The Baby wants the moon

Papa I want it! I want! I want!” cries the baby.
“What do you want my baby?” asked the father.
“Papa I want that big silvery ball hanging up there.”
“That’s moon my son, it always remains there, up in the sky.”
“Papa I want it! I want the moon!”
“See how beautiful the flowers are in our garden. Look that’s the marigold; papa will get it for you.”
“Yes papa I like marigolds a lot.”
The kid starts playing with the flower, plucking its petals and throwing them around and on his father’s head who was carrying him around in the garden.
“Papa, why don’t you try plucking the moon like you did with the marigold?”
“Son it’s not in our garden, it’s far far away, up in the sky.”
“Oh!”
The kid again starts playing with the flower.
“But papa, if the moon is that far why you don’t plant one moon in our beautiful garden?”
“Son the moon is too big for our garden.”
The baby looks at his father in astonishment. Here in front of him is the moon, small enough to come in his palms and his father says it can’t be accommodated in their large garden!
“Papa let’s give it a try.”
“Son I have got a chocolate for you, have this.”
The kid was delighted! His father had got him his favorite chocolate. He starts chewing it; he enjoys every bite of it.
“Papa why don’t you eat chocolates?”
“Son I am a grown up.”
“Oh!” The kid takes another bite.
“But chocolates are so tasty; don’t you like the taste of chocolate papa?”
“I like it a lot son but chocolates are meant for kids and I am not a kid, so I don’t eat chocolates.”
The kid thought there are things that only kids can do. It’s not always that grown ups can do all things. Grown ups have their limitation. Something stops them from doing things which kids can do very easily. The kid raised his hand up and tried to grab the moon. He waved his hand a lot but was not able to touch it.
“Son it’s no use, the moon is far away, we can’t reach it by raising our hand up.”
“Papa I can! I can eat chocolate unlike you. I can get the moon too.”
The kid tried to grab the moon again. He could not. He tried again.
“Papa please try with me. You are taller, I am sure you can easily reach it, Papa please.”
“Stop it now, no more waving your hand like that, you can get hurt. Let’s go inside and see what mama has cooked for the dinner.”
“No papa let’s get the moon first. Papa! Papa!”
The kid starts crying.
“Son you ask for anything else but not the moon. It’s not possible.”
Slowly the kid’s loud cries changes to silent sobs.
“Papa why is not possible?”
“Son it’s too high up in the sky and too big for us to get.”
“How far is it papa?”
“Son too far, the distance is beyond our imagination.”
The kid thinks. Beyond our imagination? There are things beyond imagination? How can be things beyond imagination? How will we imagine those things? Let me try to imagine a thing that’s beyond my imagination. The kid was not able to imagine anything beyond his imagination.
“Papa is moon real?”
“Yes my son.”
It’s real and still so far that we can’t reach. The kid wanders why his father had not even tried to grab the moon when he a small kid had made desperate efforts. Some things only kids can do. He saw his father’s face. He didn’t see expression in it. The face was not upset for not being able to give the moon to his son. The face showed no desire to make an effort to reach the moon. It only showed a face which accepted that the moon is far away and can’t be reached. The kid turned his face upward.
“Papa one day I will prove you that the moon is not that far away and not too big that it can’t come in my small palms.”