Light Hearted

From the road, the fog kept the two from being seen where they sat together by the shed. So they kissed openly. But Noah was not interested in anything further.

When her warm response failed, Betty complained. “You make yourself scarce as if you were a creature of the fog, and now when I finally find you, you kiss me as if I were your sister.”

“Look at the light, Betty,” said Noah. “Doesn’t it make you feel light-hearted, as if your heart were made of light?”

“No. Because I’m upset. And you upset me. How can I pay attention to the light when you keep me in the dark?”

“A great being is going up in smoke today. There will be all sorts of miracles. Rainbows. Sun dogs. Turquoise clouds. And light like this. So we need never grieve. The light is who we are.”

“What in the world are you talking about? What great being?”

“All I know is, his name in English works out to be something like Carefree Wanderer. And wherever he wandered, people learned how to set themselves free.”

“That’s all you know.”

“That’s it.”

“And you know this how?”

“It just came to me.”

She took his hand and squeezed it as hard as she could, so hard it hurt her own hand to do it.

“There,” she said, “how do you like that?”

“I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful.”

“I’m sorry I can’t bring you back down to earth! What’s the matter with you? Why can’t you be more practical? Why can’t you start growing up?”

“It’s a special day. I’m celebrating.”

“I think I love you. Why can’t we celebrate that?”

“We can,” Noah said. “We are. Don’t hold me so tight, and we can just sit here and celebrate. We don’t have to do anything. Just let your heart be light.”

Betty tried. She wasn’t sure she succeeded, but after a while she did feel more relaxed. And it occurred to her at some point, for whatever reason and however brief the moment, that Noah was more special than she could ever imagine, and that his hand in hers made something like a wedding ring, one that could never be sold, traded, forgotten or lost.

18 August 2024
Texas Jim
Prospect, Nova Scotia
www.granitecoast.ca