Blocking the Sun, the red kite contrasted against the bright, blue sky. The boy grounding it to Earth began to guide it by running along the quaint hilltop, shouting to let his mother know, “This isn’t going fast enough!”

The mother only sat with her hands folded across her lap, expressing impressive patience for her avaricious son. Perhaps she was waiting for the wind to pick up. Perhaps she was giving him time to realize that no matter how fast he ran, the kite wouldn’t move as fast as he’d like it to.

Despite the clear truth, the boy continued to run with absolute determination. His eyes stayed glued to the kite in anticipation, so it wasn’t until the kite string caught onto the branches of the lone tree did he stop. The boy’s face morphed into pure disapproval.

“Stupid kite.”

The mother watched as her son trudged up the hill to release the kite, but it was already evident that his 4 foot self didn’t stand a chance against the towering, oak tree. The boy stood on the tip of his toes, jumped as high as he could, but the kite was beyond his reach.

After the mother counted 12 attempts, her son’s attention and patience gave out. His shoulders slumped, and he trudged back to her with a pout on his face.

Then, a feather, ever so softly, fluttered with the wind.

The boy’s eyes caught the white flurry, and his body jumped into action. In an instant, he was chasing after the feather with newfound determination. His hands reached out to clasp the feather, clamping down as though he was trying to catch a firefly.

The feather had other plans.

Just as the boy thought he caught it, the feather would glide out of his reach at the last second. The mother gave a fond laugh as she watched the feather tease her son.

This time, the mother only counted 5 attempts before the boy stopped in defeat. Once again, a pout took shape on his face, and the same childlike neediness encapsulated him as he walked into the open arms of his mother. At the first contact, the boy melted into his mother’s embrace. Her hands rubbed his back in comfort as if she anticipated his next words.

“Mommy, why wouldn’t the wind blow the kite fly faster or let me catch the feather?”

The mother gave a knowing smile, and in a gentle voice, she offered him her wisdom.

“Sometimes, the wind decides what we can or cannot do. Somethings are just intangible. We can’t fight the wind, nor can we control it. If we tried to, we’d get nowhere in life. The only option is to let the breeze guide you.”

The Sun burned bright in the sky as the boy contemplated his mother’s answer.

“But the wind isn’t fast enough!”

By the time the mother responded, The birds had already chirped a full melody.

“The wind can be slow and peaceful. Other times, it’s violent and thrashing. The key is to maintain a balance. If the wind was only fast, we wouldn’t have been able to spend this day outside in the lovely Sun. Your kite would have spiraled out of control, and you would have lost it, just like you did today. If the wind was calm, you would still have your kite, but it wouldn’t have been able to fly. Today demonstrated a balance, but your impatience led to a tragedy.”

Their arms were no longer entangled, but their eyes acted as a reflection to each other. The boy pried his eyes off his mother’s and focused on the distant, red kite.

“I shouldn’t have rushed it.”

The birds chirped a celebratory tune and the mother’s eyes gleamed with pride as the family walked back to their house, hand in hand.