sunset

The last puddle of sunlight sank beneath the waves, and almost instantly the temperature dropped. I pulled my sarong more tightly around my arms, and suddenly, unexpectedly, was overwhelmed by the memory of a sunset I had watched from the balcony of a friend's New York apartment earlier that year. The sun looked so different from there, but the effect of the sudden chill was familiar, and the effect on my flesh was stronger, even, than the memory. I fought the tears, but they would not be banished, and to my horror the first little droplets slid off my chin, and splashed on Aurora's wrist. She tightened her arms around me and burried her nose in my hair, and for a moment I considered letting the tears flow. But the time wasn't right for that. I didn't want to give in to that melancholia on such a spectacular night, and so I leaned into her embrace, and fought the cry in my throat.