The Shadow Beside The Moon

Elara and Kael first crossed paths four years ago, beneath the thick, twisting branches of an old mango tree that stood at the edge of the University of Mindanao campus in Davao City.

She was a young art student, her canvas slung over one shoulder, smudged with streaks of blue and green paint, carrying a box of supplies that threatened to spill with every step.

He was a business major, rushing to his next class, arms piled high with thick textbooks, when he turned a corner too fast and bumped straight into her, sending both their things tumbling onto the grass. Instead of being annoyed, he laughed a warm, rich, easy sound that wrapped around her heart instantly and knelt down to help her pick everything up. When he looked up, his dark eyes crinkled at the corners, and Elara knew, right then, that she was already falling in love.

Over the next three years, they became inseparable. They spent weekends walking along the shoreline of the Davao Gulf, where the sea breeze always carried the familiar, sweet scent of ripe durian and salt, sitting on the stone wall watching the sun dip below the horizon, painting the sky in brilliant shades of orange and purple. Kael knew every little thing about her: how she loved the strong, bitter aroma of roasted coffee at Matina Town Square, how she dreamed of hiking all the way to the peak of Mount Apo just to watch the sunrise, how she cried easily at sad movies, and how her greatest wish was to open a small art studio filled with paintings of her hometown’s mountains, coastlines, and colorful culture

. He loved listening to her speak Bisaya, her voice bright and lively as she told stories of her childhood, and he would hold her hand tight, promising that he would always be there for her.

“You are the only one I will ever love, Elara,” he would whisper, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, pulling her close like he never wanted to let go. “No one else matters to me. You are my present, my future, my everything. I will never look at anyone else the way I look at you.”

Only once, while they were sitting together on the beach one quiet afternoon, did he mention a name that would later shatter her whole world. “Seraphine,” he said casually, his tone so light and careless that Elara didn’t think twice about it. “She was just a childhood friend. We grew up next door to each other, played together every day until we were sixteen. Then her family moved abroad, and I haven’t heard from her since. Just a distant memory, nothing more. Someone from a past life that doesn’t matter anymore.”

Elara smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder, believing every single word. She poured her whole heart into their relationship, giving him her time, her savings, her care, her loyalty, and all her love, never imagining that somewhere deep in the back of his mind, that “distant memory” was still shining brighter than anything else.

She was happy, trusting, and completely blind to the terrible truth: she was never the only one in his heart, and the promises he made were never meant to be kept.