I found you in the tide, soaked to the bone, wet and cold. I took you by the arm and said, what are you doing here? You said not a word, just looked up, a piece of the sky trapped in your eyes. We need to leave, I said. You’ll freeze to death. I don’t know what I’m doing here, you said. Your skin was soft, your voice was smooth. I loved you from that instant, but I didn’t know you. I picked you up and carried you across the softening sand, towards the shore line where the water met nothing. Up and over the breach, I cradled you and brought you to the dry.
Why are you out here, I asked. You shivered. I felt the fear tighten in me. I don’t know, you said. I was here. Before that, I don’t know. I only remember the water.
I took my jacket off and wrapped it around your shoulders. This is madness, I said. It is madness that you are out here, all alone. You could have died.
I wish I knew, you said, why I was here. I don’t remember. I remember nothing. The green in your eyes reflected the shining sky across the ocean. I didn’t know, either, what I’d been doing here.
I loved you instantly, from that point.
You need to warm up, I said. I rubbed your shoulders under my coat. I did what I could, trying to save you, trying to protect a stranger.
We sat at the shore. The moon rose and fell as we sat, but we never moved. We had no place to go. I had no place to take you, only a place to save you.
The sand was moist, but it was safe, and so were you. The city lights shone behind us. The people passing from bar to bar, place to place, said nothing. Saw nothing. Only themselves and the steps ahead of them. I stayed with you that night. You hadn’t a family, hadn’t a place to go.
I asked again, why were you out here? I don’t know, you said.
I’m glad you found me, you added. Your hair smelled of daisy and salt. I fell for it.
So am I, I said. You could have drowned.
I didn’t.
Are you from around here, I asked. My hands were tense, as if I were involving myself in a situation I needn’t be involved in. I was scared.
I’m not. From up North, you said. You shivered and tucked into my arm.
We need to get out of here, I said. We need to get to a warm place.
You said, I’m glad you found me. I saw this.
I don’t know what you’re talking about, I said. You must be in shock. We should find a place to go to.
I think, I think I just prefer to stay here, under the stars. I said, I don’t know if that’s a good idea. It’s quite cold.
You said, it’s okay. Your jacket is here and you are here and I am not drowning anymore. I stayed. I stayed and we sat on the beach, under the stars, next to each other and next to the things that would come.
