Two Days at the Park

Like a candle, the rising sun stood like a flickering flame, burning atop the thin wickers that made the tree line. They both fell silent as they walked out from beneath the brush; He squeezed her hand as they gazed, watching the colours that made the horizon. A deep orange, dyed deeper than any bolt of cloth, silhouetted the tree line. Next, around the golden sphere that hung in the sky, radiated a butter yellow, the colour that painted daisy petals.

The fresh scent of woodland pines and moist soil wafted through the air as he beheld the canvas of dawn sky. Next came the pink, the blue, and the deep indigo. The hues shaded the bulbs of cloud in their heraldic patterns, casting shadows high into the atmosphere. Aaron sighed; He felt her squeeze. Her soft skin, her supple fingers. They pressed against his.

He leaned against a pine as they stood there, Sophia wedged herself between his arms; He rested the crown of his chin atop her head. A deep perfume filled his nostrils, the scent of lilacs, and of gooseberries. Letting out a small sigh, he closed his eyes as he savoured the floral fragrance. Sophia’s skin was pressed against his; Aaron’s heart quickened as the hair on his arms stood erect. A dumb smile, the ugliest kind, dressed his face; It was one of those smiles you didn’t have time to prepare for. It was the type of smile where your lips curved high, like an arc turned on its head. It was the smile for when life was perfect.

Her long, dark, hair shifted as she glanced back. A glimmer caught her eye, it was all the magnificence of the dawn sky, the orange and yellow, the deep hues of pink, blue and indigo. He kissed her, letting it linger before he pulled away. “Do you want to go down?” she asked.

Aaron, and the dumb smile that graced his expression, nodded. They descended the slope where the woodland ended, Sophia clung to his bicep as the sand and loose dirt shifted beneath her wicker sandals. She squealed as a tuft of grass gave way; her leg slid forward as she lost her balance. Before she hit the ground, Aaron’s arm swept around the small of her back, he lifted her up, her arms swept around his neck as he pulled her into himself. Low chuckles bounded from the pine grove behind them; Aaron’s chortles echoed in the clearing.

“Shut up…” Sophia said as she dangled in his arms, swatting at his chest.

“Mm, probably should watch your step?” Aaron jeered as he carried Sophia down the slope. She continued to swat at his chest.

The clearing was secluded, a place cordoned off by trees and a deep thicket of ferns. It was a dip in the land, where the forest streams trickled and bubbled into a small lake. He set her down on the banks, right beside the still water. It was almost like crystal, a bright sheen sparkled along its surface, a reflection of the sun, tilting his head as he held up his crown. As it inched up into the sky, minute by minute, second by second, Aaron felt its touch ripple along the skin of his arms and neck. It grew warmer, and as they watched the still of the lake, the symphony of the songbirds played out like an orchestra rising from its slumber.

They chirped and trilled. Drumming and rattling. Just then, the wind picked up, it picked up as the sun crawled higher and the birds played their song. It whistled as it sieved through the branches, the thick pine brambles, flapping against leaves and needles. “You were right,” Sophia said in her lilting voice. “This place is beautiful.”

Aaron’s smile broadened as he turned to her. Sophia’s hair glimmered; A glow had washed across her face as the sun’s slender fingers traced the lines that made her jaw. Above her sharp cheekbones, her deep-set eyes stared into his. Colour flushed his face, his heart hammered in the hollow of his chest like a lone drum beating against the wall of a jagged cave.

He coughed, turning away, the saliva in his throat had dried. “I don’t want to say I told you so. But…” Sophia chuckled, shaking her head as she leaned against his shoulder.

A knot corded around his throat, the ropes and sinew that gave life to his voice were pulled taut. The muscle and flesh in his right bicep went rigid as Sophia’s hands wrapped around it. With his free hand, Aaron felt the low box hill in his pants, right above his pocket. Sweat began to bead on his brow, and his neck, and his back. The thrum of blood in his temples blotted out the sound of swaying trees. His fingers curved around the mound. It was still there.

“I love you so much.”

It stopped. It all disappeared, like birds on the eve of a desert storm. The blood that roared along his brow went still, the sweat dried, and the low rumble that pounded in his chest subsided to the pitter patter of rain. He turned to her, and as she watched him, expectant, he lifted her chin and placed a kiss on her lips. “I love you Sophia, forever and always.”

And then his legs shuddered, his knees buckled as his back foot slid in the sand. He fell onto one knee, Sophia’s eyed flew wide, she made a low shriek as her hands covered her mouth. Like a knight of old, dressed in gleaming mail, Aaron knelt before her as he pulled the mound from his pocket.

The songbirds now sung in unison, they chimed and chirped. A low ripple ran across the surface of the lake as the wind swept the fabric of Sophia’s dress. In the dawn, the gem of the ring shone like a torch, each cut face flashed a brilliant glow. Pink, blue and lush green.

