Thirty seconds

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.