she simply is

..here's something I wrote in August..

Long after sundown I quietly crept away from the others. Outside in the soothing husk I heard the moon call me, and I followed the song to the shore.

As I stood at the waterfront I gazed at the sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of a falling star. To make a wish. That's when I felt her presence. I looked to my right, along the line where the water meets the sand and I saw her. Aleia. I cleared my eyes. Her dark figure was moving towards me.

So there we were. She took my hands in hers and greeted me with a butterfly kiss on the brow.
-Would you come sit with me? She asked.
I lifted my eyes to look at her face shining with honesty and smiled as a reply.

We sat at the pier, comfortably huddled under her coat.
-Look at this, I said in awe and waved my hand to the sea and to the sky.
-Bewildering.
And she agreed with me, truly, she agreed and understood. If only I could touch all this... If I could make the others see how important and admirable it all is.
-But at least I can touch you now. And that consoles me.
-Thank you, she said.
Aleia, she was thankful. She had no demands, no insistent wishes for me to fulfil.

I didn't feel hungry or tired, sore or unwanted. It was all very simple.
Even when she said
-It's time
it wasn't hard for me to say goodbye. I felt all was complete; I had had the chance to say everything I needed, without interruptions and lack of concentration. We were content with being what we are. With being us.

- - -
Aleia is none of you. She is not a woman nor a man, not a colleague nor a neighbour. But she could be my friend. I'd like her to be. I'm so sorry; it's nothing you do -- it's something she simply is.