My childhood home in Gorakana sits right next to the village temple. The access road to the temple was a footpath winding right round our land & although we were next-door to the temple it took about 10 minutes to cover the length.
On poya days it was the practice in our family to attend the evening Buddha puja & sometimes listen to the late evening Bana. By the time we returned home the moon was halfway up the sky.
Our boundary fence right up to the bottom of the land had thick foliage & there were tall & large trees in plenty scattered in the land making it a mini forest (a micro mini is a better description).
When we walked home, one person walked in front with a torch, the light beam shining on the foot path. This was to avoid trampling on serpents crossing our path. We all walked behind all huddled together.
It is then, that I noticed the moon was walking with us sometimes following, sometimes little ahead but most of the time just moving along at our own pace, looking down on us. I was a little alarmed because the moon was not moving in any other direction.
It went behind clouds, occasionally got covered by the trees but when out in the sky never missed us. The moon tracked us.
As I reached home, I darted inside to make sure the moon gets confused & lose on the chase. When I stealthily crept out to check the moon was out there staring down.
I'm not sure how old I was. Maybe 7yrs or even 9yrs.
Y'day while trying to capture the Poson moon I realized that the moon is no longer interested in me. I had to hold my phone camera & wait quite a while for the moon to emerge from the clouds & over the treetops.
Kalyani Guruge
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