Soulful Knowledge

He looked up from his drink at the bar and saw her.  At that exact point he became the leading man in an old black and white movie. His peripheral vision blurred.  The noise from the band became muffled in his ears.  As if  his brain became a camera with a zoom feature, he focused solely on the girl across the room.  Without thinking, he touched his hand to his heart to massage his chest because he felt a sweet pain there. He saw her red lips, her dark hair, and her vividly green eyes.  He knew he would never ever ever be able to erase the memory of his first glance at her.  What he didn't know was if he would ever want to.

His thigh muscle jumped as he fought the urge to get up and run over to her.  He knew he had never seen her before but there was something so familiar about her.  Is this what love at first sight felt like? He stopped to think.  While she was very attractive, it wasn't lust that was making his head spin.  The powerful draw to this woman was coming from somewhere deep inside him.  He felt off balance and it took a concerted effort to settle himself again.  He adjusted himself in his chair.  The music was back and so was the swirl of activity.  Think, man.  Don't screw this up.

***

She was used to having men look at her.  Around her 13th birthday she started noticing it and as time progressed, so did she.  She had been heady with her new-found power and made stupid mistakes, as teenagers will.  At least she had learned from them and now what she wanted wasn't just attention.  Today she turned 30 and this very morning she had made a promise to herself.  No more casual hook-ups.  She wanted the real deal.

She felt a shiver run up her spine as if someone took their finger touching her lower back up to the base of her skull.  Her scalp prickled as she turned to her left and found the source of her agitation.  He was staring at her from across the room but this was different from everything she had known before.  There wasn't anything lascivious in his eyes or demeanor.  She swallowed and breathed in deeply.  It was as if time froze for everyone but them.  Without realizing it, she reached up and brushed her lips with her fingertips.  She watched as he wiggled in his chair, unfolded himself, stood up and started walking over.  

Green Eyes

I looked into his eyes and realized they were the most beautiful shade of green.  A deep forest green, depending on the light.  And then he smiled and oh, my.  I was lost.  I was gone.  The dimple in his chin was disarming. 

It wasn't until we went to the beach later that day did I realize something deeper happened when we met.  A shifting in my soul.  Like a seatbelt being buckled. Click.  I would never be the same.  I was connected to him.  My soul recognized him.  It wasn't my heart or my mind but deep within me - I knew him. 

I recently noticed his eyes again.  Such a beautiful shade of green.  A deep lush green found in the woods.  With love they looked back at me.

Rose and Jeff cont.

She was happy yet scared.  How selfish was it of her that as Jeff faced the surgery that he needed to save his life she was worried about how she would once again continue on making a life for herself without the one she loved.  She thought back again and compared the two.  Now was different from then. 

She had loved Tim with every molecule of her body.  From the first time she saw him, something fantastical and strange happened and she felt complete.  Those feelings of searching for something, needing something else that she couldn't make sense of always playing like a recording on repeat had left her.  They just weren't there anymore.  That is why on that day when he was drunk and took the car keys she thought her life had ended, too.  She thought she would never recover from the loss and the guilt but mostly from the pain.  The pain was what was overwhelming.  That part of herself that she finally found and reveled in as it snapped easily into place into her core had been ripped from her.  Before meeting him she knew she was missing something but it was undefinable.  After that awful night she knew exactly what it was that she was missing and that she would never have it back.  The incompleteness drilled deeply through her heart and kept going until it made a cavern in her soul.  That was why she could hardly get out of bed.  That was why she didn't care if she ate.  Her cat, Lovey, was the only companionship she could tolerate.  Her therapist was the one that pulled her up and helped her to find herself again.

Rose heard Jeff's footsteps as he reached the screen door.  He walked as if he were a much larger man.  "Hey, Sweetheart.  You OK," he asked as he looked at her through the mesh.

Rose swiveled in the chair and got up.  "Yep.  Hungry?"

Playing Cards

She drew a card from the deck and turned over the queen of hearts. It was supposed to be a game but in the end the joke was on her. She looked into the mirror and saw herself for the first time. He held it in his hands.

He drew a card from the deck and turned over the king of hearts. It was supposed to be a game but in the end the joke was on him. He looked into the mirror and saw himself more clearly than before. She held it in her hands.

They peeked from around the mirrors and their eyes met. They knew each other from a long time ago and ago and have met again. This time, as they held their mirrors, they saw the truth and it was good. They were home. They were safe.

The mirrors were set aside as they now reflected each other in their eyes. Blood mixed with blood. Soul mixed with soul. Blessings intertwined.

They walked into each other and became one.