Nineteen Eighty-Eight
Back against the wall, his arms around her waist and hers around his neck, time stuttered and forgot its way. If smiles were for bidding, hers would fetch the top price. Smith felt the moment absorb under his skin like ink into paper: the gray October light filling the halls of Gardenia Mall, the water lily scent of her dark long hair, the muted backdrop of sounds and echoes – all of it part of him now and forever.
To those around them, the kiss that followed might seem like a natural climax, and everything that led to the kiss a means to a common and predictable end. But a kiss can be shared with a neighbour, classmate, ones child or parent, a total stranger – it often is a means to an end. In time, it might wash from his memory like footprints on the beach, but the moment that lead will survive until both perish in flame, like ink on paper.
While most search for answers and connections to the universe, Smith understood that the woman before him with her embracing arms was the only connection he ever sought or desired. No position of power, no religion, or bank account could ever bring out the meaning of life with the grace and ease she did.
He liked best about himself the part that loved her so deeply and intricately. This simple truth was a great power, and like all natural forces it had no master. All you could do is hope that it does your bidding, while knowing at the back of your mind that someday it might come for you – a position well worth the risks, for what better way to die than of your own passion?
Her soft sweet lips pressed against his, time again found its composure and pressed on as it always did. Smith would have a lifetime to recall the roles played and cast performing, the stage and atmosphere, even the smell. Throughout his life he’d recall every detail, and when face to face with death, the reels of life’s cinema would spark the memory to life for one last time, this time in black and white. For what is life but a play in which everyone acts a part until the curtain comes down?
