Monday, March 19, 2007

Part 2:

I could see it. I grabbed the image in my mind immediately and held tightly until juices started gushing forth. The scene comes to life: a tropical humidity and the midday malaise – its companion who always comes along, the sun so bright it makes you sleepy, dark silhouettes of trees and faces focus into sharper view in the foreground as they begin to animate from still images. In slow motion now the waves twinkle just slightly and palm leaves sway gently like eyelashes blinking very slowly. I'm staring at the blue now, flickering pale and bright. There's the low hum of a boat engine in the distance, the breeze through the tree leaves and their audible shimmering, the sounds together breathing softly. And just as sudden as it had come, the image begins to dismantle and drift apart. The far away tiny speedboats defy gravity and drift into the sky, the sun bleaches the blue sea into a white void, the dark shapes slide off the canvas until each element finds a new place to settle in the frame, and begins to fade.

I opened my eyes and saw my own left hand near my face slightly curled in a soft fist. I was lying on my side in bed. When I threw the covers off myself I realized I was still wearing the same thing I wore all last night standing behind the bar – puffy winter jacket included. I sat up and let out a muffled grumble, rubbing my face. I noticed a dull pressure near the back of my head, a headache, like someone was pressing the flat part of a large butter knife into one spot inside my cranium. It wasn't strong enough to be excruciating, but "there" enough to not disregard.

But it wasn't enough for me to overlook the glorious morning. I slid my glasses on and turned to the window. I had caught the precious few minutes in the one particular hour of the morning when the sun just held the house in her hands. The walls glowed warm and the wood breathed brows and oranges like at no other time of the day. Hugging my knees, I looked down to see the sun had crept across the covers and spilled over just enough to tickle my left toes. I wiggled them.