I've never had a trinket with a story to tell. You know, the locket that her grandmother passed to her on her wedding day, the pendant that she thought she'd lost but he picked up, the necklace that her father bought her the day they received her sister into the world, the moonstone ring that an enigmatic sorceress bestowed her.
This bracelet with a heart-shaped charm is probably the closest I've come to that. A little history now. When I received this bracelet, I've had yet received any kind of jewelry from G. It was Christmas in 2009, my first at his family dinner. His sisters, all of them incredibly sweet girls, gave this to me. I loved it.
A couple of days after Christmas, I left for Canada, and him Glasgow. I wore this bracelet as a reminder of home and love. It'd be one of the only few pieces of accessories I wore for special occasions. I loved fiddling with the charm, a heart angled like a girl poised for a kiss.
When we saw each other again four months later, the heart would sit between us as our hands joined. An amulet, it saw us through. I wore it on the road when we backpacked Europe because I wanted to see the heart-shaped charm to dangle from my wrist in all the special photos.
And there it was, tinkling with its secret melody as we mock wrestled on the beaches of Santorini. In an instant indiscernible to the human senses, the bracelet broke free and sailed through the air, freewheeling. My wrist was bare. The tiniest of splashes. A fleeting glimmer. Like a lover's silent rustling of the sheets in the morning. A gentle kiss on the forehead while he sleeps. Then the reluctant goodbye.
We splashed about and groped blindly amongst the waves, picking up fistfuls of wet sand and letting it run through our fingers. No bracelet.
"It's probably gone, babe."
But I stood there, for a long while, watching the waves crash into the sand, shift a few grains and retreat back into the ocean. The sparkling water hurt my eyes, but I stared. In my head, I imagined the string of silver twirling and wreathing in the deep blue. Goodbye.
But only till we meet again.
It wasn't really gone, I know. I can see it suspended in the ocean, like it was locked in time, like an immortal mermaid poised for a kiss that would bring her to life. Maybe someday a snorkeler would find it, polish it until it shines with all its former glory. Then it would become someone else's story.
Meanwhile, we held hands, without the silver heart sitting between us, and made a wish. Ocean for well; bracelet for coin. I leaned in for a kiss and felt my own heart twirl with love, dancing in the indigo blue.
No comments:
Post a Comment