Snapshot 34
The water was soothing. I could do this forever, he thought.
He was sitting on the bank of the stream, on a grassy part which was slightly elevated from the rest of the bank. Do we have the time? he thought. He carefully weighed the pros and cons in his corporate-trained head. He imagined a Wheel of Fortune sort of thing, with all the options he had, and mentally gave the wheel a spin. He knew where he secretly wanted it to stop, because he wanted to justify it to himself.
How did it come to this? he wondered. He had always been in control, so sure he was doing all the right things for them, so they could have a happy, secure life. And it was happy and secure. He turned around and watched her at the ice cream cart which had just wheeled by a few minutes ago. He could faintly hear her haggle good naturedly with the vendor, and he felt suddenly overwhelmed as he realised she was even more beautiful now than she was all those years ago. He felt happy and proud when he thought of how hard he had worked to keep the colour in those cheeks, and the dimples which had now become sort of permanent. He liked to think that came from smiling so much. She looked happy, and that's all he'd ever wanted.
He turned back to the water. The sound of the waves gently lapping in the late evening brought a calm upon him that he realised he hadn't felt in years. He grinned, took off his gleaming black shoes and starched socks and slowly lowered his feet into the water. It was warmer than he expected and a contented sigh escaped his lips. She came back with the ice creams and quietly handed him his cone. They ate their ice creams in a very comfortable silence, he characteristically licking over the sides, and she, as usual, from the top.
She looked over at him and smiled at his awkward attempts to keep the thing from melting. She slipped her shoes off and sidled up to him and put her toes into the water and her head near his shoulder. Her naughty streak suddenly caught up with her and inspite of her age, she giggled. He looked at her with a quizzical look and raised his eyebrows. That always made her laugh and she splashed the water with her feet in glee, wetting the ends of his trousers. He gave an expression of mock alarm and splashed even harder. They kept at it till they were both wet from the waist down and doubled up with laughter. The ice creams had melted and they were left to lick what was left off their fingers.
He suddenly remembered something and looked at his watch. They had spent quite some time there, but he realised, to his pleasant surprise, he wasn't worried about anything right now. He thought he'd check on the wheel of fortune in his head, and smiled when he saw that it had stopped where he thought it might.
On the thin sliver labelled "Life".
I must make the sliver a slice, he decided.
He was sitting on the bank of the stream, on a grassy part which was slightly elevated from the rest of the bank. Do we have the time? he thought. He carefully weighed the pros and cons in his corporate-trained head. He imagined a Wheel of Fortune sort of thing, with all the options he had, and mentally gave the wheel a spin. He knew where he secretly wanted it to stop, because he wanted to justify it to himself.
How did it come to this? he wondered. He had always been in control, so sure he was doing all the right things for them, so they could have a happy, secure life. And it was happy and secure. He turned around and watched her at the ice cream cart which had just wheeled by a few minutes ago. He could faintly hear her haggle good naturedly with the vendor, and he felt suddenly overwhelmed as he realised she was even more beautiful now than she was all those years ago. He felt happy and proud when he thought of how hard he had worked to keep the colour in those cheeks, and the dimples which had now become sort of permanent. He liked to think that came from smiling so much. She looked happy, and that's all he'd ever wanted.
He turned back to the water. The sound of the waves gently lapping in the late evening brought a calm upon him that he realised he hadn't felt in years. He grinned, took off his gleaming black shoes and starched socks and slowly lowered his feet into the water. It was warmer than he expected and a contented sigh escaped his lips. She came back with the ice creams and quietly handed him his cone. They ate their ice creams in a very comfortable silence, he characteristically licking over the sides, and she, as usual, from the top.
She looked over at him and smiled at his awkward attempts to keep the thing from melting. She slipped her shoes off and sidled up to him and put her toes into the water and her head near his shoulder. Her naughty streak suddenly caught up with her and inspite of her age, she giggled. He looked at her with a quizzical look and raised his eyebrows. That always made her laugh and she splashed the water with her feet in glee, wetting the ends of his trousers. He gave an expression of mock alarm and splashed even harder. They kept at it till they were both wet from the waist down and doubled up with laughter. The ice creams had melted and they were left to lick what was left off their fingers.
He suddenly remembered something and looked at his watch. They had spent quite some time there, but he realised, to his pleasant surprise, he wasn't worried about anything right now. He thought he'd check on the wheel of fortune in his head, and smiled when he saw that it had stopped where he thought it might.
On the thin sliver labelled "Life".
I must make the sliver a slice, he decided.
spouted by Non-Sensei at 3/16/2005 01:37:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home