Affirmation

It was on that stormy Saturday. Overcast sky, lightning forking through the blackening sky, people scuttling around like an army of ants.

I enjoyed the harsh rasp of wind on my face and the hint of rain in the air when you tugged insistently at my hand. "Time to go," you said. Reluctantly I turned and followed.

The rain came fast and hard and we ran laughing, yelling, cursing to your car. The rain, a celebration of life, left me weak yet inundated with a sense of reckless joy to be blessed thus by nature's gift of life.

You look at me as we get into the car, clothes soaked and shoes squeaking. "Happy huh? You look just like the young boy I remember." Too happy and wet to register it fully I give a non-committal grunt.

Pulling out to the expressway amidst the torrential rain you shoot me a sidelong glance and grab my hand. "Do you still love me?" you query, a tinge of insistency, in your voice. I spin around startled and halting any further talk, your need to explain yourself (the urge so plain on your face), I plant my finger on those lips and seal them with a kiss.

We ride back in silence both captive of the surreality of the scene just unfolded as the rain continued its endless patterns on the windows, the sound a mesmerising and hypnotic angry patter.

To that unanswered question you asked so long ago,
Yes I still do.

06 June 2003

Note: Written almost 4 years ago, the memory even older still, yet its funny how that moment stands still in time, as fresh and real as if it were only yesterday. And after all these years I can say with greater conviction. Yes, I still do.