Ephemeral Limerence

It was perhaps the hottest day that summer and I badly needed to cool off and feel the soothing saltwater on my sweaty skin. So I held out my hand and beckoned you to come and go with me for a swim. Frolicking in the waters is more fun with someone...special. Just imagine staring into the infinite edges of the ocean alone. Marooned… That is probably the loneliest thing anyone can do on a beach.

You did hold my hand. It was calloused and warm and I took you on a rendezvous to where the sun, sand and sky meet.

And in that small patch of paradise, I found shade and comfort in your looming shadow. We played tag with the ebb and flow of the tides, but we soon got tired of this game and instead went for a dip in the cool waters. What was deep for me was shallow for you. You wanted to explore the reef and chase the fishes, but I was afraid of not touching the ground and killing the corals. So, I just stayed by the shoal, watching your body outline the blue waters in the distance. Occasionally, you would pop out and beckon me to join you. I wish I did, but I'm a coward. I only swim in pools. I like things that are concrete. I know their limits. They are not as mysterious as the deep ocean and you.

I see the sun set slowly unfold its beauty, painting the sky in rich hues. The water has gone down now and the full length of the sandbar that juts out from the tip of the island has surfaced.

I held my hand out to you again and beckoned you to walk with me to the edge. We tried. But I got tired midway and so we sat down on the wet sand and dazed at the dramatic sunset draping the seascape, giving a golden patina to everything in sight.

"Did you notice that?" you said as I was busily poking out pukka shells in the powdery white sand.  "What was it?" I slowly answered. "Don't tell me you missed it.”, you replied in disbelief. “Did you see the green flash as the sun was slowly hiding in the horizon?” you continued.  "I missed it.", I said in remorse. “That’s the very last beam of sunlight. If the horizon is clear and the air is pure, the sunsets color is not red, but green. It is just like a flash. It happened in a fraction of a second just before the sun slowly disappears. It is nice to see."

As the setting sun coruscates on the waters, you broke the silence saying, “The Little Prince said, "You know, one loves the sunset when one is so sad..." Your voice echoed in the deepest chambers of my heart.  "Yes. Sunsets hurt. Endings hurt. Farewells hurt...The most beautiful things in life hurt."

I just slowly shut my eyes, enfolded myself in darkness and said, "Never mind, there will be 43 more sunsets to see." "I will be gone tomorrow." you slowly whispered. My eyes fluttered open as my heart missed its tattoo. I draw a deep breath and withdraw to my own exclusive shell. You and I understood each other’s thoughts best in silence.

I heard you once say that the night comes fast in the tropics and tonight it did. But you promised to show me the stars and moon and I hold on to your promises. "Show me the stars", I said in my raspy voice.

This time around I see you offer your hand and you pulled me along with you as we followed the fireflies to a clearing where no skyscraping coconut tree grew. We lied down on the fine powdery white sand and together, we raised our eyes up to look at the universe.

"You see the Southern Cross? See the four stars there in the horizon?" but your words got cut off by a shooting star, its tail blazing with fire. I made a wish. The same wish I made when I offered a bouquet of wild flowers to the volcano a month ago. Did you? Did you make a wish too?

The god's must want us to be happy that night that they entertained us by pelting the heavens with stars that left a trail of glitters in the sky...a meteor shower. You said it is the Aquarids, I say the universe conspired to make this night last in our memory forever.

You hoped the clouds will not come. I'm crossing my fingers that they won't. But if they do, I wish that they bring rain too. So you won't see my tear drops slowly fall cry when it is time for you to go.

But then I felt your hand slowly lose its hold on me, "Sorry, my borrowed time has now come to an end. It is time for me to go..."And with those last words, the floodgates of heaven opened and torrential rains suddenly fell around us. I was drowning in memories of you.

I weakly held out my hand and said, "Dance with me." Only the waves replied in the darkness of the night by crashing on the rocky shore.