Revisiting Her

-3 A.M.-

"Shall we?"

"Is it time?"

"I suppose we'll enjoy the most out of the view if we head down now."

"Ok then... Alright, stargazing party, move out!" Announced Socrates and our bunch headed out of the tavern, straight to the beach.

Gavdos, the southernmost point of Europe, x miles south of Creta in Greece.

A northeastern breeze was blowing gently on our faces as we descended from a tavern in St John to the beach, following a sandy path through the cedar forest.

Our bellies were full of food and beer and our heads were light. The moon was not out yet so that offered the perfect opportunity to gaze at the stars as the dark curtain of the night covered the sky. Once the moon made its appearance over the hills, the majority of the stars would camouflage in its light. Being a full moon, made matters worse for that matter, but was awesome in itself generally. We had a good twenty-minute walk ahead of us in the complete darkness. We used the flash of our cell phones to be able to follow the path and avoid unnecessary walking or more dramatic events. Socrates was right next to me, following the path I was illuminating as his phone had died. Further in front of me, Io and Minnie were leading the way and behind us followed Markus and Alex who had left his phone at our camping spot.

"How are they even doing this?" complained Socrates lightly.

"Look man, we had half a chicken and fries, plus the salad, plus four beers, each."

"Plus the smokes..." He added laughing.

"Exactly. They just had a salad and a beer each."

"Yeah ok, makes sense."

"Watch that...!" A root of a tree came out a bit higher from the ground, but my attempted warning came too late for Socrates who hit it with his toes. Thankfully not too hard.

"Ouch! Mother..."

"You ok boy?"

"I mean they are clearly dodging these."

The girls doubled their distance from us as we entered a clearing, full of dunes of sand. We took our flip-flops off and proceeded barefoot.

"Carrying these does not help either." continued So.

"We will need water through the night and tomorrow morning though. Would you prefer to wake up and have to walk all the way up there in 40 Celsius?"

"Well of course not. I'm trying to find an excuse for falling that far behind.Still."

"Ohhh well, absolutely!" So poked me and I turned to face him.

"It's already pretty nice..."

"Pfff, damn!" I stopped as well. The past few days we were here, we would head towards the tavern at sunset and never got to see the sky under these conditions.

"Right...let's keep moving. We drop these at the camp and head to the beach real fast."

I agreed.

We reached our camp under the large cedar tree, dropped everything and made our way down the sandy highway toward the beach.
"Took you long enough." Said Minnie with a smirk.
"Sorry babe...you are too fast"
"Maybe you just lack incentive..." continued Io.
"At least we are not falling off hammocks in our sleep". I gave her a kiss as I landed heavily on the sand.
"Irrelevant darling..." she said, laying on her back.
I looked up and dropped to my back next to her, stunned by the view above. The black cover of night was punctured by billions of stars. Between them, all stardust floated still like candle smoke frozen in time, in shades of all possible colors.
"Damn..." gasped Socrates.
"Makes you feel a bit different doesn't it?" whispered Meanie.
"It gives a completely different dimension to the phrase we are all stardust baby, that's for sure," said Io.
"Oh, yeah-hell yeah-damn right!" we all agreed.
"And all we are basically looking at is the past"
"That's a sad thought."
"But at the same time, there is a limit to our sight."
"Why is that better?"
"Because there is so much more hidden beyond all that, a world of infinite possibilities. We are just sitting here on our blue orb strolling across the universe, barely managing to survive with each other. Our presence is perceivable primarily because of noise."
"Don't forget the space trash..."
"Hahaha...well that's pretty much our backyard!"
"Dude a shooting star!" We all let out a long wow.
"Shit that was bright.."
"John...grab my bag man"
"Yes sir..."
"I'll cue the music," said Io and reached for the speaker. I looked over to see what she was picking.
"I was thinking Floyd"
"Sure..."
"Guys I'll start with something and you can put what you want after".
"Cool."

The intro of the Dark Side of the Moon started playing on top of the sound of waves, but not silencing them. Io turned to me. I looked at her face in the dark with the light of the stars in the background and I laughed.
"What?"
"Your background is unreal."
"Ohhh hahaha." She put down her phone between us and laid back. I grabbed her hand. Minnie was helping So roll a joint. We remained silent watching the stars above for a while.
"I can't get enough of you" I whispered so that only Io could hear me and I looked at her.
"Sometimes you are pissing me off."
"Sometimes you are a bitch."
"Sometimes..." she agreed.
"Sometimes I am a prick."
"I wouldn't say that..."
"Sometimes."
She turned and looked at me. The pale light of the stars highlighted her skin and her eyes. She smiled as she had me on checkmate. I smiled back. Her lips moved, without making a sound. I can't get enough of you either, she said. I felt her fingers slowly dancing with mine. She looked back up to the sky as the flame of the So's lighter illuminated her cheek.
"Cheers fellows..."
Silence followed as we gazed at the stars with the only movement taking place being the passing of the joint from one to the other. We were one minute in The Great Gig In The Sky, with the breeze and the waves filling in the breaks of the drums and accompanying the piano as if the song was made for this use.
"How far ahead of their time were they honestly?" commented Socrates after a while.
"I don't know if it is measurable at all bud"
"Matches the infinity we look upon..."
"Yeah, it does."

