Fantasy, short story

Kundiman for Earth

july-201

“Kun de man, come sing me a love song, for I am blue and and listening to you makes me swoon.” Laughter followed that request.

Kun Dee ignored it; ever since the affable Filipino scientist had joined the crew his name had become the butt of every joke. All because the bespectacled egghead had a fondness for kundimans–the Filipino word for love songs. And she’d slipped and used the Filipino word once in front of Motormouth Martin, the comedian who’d just made the asinine request.

Had the woman not possessed a thousand watt smile and the kind of quiet competence a mission like this needs, he would have sent her packing. But she did and he didn’t really care if his crew blew off the tension by making jokes. When push came to shove, he was the commander and they’d follow him anywhere.

So what if he had to field requests for silly things like love songs? They didn’t actually expect him to spout one. He was a rock climbing enthusiast and a geologist working on a Phd in astrophysics, not a crooner of swoon-worthy tunes. And they all knew that.

He shook his head and returned his wandering attention to the scanner’s screen but his eyes never made it that far. The sight of a blue crescent rising above the pitted landscape arrested him. Earth, his home, stole his breath. The sun kissed its mottled blue face and somewhere in his soul music swelled. Not a somebody-done-me-wrong song, but a tune of pure adoration for the work of the creator’s hands rose in his chest. His heart sang a love song for that precious world, his watery home.

Thanks to Maria of Doodles and Scribbles and Rosema of A Reading Writer for Word High July #FilipinoWords #Prompt.

18 thoughts on “Kundiman for Earth”

  1. I think this is the beginning of a great romance. But the last paragraph is exceptionally beautifully and evocatively written. “The work of the creators hands” and the “sun kissed it’s molted blue fac,” a love of a greater kind than romance; the love of the creator for his creations and the live echoed through it. 💕

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    3. 🙂 Yes it was! Though I have to admit that it was 1 am and I had one eye open. I had written a whole slew of shorts before reaching this word and well, that’s how I misread it. Though in my head, the voice doing the misreading had a Jamaican accent. I have no idea how a Jamaican got inside my skull but he ran by shouting that first line. And I had to chase him down to get the full story 😉

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