simulacrum of life

the car doors thud shut together. a gentle sea breeze softly envelopes us. the hem of her dress flutters in the breeze. moonlight reveals flashes of shimmery purple. she kicks off her heels , as i gently slip off my shoes and socks and roll up my pants legs. rising up, i hold out my hand, and she places her hand in mine. we stroll along the beach, just by the water's edge, always, almost getting wet, but never doing so. the cool, soft powdery sand squishing between our toes. we speak.. we speak of the evening that had passed. an evening that neither of us would probably forget for ages to come. we speak of what we want out of life. and then the speech ceases. we continue walking silently. not an awkward silence, but a comfortable one. the kind of silence that exists between two people who've known each other for ages and don't feel the need to talk incessantly.

i steal glances at her from the corner of my eye, for i feel that to gaze upon her fully would make this dream night crumble away into nothingness. she catches me surreptitiously gazing upon her, and she smiles. the moon in the heavens seems to fade away into darkness, as her smile becomes a grin which becomes infectious, and i too can't help myself. aahhh... how much more ludicrous can we get. "so..what are you staring at?" she asks. i stop and face her. whoever it was that said that the eyes are the windows to the soul sure wasn't lying. our eyes lock, and we sink deeper and deeper into each other. we could have been standing there for a minute or an hour. who knows? all concept of time was lost. then... a wave crashes a few metres from us, and the water laps around our feet, wetting them and pulling us out of our reverie.

"let's dance", she says. "but there's no music... how??" i reply. "who cares?!? you lead and i'll follow" is her rejoinder. and so i lead. i raise out my left hand, into which she places her delicate hand. as my fingers close around it, enveloping it fully, warmth flows... from her to me... and from me to her. i place my right hand on her back, just where the back of her dress starts. we start to do a waltz in the sand, which segues into a slow piece, that has my arm encircling her waist and her head leaning on my shoulder. we sway slowly to a tune that's only heard in my head.

after what could have been hours, she leans back and gazes up at me. she looks as if she's about to say something. her mouth opens. and closes. her eyes send me the invitation that the mouth failed to do. i lean forward, and i feel her warm breath already turning shallow as her mouth opens ever so slightly, beckoning me to enter. i take one last look at her face that seems beckoning me with every muscle, before i finally take the plunge. as our lips lock, in what is our first kiss i think to myself... it doesn't get better than this.