The waves crash joyfully against the rocks. The sand is cosily grainy beneath my feet. The smell of the fishy, earthy ocean fills my heart with joy. 

Is that a small fishing boat or a huge ship on the far horizon? I can’t make out clearly from the distance. Actually, I don’t really care. It’s a beautiful evening at the beach. Finally, some peace and quiet!

I feel a sense of deja vu, like a long-forgotten habit. I like it here. 

But today, what I love most is the lingering smell of her perfume. The pretty one sitting next to me on the bench. She is beautiful. Her piercing eyes speak volumes. Her lovely lips entice me to kiss her. 

The square designs on her silk saree move in waves as she crosses and uncrosses her legs. 

I want to speak to her, maybe ask her out. But I daren’t. She’s out of my league. 

Yet, the signals she sends keep my hopes alive. Her eyes and smiles say a lot, but I also sense some kind of reticence, some kind of worry.  She keeps stealing glances at me.

Should I reach out and take her hand? I’ve just met her. Would she think I’m moving too fast? What if she’s married? I’d be very disappointed. 

She seems to know everyone. People walking past our bench wave at her. She greets everyone enthusiastically, addressing them by their names. 

“Hey Revathy, how’s Sunil? I hope he’s taking his medicines regularly.”

“Hello, Balu! Did you get someone to mow your lawn? Vasan, my next-door neighbour, said he’d happily do it for you.”

Some of them acknowledge me, too. I don’t know any of them. But I wave back. Maybe they think she and I are a thing. The thought made me happy. 

She doesn’t say much, at least to me. But when she did, her voice was like music to my ears, lilting, lyrical. 

“Isn’t the setting sun beautiful?” She asked.

“Like a crunchy orangish apple going down a hungry throat,” I replied.

She laughs! Aah, there comes the music again!

Hey, why is she crying now? She comes close, so close I can almost taste her salty tears.  And looking at me weirdly, too? I get worried. Did I do something wrong? Did I offend her in any way?  

“Why are you sad?” I ask.

“These are happy tears. You have a new description of the setting sun every day for the past couple of years. But you don’t remember me.”

Suddenly, the peace and quiet disappear. My mind is blank in one instant, and an avalanche of addled thoughts hits me in the next.

Who am I? Who is she? What are we doing at the beach? Why is the place between my legs suddenly wet? 

“Come, my darling,” she says as she helps me to my feet. “It’s time to go home and get you cleaned up.”

The waves crash joyfully against the rocks. But mayhem rules my mind. 

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash