The Sunset Carousel

The sunset was that serene mix of lazy purple, pink grapefruit pink and mellow yellow. It was the same sunset background Andrew kissed his wife in front of for the very first time. It was the same sunset that could bring back every night spent with her, as if shown on a screen in front of him, without hesitation.

"I kind of feel like I'm on a carousel," Millie had said.

"A carousel?" Andrew was always captivated by Millie. By her views. How her words shaped how he was feeling before he even knew it. This carried on for the next fifty years that they lived their lives together. And even when they were no longer watching sunsets. Her words still happily shocked him.

"Like all of these colours... These purples and yellows and pinks and oranges. They're flashing past me like a song. It's not hectic or too fast. It's elegant. It's magical. It's sweet like tonight."

"It is?"

"Tonight has been perfect, Andrew."

Andrew stared at Millie, beautiful like the sunset. Magical like the sunset.

Seeing this sunset again made Andrew recall something; as he always did with this particular mix of colours in front of him. She didn't know it, but Millie was describing herself in her description of the sunset carousel. She was always elegant; always beautiful; always perfectly timed.

Andrew picked her up at seven o'clock that first evening they spent together. She was dressed in a white summer dress, her light brown hair curly, way past her shoulders. Her eyes had a hint of glitter on them, her eyelashes thick and dark. Her lips were a light pink and her feet smiled under her multi-coloured sandals. She was the definition of summer.

After he told her she looked beautiful, he opened the passenger car door and walked round to slide in himself. He drove them to a little restaurant in town where lights sparkled in the window- a lot like Millie's eyes. They managed to get the window seat. Andrew was grateful. Because when Millie became momentarily mesmerised by the goings on outside, Andrew was able to savour her lovely face.

"Tonight has been my favourite night," Andrew confessed happily. He linked his fingers with hers and felt eternally grateful for meeting this girl.

As Andrew stared at the sunset in front of him fifty years later, he felt the pain he had felt for five years now. The pain of his gorgeous wife's death. The pain the beauty of the sunset could bring. But the pain is not something he regrets. For with this pain, love is shown. And this love is his favourite memory and feeling.

~

Here's a little story for the blog today!

Love & Memories,

The Girl in the Moonlight.