Translucent solitude

The quiet. It soothed her and comforted her. It made her ruminate. It made her feel alive. It made her forget all the trivial noises of the humdrum- the kids, the sounds of the metropolitan traffic, the radio, the hiss of the cooker, the blaring calls of the street vendors and innumerable ringtones.

The gloomy night sky hazily diffused the milky white translucence.  She could feel the night sinking, the dark intensifying, one minute after another, making the stars shine brighter. Gazing into the atmospheric infinity, sipping the cool of the night breeze and cuddling into her own blanket, she closed her eyes for a while and sighed in tranquility.

He faced the sky with her, holding her in a light embrace. They were lying down on the terrace on the same bed, under the same blanket, but didn’t face each other. It was what she wanted- for them both to gaze at the sky. Together. Quietly. 

                                               

He enjoyed the subtle warmth of the places where her skin touched his. He felt it bizarre how the sensation of her breath on his arm made him so calmly erotic. His mind started to cherry-pick the moments of their courtship that eventually deepened into their moments of marriage. Dizzy smiles came and went.

He had sensed that she felt inexplicably lost lately. The routine had dulled her. She’d started to feel fatigued even after sleeping a good ten hours. She’d lose her way into an abyss, in the middle of a conversation. She’d burn the rice. She’d forget to put things in the refrigerator. She’d sometimes sit up in the middle of the night, just to check on the lights and locks. And the week before, she made him coffee, twice in ten minutes. He didn’t say a word but sipped it down. She cleared the cups and took them to the sink and she knew. She closed her eyes in disbelief. He notified at work about his absence.

“I need a break”, she said.

“I know.”

They were almost at sunrise now, without a word uttered. The bluish hue of the dawn and the hovering songs of early birds. He remembered the time when he’d asked her out of curiosity, why she’d chosen him.

“You’re good company. And you’re a quiet guy”, she’d said.

Back then, he thought it was just an explanation, but it wasn’t long before he’d realized she was a quiet one too. There were times when they were up talking all night. And there were times that they drove together in the car with hardly any words throughout. Except a brief period in courtship, he had never felt the urgency to talk to her. She inherently beamed an easy sense of reassurance. He smiled at the queer difference in who she was from every other woman he ever knew, and dozed into sleep.

She’d slept briefly. It felt good to wake up to the mild rays of the sun. She stretched heartily and turned to look at him, finding him in a deep sleep. She freshened up, grabbed a piece of paper, wrote a note and tiptoed out.

He woke up to the emptiness beside him, only to find a note tucked beside the bed.

Hey,

I made coffee.

It feels amazing to realize that I don’t have to get away from you to be alone.

Thank you.

PS: The sun was good, and I sneaked out for a quick run. Can’t wait to see you!

He blushed and sat up to the shining sun, liberally gulping the aromatic coffee happiness.