Io leaned closer to my ear where she lay and placed her hand on my chest.
"Wanna go for a swim?" Her voice was very inviting. I hesitated for a couple of seconds as I didn't expect it. I looked at the joint in my hand... she will be the one to finish it. It would be a good opportunity to get some alone time as well.
"Sure... let's go." I took off my pants. Swimming naked is a unique sensation. We didn't get to do it very often back home. But in more secluded areas and in places like Gavdos, we were making the most out of it. There is a sense of liberation to it that is hard to put into words. Once you do it, you realize that this is the way it is meant to be done. It's hard to go back into swimsuits. Hell, it's going to be hard to dress for work after two weeks of vacation here. But that was the reason we came. To disconnect, to go back to the basics of living. To let go of our routines, our worries, our needs and prohibitions.
"Give me that..." said Io as she stood up ready and took the joint from my hand.
"You are going to swim with that?"
"Leave a couple of things to mystery every now and then sir!" She announced and pulled me towards the sea. Socrates and Minnie yelled "Have fun!" and stayed behind. I walked with Io to the edge of the water.
"Go on..." she said, motivating me to take the first steps.
"You have something specific in mind or...?"
"Will you stop asking questions and start to trust the process?"
"So there is a process..." I said laughing and dived away. I felt the water flowing over every inch of my skin. I opened my eyes and gazed at the darkness of the sea. Empty space should fill like that, I figured. Muted, without a single sign of light, unaffected by any force of nature, but under some type of pressure. I stood up as it wasn't too deep and took a fresh breath of air. The water was relatively warm and the breeze had gone off to someplace else as if it got summoned by Aeolus, the ancient keeper of the winds or scared away by a different force at play. Io had covered the distance by walking towards me and now stood right next to me, with her hands raised a bit higher to keep the cigarette and the lighter dry.
"Right, no lay on your back and I'll hold you still." I obeyed. "Try to keep your ears underwater." She added. I laid back and kept my ears submerged. I felt the palm of her left hand on my back applying enough force to keep me in place. It was warmer than the water. She placed the joint on my lips and lit it. I inhaled and she pulled it away, taking the last puffs. She did not throw it in the sea, she simply dashed it and placed it over her right ear. She pointed me to look up and not at her. Damn woman, it's hard to take my eyes off of you under these circumstances. But it was easier than I thought after I took a look up at the sky once again. Sound travels differently in the water than it does in the air. Sound waves travel faster in denser substances because neighboring particles will more easily bump into one another. There are about 800 times more particles in a bottle of water than there are in the same bottle filled with air. As a result, sound waves travel much faster in water than they do in the air. Plus sound traveling through the air soon becomes less loud as you get farther from the source. This is because the sound waves' energy quickly gets lost along the way. Sound keeps its energy longer when traveling through water because the particles can carry the sound waves better. In the ocean, for example, the sound of a humpback whale can travel thousands of miles. I could hear Io's feet digging deeper into the sand underneath. Or not? I wasn't sure. She placed her palm on my stomach and paced my breathing. The sky was pulsating like the sea. All of a sudden my perception of the sky changed. The sea was calm like a lake. Light waves were making their passing toward the shore, but their momentum was not enough to distract me. With my ears buried in the silence of the water, I felt like I was literally floating in space. Another shooting star made its appearance. Every now and then some stars would briefly shine brighter and then go back to normal. The stardust looked like it was slowly spreading between them caressing and enveloping them in her cosmic embrace. My breathing became slower. I let myself go completely. I let my limbs float numb. Wooow what a sensation! Io held me there calmly without saying a word. I turned my gaze to her only to see her observing me with curiosity but also... I stood up slowly, staring into her eyes. I signed her to change positions with me. I did exactly what she did. I placed my left hand behind her back as she floated and my right hand on her stomach. I didn't try to change her breathing rhythm. I just wanted to feel her breath. Ι witnessed her wet, naked skin shudder. She exhaled from her mouth deeply but slowly every now and then. I thought I saw a tear going out of her eyes and at that moment she smiled brightly and let out a couple of short breaths. She closed her eyes for a minute and kept floating expressionless on the water. Like a baby in its cradle. She then decided to stand up with me.