a tale of the woods

In the darkness of this universe, two souls intertwined, bound by a red string never to be broken or lost until the end of time itself.

And finally, there was light again.

I was waiting by the oak. The heavy rain splashed onto my skin, making my clothes stick to my body. The woods were quiet tonight except for the sound of rain and a nightingale’s song flowing through the humid night. Lucien came around the corner of the path. His wet hair was tousled, and his shirt had become see-through. The soft moonlight was reflecting on his skin. I could feel Lucien’s arms shivering on my back as he hugged me in a silent greeting. Warmth spread through my body when his familiar smell finally reached my nose. Gently, he grabbed my hand, and we made our way further into the dark woods. His cold, soaked hand felt warm in my hand. Over his shoulder, he gave me a tender smile. A comfortable, bubbling sensation found its way into my chest. The gravel was crunching quietly under my sole and tree silhouettes were barely visible at this time of day. Only the last bits of moonlight above us let me know that we were still on the right path. The nightingale seemed to be following us. From the clearing we reached a few minutes later, we could recognise the whole night sky with all his stars looking down on us.

They were the only ones allowed to watch as Lucien put his hand on my waist and I laid mine on his shoulder in an automatic reflex. Slowly, he took a step towards me as I took one back and then to the side. We started moving in a rhythm directed by the song of the woods and the beat of our hearts. I shivered with every movement he made on my waist, or maybe it was just the biting cold. My body ached for him when he let go just for a second to twist me under his arm. There was a string attached to my chest pulling me closer to him, but at the same time, there was an ever-so-thin border between us that kept me from really feeling him. The border was the remainder of the walls we built between one another in public, a necessary evil we had accepted a long time ago.

The nightingale was more distant now and our feet slowly fell out of rhythm. It was time to let go soon. Time to go home and pretend that nothing had happened, but neither of us had it in ourselves to let go. We desperately tried to soak up each other’s presence.

And then I let go, hoping that we could be more in another universe. The nightingale was silent.