The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon (46)

Begawan Swandagni gazes deeply at Sukrosono. The moonlight makes a sweeping gesture, as though it wants to help him see who his son truly is. When his son was born, there was no moon in the sky.

Every time he thinks about it, he feels compelled to apologize for his lust. He enjoyed his lust when he made love to his wife Dewi Sokawati. But he rejected that lust when he learned it would give life to a demon child. Must he apologize for his lust? But if he must, it will be as though he is apologizing to emptiness. Because that lust has been slowly leaving him since his wife's passing, all the more as he is eaten away by regret. Therefore, the only possibility is simply to apologize to his son.

But where is his son? Will he come back to him? The smoke of the incense rises ever higher, as if a god has heard the grumbling of his hear. The sun has not yet set, and the calls of prenjak (wren-warblers) are heard, chirping beautifully one after another. Begawan Swandagni has often heard the beautiful call of the prenjak. But this time, their cries sound like the whispers of the moon, tearing through the dark clouds. And at that moment, he hears the voice he has most longed for.