Behind a Waterfall
April 17, 2018 - 277 words
Before he could help it, the pinks and purples of a sudden scent transported Namm to that scene in the valley, almost a year ago now, where he accompanied Nara behind a waterfall and stood transfixed beneath its spell. Difficult to believe he was still the same person. In some respects, he was not.
“There’s something about waterfalls,” she had claimed in her cryptic mischievous tone. “Something about standing behind them. An energy or something.”
Namm remembered his skepticism well. He was skeptical of everything he had not experienced directly and knew he needed to soften his perspective. That was why he was on that strange, strange trip in the first place. Fifty days into it and he had a story for each. He wrote them down in a tattered leather journal that looked older than it was. Day 50, behind waterfall with Nara. He considered writing more but wanted those words to be enough. He should have written more.
The dark chill of the morning was bearable because she was there next to him, inches away from the glittering curtain of water. Her eyes glistened with some secret passion, some flame the water could not douse. He was waiting for the energy to hit him but all he could feel was Nara’s fingers interlocking with his, trembling and cold. Namm and Nara, he remembered thinking. He liked when names went well together. Standing this close to her he could smell her perfume, a floral bouquet of springtime spray.
“How do we get down?” he remembered asking.
“You want to leave already?”
The scent vanished as suddenly as it had appeared and Namm returned to the present.