When by the water we drink to the dregs
Look at the stones on the river bed
I can tell from your eyes
You've never been by the riverside
-
The next day i follow my exact same routine and run out my door with a jacket at 12:14am and as i reach the cliff, i see her in all her glory,
with blue eyes reflecting the moonlight and black hair pulled back in a bun, loose strands framing her face.
She brings the cigarette to her mouth and inhales, a smile appearing as her eyes spot me.
I walk closer and look around her, seeing she had brought a single bottle of red wine and tell her to get up.
"Where are we going?" she asks.
I look down and tell her i'm taking her somewhere special.
She's hesitant but i can tell she trusts me.
We begin walking down to where the river flows and after twenty minutes of continuous walking, we reach the bottom.
We sit on the wet grass with a half empty bottle of wine, drinking to dregs and silently listening to the noise of water crashing on the rocks and stones, small purple flowers nestling along the corners.
The river was so fast-flowing that it would be instant death if one jumped into it.
12 suicides in the span of two years was enough of a reason for this town to stay as far away from this river as possible.
It was forbidden to come here by the local law but we still came anyways, it's not like they would kill me for coming to a place where we planned to killing ourselves.
Small cold drops from the river hit our skin and i hear ocean's teeth chattering from the cold and I look over at her and find her shivering.
i pass my black trench coat to her which she takes and wraps around her body, muttering a small thank you afterwards.
She's smoking her third cigarette of the night and as i notice her eyes carefully examining the rocks and stones that litter the side of the river, i can tell this is the first time she's been by the riverside.
"Why did you bring me here?" she asks to which i reply,
"I thought it would be nice since we would've done nothing but talk about killing ourselves up there."
And suddenly, she starts laughing and her soft voice speaks,
"And do you not get much stronger urges to kill yourself down here?"
And right then, just right then,
I see her,
with the moonlight casting shadows of branches on her face and her blue eyes watering from the cigarette smoke. I truly see her and she is beautiful.
By 5:30am we make our way back up to the cliff and sit there watching the sky change colour and look at the birds take flights along the horizon. Chirping of birds and croaking of frogs can be heard lightly and we both sit there in silence and as i look at her i find her already looking at me with wide curious eyes and she asks me to tell her about my fascination by the moon.
"It calms me. It shines along side with millions of stars and i like how i can whisper all of my fears and secrets to the moon. I reckon we all have different moons and suns and stars and right now, I'm convinced that my moon is a person." I say as i look at her and I'm answered with silence.
She stares at me with her twinkling blue eyes and chapped lips parted and to my surprise,
I'm sure my moon is a girl with messy black hair and blue eyes filled with curiosity.
At 6:08am i ask her if she wants me to walk her home and she says yes
I hold her hand as we walk through the long grass to the gravel pathway of her house and she stands in front of me and smiles at me.
I try to memorize the number of freckles scattered on her face and the traces of sleepless nights under her eyes and she still looks breathtaking and i'm almost sure i'm in love.
