A Totally Timeless Trip Together

The bright afternoon sun had begun to sink softly down to the horizon, lazily easing into the golden hour, painting everything in its path with the unmistakable warmth distinct to the moment before pastels grow from and reflect on the westernmost water. We walked along the sand to the low cadence of waves lapping the shore, hand in hand, absently people watching while discussing nothing of real importance. I travelled by his side, felt the sand caressing my toes, and noted how quickly he was walking. I found myself grinning at his casual urgency, surprised at my eagerness to keep pace.


He selected a spot and we sat facing the ocean. He pulled me to his chest, and I rested my cheek against him, listening to his heart beat as I watched the sky soften to a light purple hue. We sat this way for some time, with no concept of hours or minutes, no deadlines, no appointments, just the two of us sitting in the cool sand, watching as the Santa Monica Pier came alive in a brilliant flash of green and red.


He lay back onto the sand, and I could no longer make out his eyes from under his dark hood. I studied him as he lay, his shoulders, his neck, his hands folded over his abdomen, his legs reaching to each side of me. I watched and admired, silently thinking of the interesting course the Universe had chosen for our lives: where I had been, where we would go. Just as I studied his contours, so I studied the scenery.


A lean young man armed solely with board shorts and untamed blond curls trotted by, playing chicken with waves who halfheartedly tried to catch him. He left light footprints that quickly disappeared with each approaching wave. I could feel his connection with the earth, and understood his desire to run free, with his toes digging into the packed sand along the surging water's edge. I looked at my own feet, half buried in the soft, dry sand, making the same connection.


As I watched the man continue jogging down the beach, I was struck by the timelessness of the moment. Through history man and nature have joined in a mutual understanding of barefoot running. My thoughts of unity with earth were interrupted by two girls, also running, that moved into view. Both had long, straight, dark hair restrained by elastic bands, headphones in their ears, expensive sneakers on their feet, and glaring white rectangles tied around their arms. I smiled, a little sadly, as they would never understand why I run without music, listening to what my body and mother nature have to tell me.


I watched the new age runners move towards the brilliantly flashing Ferris wheel of the pier. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the smell of him and the sea, both unbridled and tempting my senses. When I opened them, I saw the silhouette of a man approaching. He wore large headphones, and held a long pole in his hand with a round disc at the bottom, which he wove back and forth along the surface of the sand. I chuckled, a silent laugh concentrated in my diaphragm, as I remembered my many hours waving a similar contraption over the sand as a child with my father, searching for something...anything that could be considered valuable. I was suddenly five years old again, watching the man with my full attention, willing him to find a coin so I could share in his revelry. He continued on unsuccessfully, a mere shadow against the brightly lit buildings behind him.


I couldn't help but shake my head slightly as I recognized the past and present brought together over this beautiful man's resting frame in the sand. Tempted to lie with him and listen to his heartbeat once more, I watched him. As if he felt my yearn to touch him, he rose to his elbows, met my eyes, and pushed his way back up to a sitting position, gathered me into his arms, and leaned his forehead against mine.


In that moment, I felt his energy more strongly than ever before, a warm, bright light that travelled through me, awakening every sense, every inch of my being, infiltrating my thoughts, my anxieties, and fears, simultaneously calming and exciting them. His energy coursing through my veins as I felt mine in his.


We stayed that way, eyes closed, feeling each other's light until he turned to me and spoke, "How many more beautiful places will we see together like this?"


"Many, many, many," I smiled.


"Promesas?"


"Te prometo." I leaned my head on his chest, and closed my eyes, listening to the song of the waves over his drumming heart, a moment of timeless perfection.