“Sophia Isobel Edwards, will you marry me?”

Tears sparkled in her eyes. Tears swept down his cheeks. She fell to her knees, crying. And then, in a quiet voice, a voice drowned by the singing birds and the rustle of the wind, in a voice only he could hear, she said, “yes.”

Gray clouds hung overhead. It looked as if they were about to thunder, about to release a torrent. They did not, instead they hung there, like puppets suspended in the air, dragged wherever they are needed by fingers attached to hidden strings.

Aaron sighed, the air tore through the forest, it ripped at the branches and leaves, whipping through the thicket like a falcon gliding above boiling trees. It bit his skin, he felt the chill crawl up from his hands, freezing the bones that ran through the length of his arms. He should’ve brought a jacket; Though it didn’t really matter. Nothing mattered too much these days.

He was leaning back, holding himself up with one arm as he watched the lake. A hot moisture welled beneath his palm; He hadn’t ever noticed the gravel, there was more of it than the sand. Mosquitoes buzzed about him. They skirted away from the lake where they surfed, landing on his pallid skin. He had tried swatting them away at first, waiting for them to land so he could snap his palm down. Their black corpses were plastered against his skin, along with the small pools of blood their hoped to steal. Too many, there were too many of them. Now, he sat there, resigned, as the mosquitoes buzzed like a swarm of bees, like a murder of crows who’ve come upon a mound of corpses.

“It’s cold,” he said.

“Yeah. I guess it is…” she was a few paces down, lying against the banks of the lake.

“I didn’t ever notice all the garbage,” Aaron said as he stared out at the lake. Cans and bottles bobbed up and down in the murky water. It was a mud green, mixed with brown, and by the pipe, to the right of Aaron, a thick black liquid pooled across the surface of the water. Feathers and twigs floated atop the sludge, and even from where he sat, Aaron could smell the pungent, decaying, odour.

Sophia remained still, she stared out at the grey sky, quiet, motionless. After what felt like a long while, a couple minutes maybe, or a couple seconds, she cleared her throat. “I love you.”

Her monotonous tone died beneath the rush of the wind, the gale that snapped the trees and ferns. Though he heard it all the same. I love you, there was a time when those words meant everything to him. There was a time when his heart would’ve fluttered at those words.

He sighed. “I love you too,” he said in a loud, and yet still, voice.

Splat. Aaron felt a thin film of moisture across his brow, the low rumble of thunder trumpeted in the distance. He looked up, just as he did, a low shower began to fall. He sighed a breath of relief as the dust settled about him, as the gravel beneath his palm grew slick.

He got up, wiping the dirt and sand from his pants. “It’s raining,” he called out, “let’s go.”

He stumbled as he trudged up the slope, leaning forward as he tried to hold each step, as he tried to keep his balance lest he stumble and fall. Groaning, he reached out, grabbing a low branch. The bark and splinters bit into his skin as he pulled himself up. The nauseating perfume of the sickly-sweet resin blossomed as he felt its warmth pool beneath his palm. A cold shiver ran along his flesh as his knees clattered; Thunder boomed in the sky above him, and the light shower of rain now picked up. He shuddered as the pellets of rain collapsed against his shirt, each drop was a bite, cold fangs that sank deep into his flesh.

Aaron’s nose wrinkled as he pulled his hand from the branch, amber resin stretched into thin, almost transparent, beams. He could feel the light bruises form across his back, they stretched and tore as he pushed past the thicket of branches.

He turned around just before he lost sight of the clearing. Trees, shrubs and an empty path lay before him. Aaron sighed, where had she gone now. Pushing his way back into the clearing, he saw Sophia, still lying against the gravel banks of the lake. The rippling surface of shit infested water now bubbled like molten rock, the droplets of rain carved craters into its surface like missiles and bombs.

She was drenched, her drab yellow shirt stuck to her skin; The light jeans she had never once decided to get rid of were now a dark blue. “Are you coming?” he called out, impatience rife in his voice. She shook her head, letting the gravel and sand catch in her hair and lather her scalp.

Her face was wet, with a thick layer of rainwater gliding off her pockmarked skin. Though beneath the patina of rainwater, or above it, a pellet sparkled—no there were two of them. They ran down the side of her cheeks.

“Why?” her voice cracked now, it crumbled like a film of old paper. “Why did we come here?” The gleam in her eyes outshone the dirt mixed rainwater. She cried, he could hear it in her voice; Sophia’s sobs echoed out in the clearing, it pitched higher than the splatter of rain, and the howl of the wind. Turning onto her side, she slammed a fist against the banks as she covered her face.

Blood spilled beneath her hand, sifting through the gravel like rivulets. She looked up, pushing herself onto a knee, she looked up at Aaron as tears now began to wet her spoiled shirt. “Why?”

Aaron face remained still. He shrugged, “let’s go. It’s raining,” he said as he turned around and disappeared into the forest.