Send in the Clouds
March 1st, 2011There is a hill on the edge of a mountain in a land of enchantment. The perfect place to sit and look into deep valleys and black rivers. The perfect place to reach out a hand and touch the soul of one you love.
Over the hill is an umbrella of animal clouds, elephants and crocodiles and who knows what that one is. They shade the hot sun for minutes at a time, playing hide and seek with the light, cooling the warm afternoon, bringing her closer each time.
If they look closely they can see the rivers leading down to the Mediterranean, although only glimpses of the vast sea can be viewed from this distance and it is only the great height that makes it visible at all.
From out of the backpack comes a small cold canteen with the ice that was inside this morning thawed but still cold. Snuggled up inside the towel, wrapped around the canteen, is a small bottle of champagne, kept cool by the thawing ice, and calm by the large towel. He pops the cap of the champagne as if it were a beer and pours half a glass of cold water and half a glass of champagne into the canteen’s drinking cup. Turning, he offers the mixture to her, while putting the towel around her shoulders, to cool them from the sun, and warm them against the afternoon wind that is beginning to flow down the sides of the mountain.
A smile from her is all it takes to warm him against the winds, and he waits until she has finished drinking before pouring himself some of the mixture.
It is not far back to the mountain retreat that she found on the internet, and charmed him into reserving, so they can afford to just relax and enjoy the view. It is every bit as spectacular as the waiter had promised, and appeared as deserted as he had described… The man deserved a big tip tonight, for while the tourists viewed old villages with tourist shops full of tourist goods, the lovers celebrated the land and the beauty and finding of each other.
They would walk back soon, but not quite yet….
