Symphony

~

Symphony

~

A whispered word in the middle of night. Sleek gloves and the pastries her mother used to make for breakfast. Autumn in the blink of an eye. These things are familiar in a way she cannot describe.

She is watching the wind blow past, bending the tops of trees and making the willow sway. It looks like it is dancing, a head of green branches the way she used to know silky strands of platinum.

There is a whistling coming from the window that won't shut properly, but she ignores it. The floor is comfortable and the cold air is brushing the top of her head, caressing her lovingly. A hand from long ago traces behind the wind.

She wonders if she could cry now. It's been so long and her eyes are so dry. A piece of glass lodged into her tear ducts but there is no one to put their tears in her eyes.

*

He draws the coat closer around his body, shrinking in on himself. The wind is turning the tip of his ears red and he cuts through the busy sidewalk, hoping no one will recognize him.

Privacy is a valuable object, but a cold one. It has edges of steel and planes of glass and even though he loves it, he wraps himself in hate. What reason is there for anything else when everything else is warm budding eyes and a handful of chocolate cinnamon hair?

Sliding his hands into his pockets, he walks on, wondering not where he is going but only how long it will take him to get there. It has been so long. He hasn't smiled and his lips feel like marble.

The sky is a dreary gray that reminds him of stone and desks. A single yellow leaf is blowing lazily down, taking its time and telling him that the days of life are swiftly flying by.

*

The shutters flap against the house as she closes her eyes. A branch hits the roof and she smiles as she breathes deep, heavy breaths that she can't feel entering.

*

Stepping into the street he thought about his father, and the death no one remembered. A car honked, long and low, and he wondered who would remember him.

*

There was a piano.

There was a violin.

They played together, a sound to lock hands together and bind hearts close with twine. An accompaniment to life, he looked at her and smiled. The edges of his mouth weren't stiff anymore. Her eyes blinked and the glass dropped to somewhere that didn't exist.

A breeze blew between them and a light appeared close behind.

"I remembered you," she whispered.

"I loved you," he whispered back.

And they gathered each other together and felt the mist envelop them. Tilting their heads back they remembered a rush of memories, a downpour and a night of hate and false hopes. The words passed between them without sound and as they held one another, the symphony of life burst into song.