A Wish in the Dark

It's the Governor who has created all the light in Chattana. Pong and his friend, Somkit, were born in prison, and they both eagerly look forward to the day when they will have freedom. It's the Governor Pong looks for as inspiration in the world. But then Pong actually meets the Governor and his hopes are dashed. An opportunity appears, and Pong can't wait; he escapes, making his way to a monastery. There he meets a true inspiration in the form of a monk, Father Cham. But the monk is growing older, and the tattoos on Pong mark him as a prisoner. What will happen when the former warden of the prison and his family visit the monastery and see Pong?

A story that is both a great adventure and a thoughtful meditation on opportunity, goodness, and punishment.

****(Nok, the daughter of the warden said,) “If you work hard and follow the law, good things happen to you. The law is the light, and the light shines on the worthy.”Her father tilted his head at her. “Where did you hear that?”“School,” said Nok. “We're learning the Governor's proverbs....”He cleared his throat and cleaned his glasses. “Sometimes things aren't as simple as they teach you in school.”“What do you mean?”“Well, sometimes light shines on the worthy. But sometimes it just shines on the lucky ones. And sometimes....” He looked over his shoulder at the East Side, glittering like a rainbow across the river. “Sometimes good people get trapped in the dark.”**“The world wasn't what I wanted it to be,” Pong went on. “Not Chattana. Not even Tanaburi. I thought if I ran far enough, I could find that perfect place where life is fair and everything is good. But even if I make it to the sea, even if I go all the way to the end of the world, I'll never find a place like that. It doesn't exist....You can't run away from darkness,” Pong whispered. “It's everywhere. The only way to see through it is to shine a light.”****

He'd felt that way before, years ago. Before he'd met the Governor, before anyone had told him that the world is full of darkness, and that will never change. Those words kept him locked up for so long. Now Pong understood what sad, cruel words they were. If you believed them, then the only way to make sense of the world was with courts and judges, rules and jails. Those were the things that kept a city orderly. They kept people in line. But by themselves, they did nothing to make the world better.

Father Cham had known that....He had fanned the embers of people's hearts and sent them out into the world to do extraordinary things.