Sam and Sara
Time flowed endlessly, painfully, around them, while some part of what they shared remained silent and timeless. Sam and Sara were knotted together by Dharma it seemed, but they also existed in entirely separate spaces. But that was the essence of an evanescent life they reasoned.
Sam stood motionless at his register in the corner at Cell City, which is what he did five days a week for the past four years. He watched tiredly as customers wandered aimlessly from phone to phone. He ran his hand through his short, dark hair and blinked his green eyes slowly. The throngs of semiliterate “guests” chatted with their friends and family who accompanied them or they chatted with friends and family who were along for ride by phone-proxy. No one really stopped to chat with him, but that was fine.
Mostly when they did stop to speak to him they asked some asinine question. Did the phone come in pink? Could they access their email? How did they use the text feature? How do you take a picture? His favorite question was how much did it cost. The prices were all clearly marked, yet many people failed to read the shelf, the box and the huge sale signs posted all around the store. That is why he and his fellow co-workers spent most of their time joking. They would call work Cell Hell and say to one another, “What the Cell?” or “Cell You!”
For a moment Sam felt as if he were on pause and the world around him had been placed on fast-forward. His head was spinning, yet he was incredibly calm. Despite the cacophony of beeps, buzzes, rings and words, Sam was alone. He was in his own little world of silence and serenity. None of the chaos mattered. Nothing mattered but the beauty of the moment. He was shaken from his reverie by a co-worker tapping him on the shoulder.
It was lunch time. Well, it was dinner time actually, but they insisted on calling it lunch break still. Sam sighed as he headed back to the break room. While he ate his left over spaghetti, he played with his ipod. After a couple of spins, he landed on an oldie but goodie from Nirvana. “Come As You Are” filled his ears as he tried to relax a bit. Inevitably, thoughts of Sara found there way into the moment.
Sara, meanwhile, was listening to “Come As You Are” on her ipod as well. She sat outside on her back porch that late summer afternoon with her four year old daughter Lila. Sara lived in the country many miles away from Sam. The two had never actually met, but they knew each other quite well. Sara drew in a deep breath as her daughter flipped a large amount of sand from the sandbox onto the grass in the yard. Thinking about her last conversation with Sam, Sara gazed out at the pond in the distance.
Her thoughts drifted to how she wanted to dive into the water. Anything was better than just sitting there in perpetual safety she thought. A firefly danced around the cattails and willow branches. It was a pleasant day outside, not too hot, but still warm enough for a swim. Sara’s brown ponytail swished slightly in the breeze. While she was enjoying the sun on her freckled face and the perfection in that quiet moment, there was a tinge of sadness in her heart still. Mono No Aware was the perfect phrase for that moment she decided.
The ipod hit shuffle when the song ended. “Lakini’s Juice” by Live started playing. Suddenly, Sara noticed a shadow fall over her. She looked up and saw a man standing behind her on the porch. Sara smiled, took out her earphones and stood up. She threw her arms around the tall, dark and handsome stranger.
“Hello Mrs. Pali,” he greeted.
“Hello Mr. Pali,” she replied as their lips touched in a quick kiss. “How was your day at work?”
“Good,” he said as she pulled away. Adam Pali pulled a heart-shaped box from his pocket and handed it to his wife. Sara smiled and took the small velvet red box and opened it up.
