The Black Umbrella

You are the comfort in my strangeness.

 

Stranger.

He was drenched in tears of the nimbus, embracing himself in the chill of dusk. His dark blue shirt clung to his body as he walked slowly along the gray pavement, head tilted down, passing the flickering golden gleam of streetlights that illuminated his dark hair.

 

Three meters away, she watched him with curiosity. As she walked in a slightly quick pace, both hands holding on to her black umbrella, her dark eyes stared at the boy who seemed not to mind the downpour. She was then distracted by the quick flash of a bright zigzag line through the murkily hazed sky. How she loved the sight �" terrifying, but magnificent in its one-second glory. At that moment, she was deafened by the thunder’s song.

 

Strangers.

He turned his back and saw the streak of lightning reflected in her eyes. She suddenly heard a voice, “Excuse me, do you mind?” And she snapped back to reality, only surprised to see the boy right in front of her, pointing to the black umbrella. She let him stay with her under it. He offered his hand, and she gave him the umbrella. Amidst the crystalline waters cascading from the clouds, under a lamp post’s dim glow, they merely stood there for a few seconds, each one apparently gazing at the other.

 

She saw eyes that spoke of kings in the Sahara, such mystifying kindness in his face that emanated both melancholy and euphoria, a certain peace in his presence that played Italian moonlight sonatas, in the twinkle of his eyes she saw the heavens of Andromeda. He saw her svelte purple-clad body a la Spanish guitara, a softly piercing look that told of tales from Eurasia, cascading strands of chocolate hair accentuating her caramel skin, arched brows that framed the eyes of an Egyptian queen.

 

Strange.

She smiled for the first time in a long time. He felt warmth in the midst of the cold. The dark gray skies sang lullabies. And together, under the black umbrella, they walked through the nightfall. He did not want the rain to halt its gushing. She longed to look at his eyes once more. Never forget this moment, he thought. She said to herself, never felt this strangeness before.   

 

The wrath of wind and water soon came to an end. They had to say goodbye. A cab passed by and she rode away. He waved at her and walked some more until he reached home fifteen minutes later. He pulled out a notebook from his shelves and began to write for the first time in five months. He painted the rain, the girl, and the black umbrella with his flawless poetry. She took out a blank white canvas and prepared her palette. She wrote the story of how she found magic in the eyes of a boy as she lithely moved her hand that held a black-smeared paintbrush.

 

Wait.

 

Oh no, her umbrella.

 

Oops, he has my umbrella.

 

Strangeness.

Somehow, they were bound to meet again.

 

 

© Maxinne Marie

November 25, 2007 @ 12:30 AM

Reviews

[Rc R. Vagilidad]

not just anytime, and anywhere, and the strangeness of things as to a black umbrella could be something out to be visualized.. well, i read this in your blog already, but i decided to put my reviews in here.

i see you come up with one word sentence, that's a bit unusual but i still love to see that word to be more than alone, over-all seems categorized.. like a topic discussed with a one word subtitle. anyway with no more ado, i would just like to tell you that you've written another heartfelt-true-to-life-emotions and i believe this one could be ought inspirational, for you, I know that it is....pretty obvious. i jsut don't know how, or where, or who made this possible.

[Rc R. Vagilidad]

and one thing more, pa-aman...hehe, the part where you've written the Arabian somethings, i love how the words come up to be very descriptive...descriptive enough to see who's who! hahaha

[Kimberly R. Larkins]

You made me smile.
Inspiration can hit us from any where, any time.

Notes:
Should "illumined" be "illuminated" here - "...passing the flickering golden gleam of streetlights that illumined his dark hair."
Delete extra words "in the" from here - "She let him stay with her in the under it."