The moonlight peeked through the window shades as I laid in my bed with my eyes unshuttered. My heart and mind raced towards her. The perennial flower that always bloomed. Her eyes, a soothing hazelnut shade; her hair, dancing around when she moved; her mind, a mixture of a serrated blade and a flower petal. When she spoke, my ears grasped to hold on to every single syllable.
As the sun rose, my hopes did too. I approached her with a rose in my hand and heart in my mouth. Stuttering through the first few phrases, I constructed a whole sentence:
Would you like to go out with me?
A phrase I had been planning for months to deliver had only taken a breath long.
The response took longer than the changing of the seasons. But, the answer transported me into a spring meadow.
Then came the next question – where to take her too? I had also pondered about this for a while. The movies? Too clique. A restaurant? My eating habits will push her away. A stroll through a park? Clique, but romantic.
I patiently waited for the full moon to rise to take her arm in mine. The first half was silent and awkward. Both of us, being on our first date, didn’t know how to proceed. But in the second, we opened up. We shared our dreams and aspirations. Funny stories and goofy jokes accompanied us till we reached the end.
When I opened the car door for her, my only thought was to spend more time with her. Simultaneously, wishing that she felt the same.
Our ride back was a quieter one. She tilted the seat back and inspected the moon through the sunroof. When we reached her house, I too leaned my seat back and stole a few seconds more of the date. I closed my eyes to take in the moment. She left silently, but I kept my eyes shut – not wanting to let her go.
When I opened up my eye, the sun shone through the window shades. I got dressed and chose a flower from the garden. I again approached her with a rose. Same as the dream, I stuttered before asking the question.
At the sound of her answer, the rose wilted.
Conscience of Aniket 