Beautiful Lovers

Special

It is soothing to know that the moment I close my eyes, the moment I tear my gaze off the ceiling, she is always going to be there.

Right after I close my eyes, I stare into hers. Bringing smoke and mist into my mind. She is smiling. I like to think it is because of me.

"Hello, Paris." Her voice is so smooth and so easy to listen to. Like a mountain river, I want to sit down into the water and listen to that sweet whisper off hers.

"Juliette." I breathe out. Her beauty always surprises me. How her lashes flicker when she looks intensely or how her mouth curves into a smile.

It is such a relief to see her. After a long day of thinking about her, I finally get to see her.

As if I have lost my watch and found it after a long day. I can't stop thinking about where it is. I am always trying to remember every little detail about it. Because if I forget one thing, I am afraid of remembering nothing. If that makes sense.

But there is a difference between the two. I don't love my watch as much.

"Hi," I say, hypnotized. This girl looks at me like that every night. I don't know what it means. I don't know what, is she thinking, what is she making me feel...

God...

Her hair is braided tightly, and she looks tired. I frown in concern.

"Did something happen?" I ask. She shakes her head as if the cloud of worries will disappear from her mind and smiles.

"Everything is as it ought to be."

Juliette has the way with her words. The way she looks at you, the way she talks... it is as if I am the only person in all the universes. How can anyone not fall in love with her?

We sit down into the mist and stay silent for a few moments. Because we need time to process her lie.

"Juliette." I wonder aloud.

"Hmm?"

"No, I mean Juliette. That is a name from Earth."

How have I not notice this before?

"Yes, it is. Someone told me it is from a love story. They also named my filink after it..."

Before us by the wave of her hand, appears a beast. I flinch, but after a closer look, the animal is... adorable. The filink's fanks are long and deadly, but its eyes are kind and glinting like mine Juliette's. Its fur is short and the dark patterns in the brown just add to its majesty. On its collar is a silver piece of fabric that has been roughly cut.

"Romeo." She says, and the illusion disappears.

"Rome and Juliet." I widen my eyes in realization.

"You know the story?"

"Everyone knows that story." I shrug but then frown.

"It isn't about love, but about the tragedy," I add.

"Aren't all love stories tragic?" she says with a quiet voice. I looked at her thoughtfully. The dimming sparkle told me so many things. So many words behind those orbs.

I think that both of us quite know. What it is between us. And it hurts that neither of us dares to say it out loud.

I look at my girl for a long time. Juliette looks back at me with all that emotion that is too tender and pure to bear. It seems as if behind every word she says, there is a story. More stories than I can ever listen to. It drives me mad. And I love how crazy she makes me.