Patintero In The Moonlight

Summertime

If you NEVER did, you SHOULD. These things are FUN. And FUN is good. - Dr. Seuss

We ran barefoot, jumped in puddles, and hunted for bugs. But the most fun we did in the summer?

As soon as dinner was over, we would run outside, our bare feet like white moths in the darkness, as if to meet the moon.

I would holler toward the neighbor's window, Leby, laro na tayo. Let's go play.

On a night when the moon was high above the acacia tree, bathing the world in an ethereal glow, our most-favorite game to play was patintero. It always seemed to go together with a moonlit night. 

The term is derived from the Spanish word tinte ("tint" or "ink") in reference to the lines for the court that are drawn with water. I remember how we would take a big watering can, fill it with water, and trace the lines on the ground with the drizzle. 

On either side was a team of players who tried to get past all the lines and back again without being tagged by players of the opposite team.

We would dart back-and-forth under the full moon shining down from high above, crossing the sky, erasing the stars in its path. Our shadows were awash in a hazy light.

We would run fast, a bunch of wiggling children, shrieking in competition against the cicada that were in full jungle pulse.

Perhaps patintero was a favorite because it was so simple. No bats, no balls, no counters, no nets, no strings, no poles.

All we needed was the bewitching power of the moon. 

Sitting together on the ground after several rounds of play, we would laugh and stare at the moon through sprinkled nighttime stardust. It was bright and shadows danced around us.

Someone said that the moon was the first milestone on the road to the stars. We didn't know that, nor did we understand the gift of magic that it brought.

All we knew was that nights, when the moon was full, were simply made for playing.