Under the Tree that Once was in my Dreams

Expecting the sun to rise even while you dreamed with closed eyes was always a realistic expectation. I learned as a child that the Sun doesn't rise when the rooster crows as it it did in my favorite child hood film Rock-a-doodle-doo. The sun has no limitations to a speck of dust on a planet that is but a grain of salt in the vast sea of the universe. Still, I'd like to think that my life would one day hold such a meaning in another life as the sun is to the life of on earth. Wishful thinking I guess.

"If you could live in your mind instead of here, where would you be?" a males voice slipped through the barrier of my delusion and grasped every bit of my attention.

"That's a strange question from a stranger", I responded.

"I couldn't help but notice how far away you were in your mind that you didn't even hear the waiter ask you a question. They left about a minute or so ago to not disturb you", his voice carried a subtle gentleness that held a sense of understanding.

"That's embarrassing", a statement I made to my obvious oblivion as well as my shameful ability to stare into someone's eyes without looking away, revealing every bit of my intentions unwillingly.

"May I sit with you?", he asked as he returned my stare with a patiently waiting glare.

I nodded and couldn't help but notice his every movement as he took a seat across from me. His well fitted slacks were tailored perfectly to his waist and height that his belt seemed to be an accessory of fine leather to match his loafers. His button down shirt hugged his torso just right to reveal his broad shoulders and toned figure. The gold watch that told the wrong time. The chisel in his chin hidden under a full beard and a smile that caressed the senses. He was clean cut to fit every feature of his face and bring his honey brown eyes to a golden glow as the sunlight hit us at an angle of my table outside the Maltine Cuisine Restaurant. I'd come to this table every Friday to end my week with a nice book under the setting sun and had never appreciated its beam as much as I had today.

"Will you answer my question?" he gently pulled me from my delusion once again.

"You mean the one from earlier?" I questioned although I was sure of the answer just to give an excuse to stare even more into those honey brown eyes before the sun took away its power.

He nodded softly awaiting my response. I repositioned my seating to relax my shoulders and tucked the flow of my dress before the spring wind robbed me of my dignity. It didn't take but a moment to find the home within my mind that needed no key. It was as vast as the far horizon and green as an untouched land that knows nothing but creatures of grass and wings.

"Under a grand tree who's roots stretch far past what the eye can see and its leaves seem to touch the heavens. The tree blooms flowers of many kinds that sprinkle like rain as the wind shakes the branches and is surrounded by luscious greenery of hillsides and valleys. A stream circles around it, as if it was its own island, to finds others and form a river that meets the sea past the skyline where only mountain tops can be seen."

"Are you alone?" his question reaches my ear like a whisper as I still laid against this tree.

"I am." I answered unexpectedly.

"May I join you?" his question made me blink as if to slowly wake from a wonderous dream.

No one had ever asked to join me in my world of delusion where I believed only I could go. His question stunned me so that I was speechless. A stranger who I wouldn't know past a handsome face I'd saw while walking down a street or amongst a crowd, had somehow given me something I never knew I needed. As if the realization of this wasn't enough, a tear fell from my eye accompanied by a warm touch that rubbed across my cheek with such care and understanding. I couldn't help but grab it in hopes it would never leave me.

"You've been alone for a long time haven't you?" his question brought the first tears sister.

"Yes, I have." It amazed me how honest I was and by the look of surprise on his face, it did to him too.

"Maybe we could both give the gift of each others company?" such gentle words were soothing to my soul.

"Maybe we can." I responded with a smile.

...................................................................................................

Its been 4 years since that sunset outside of Maltine Cusine and the loneliness I once didn't acknowledge had been replaced with a strangers company. A gift that brought me to this very moment in my life next to a man that I love more than what the word itself could define.

"It's so beautiful isn't if my love." he said to me as the sun set against us as we laid against a grand tree surrounded by streams with a view that I once believed only lived in my dreams. Dreams that were dreamed with my eyes open because the night was never long enough to escape the life I loved alone with eyes open.

"Almost as beautiful as the day the sun showed me you." I said with a smile that couldn't hide the amount of joy he brings me.

He then graced my lips with a kiss powerful enough to wake this princess from a long awaited life in search for her prince. To think, I truly thought I was ok with living with me, myself, and I for the rest of my life after years of doing so. I'd accepted that after loving myself to the fullest, chasing my dreams with eyes open, and achieving goals I'd thought were to far to reach, that I'd be alone. That was, until he asked me a question that only my heart could answer.

"Thank you for letting me keep you company." my prince said to me.

"Thank you for asking to join me." I responded