
teacher’s validation. You’re being ridiculous, don’t you think? I’ll do my work later. Just let me
be,” I was taken aback when she spat that out.

“At the very least, I'm making an effort to assist you with your task. Must you be that
arrogant with me?” I scoffed. The expression on her face revealed how enraged she was
over my statement.

“Look, my father bought this phone for me. It appears that you are envious. I get it,”
she stated sadistically, purposely striking me where it hurt. It didn’t take a lot to realise she
was talking about my late father.
 I was at a loss for words. There was a voice in the back of my head, screaming at me
to fight back. Do I remain silent when she speaks to me in such a way? I cleared my throat
and drew in a deep breath. At last, I ultimately resolved to be the bigger person by ignoring
Nazurah.

***

“What a day,” I plopped down on my bed, surfing through TikTok on my phone.

“…but if you are patient and God-fearing, surely that is true constancy,” the 168 th
verse of Surah Al-Imran that popped on TikTok piqued my interest. I paused for a while,
recalling the happenings of this morning. At that moment, I thought, O Allah, forgive me for
allowing the devil to agitate me.

So far as I’m stalking her, I've seen that many people have left negative comments.
Accusing her of being pretentious, narcissistic, and so forth. I felt horrible for her, especially
when her whole objective was to show others the beauty of Islam.

“Do not be frightened to adhere to discipline. Let them speak maliciously about you.
What comes first are Allah's blessings,” her words affected me significantly. Why was I so
worried about what Nazurah had said?

I switched off the phone and pull up the covers. It does me no good to be concerned
about her. My eyelids gently closed as I let myself be cradled in a fantasy.

***

"Aisha, do me a favour. Send these to Mr. Henry in the grocery shop," my mother ordered. I
nodded and swiftly grabbed the tiny paper bag from the counter before scurrying to the
store.

Recklessly, I bumped into someone. “I'm so sorry, I really am. I didn't pay attention to
where I was heading,” I apologized profusely as I hurried to help her up.

“It’s alright, I’m okay,” the person reassured me. My eyes widened as I saw the
person before me.

“You’re… Bulan, aren’t you?” I attempted to hold back my excitement. She nodded
with a smile.

“I'm very impressed with you. People frequently talk negatively about you, and they
have made several attempts to cancel you out. Nevertheless, you were patient with them.
I've never witnessed such tolerance in a person.” I expressed my admiration towards her.
 “That's incredibly lovely of you. Regarding the remarks, I honestly don't mind. I
understand my motivations and what I am doing. You should never allow anybody to
convince you that you are unworthy of voicing optimism” Bulan spoke with such intelligence,
which added to my admiration for her.

If you had told me earlier that I'd be meeting such an amazing figure, I'd believe you
were joking. Bulan, you made my day. I could say that I flew to the moon.

(782 words)