You
remember what you said on a day when the road we were walking on was covered in
perfumed mist? You were restless, unsure of your words and your intentions ...
we were, after all, in a dream. We didn’t anticipate this journey. "Who bonded us in this moment together?" You and I wondered when the first of the rain
drops hit our faces. We searched frantically for a shelter before taking
refuge under that huge oak tree. The tree head full of green leaves over our
heads like a canopy; filtered through those leaves came the raindrops and
struggling sunlight. It was raining on a sunny day.. Rain had met Sun.. you had
met me.
Your
confusion at finding yourself stranded with me was so apparent. The way you shoved your hands in the pockets of your jeans, the way you leaned back against the
tree trunk, the way you concentrated so hard on the little sparrow who had
just landed on the ground nearby and the way you blushed under my stare. I had
never seen a man blush before, it brought a mischievous smile on my face. I did
little to hide my amusement as the redness reached your earlobes.
Our
conversation hung heavy between us but neither was ready to initiate it.
Hundreds and thousands of tiny details just lurked around us; we chose silence.
The sun and
the rain decided to leave together; tired of waiting for us to choose either or
both. Mist settled in and we started walking. Your eyes on the road. I glanced
at you and what caught my eye were your long black eyelashes. They made peering
into your eyes a challenge. ‘If I had these beautiful eyelashes, I would stop complaining about half of the things in my life’- I succumbed to the way
they guarded the shyness in your eyes. I knew then that you would always
choose silence but I didn't want to look back to silence. I knew it would be too
heavy on my heart. It would be too exhausting to stop regretting not saying the
words. So I spoke and in return you said those words that I carved on my soul.
I don’t know if you saw the way my eyes got bigger and rounder in surprise and
a smile tugged at the corner of my lips. This was your personal best, wasn’t
it?
Walking on
a long , straight , empty road with the stranger girl who had met by chance and
knew you’d never see her face again. I didn't even mind that the words were not
your own but it humbled me that the words reminded you of me.
“you know
if i never see your face again, I will remember.”
Thirty
seconds of togetherness and then we stepped into reality again.
