Becoming
"...for the world is the best of things that have become..." Plato, Timaeus, 29a
I stood on the ledge and looked down over the cliff, my toes hanging precariously in the crashing stream. Gooseflesh covered my bare arms and legs, though it was hardly cold. Though the sun had been set for over an hour, the air remained hot and thick with moisture. It reminded me of home. I felt his cool hand on my shoulder, like fingers of soothing ice on my burning skin. A shiver rolled through my flesh, sinking down into the arches of my feet and up under the hair follicles of my scalp. I could feel him inside me and all around me. His voice was a song in my brain, as melodious and gentle as the open sea. He was the complete opposite of the waterfall that hurtled down the rock face.
"Jump," he growled coaxingly. "Don't be afraid. I'm right here."
"I can't help but be afraid," I sighed. "That's a twenty-five foot drop."
"What if you went home knowing you'd had the opportunity and you didn't take it?" He kissed my ear lobe, but he did not nudge me forward. He was a hint, not a push. "Don't burn the day away."
"Don't burn the day away," I repeated softly. I looked down at the rippled froth on the surface of the water. I took a step back and squeezed his hand. His lips brushed my crown. I ran backward into the rushing stream, the ankle deep water flowing around my feet. I leaped from the stone and sailed through the night, screaming for all the world to hear.
I sank like a stone and then buoyed to the surface again, dancing in a shimmering cloud of bioluminescent phytoplankton. Giggles rose up from my throat and spread out across the sheltered lagoon, riding on the undulation of the water. Dipping my head back into the glowing life beneath me, I lifted my eyes to watch him sail gloriously through the air. He was silent, a bird diving for prey, a kite upon the breeze. The pool barely moved to allow him passage. Plankton followed him like balloon strings, a tail whizzing along behind him, just trying to keep up. My giggles faded to silent awe. The dark silhouettes of fish breezed past my knees in search of their supper.
"Worth it?" He asked me at last, breaking the dark and watery glass. In the night, his pale skin and bright blue eyes were lighthouse beacons carrying me to safety.
"Worth it," I replied, inclining my head. Trickles of salty sea water dripped over my nose and lips, following the curves of my face.
"Trust me?" He whispered, bending his lips beneath the water to blow small bubbles in my direction. His arms swayed, leaving spiraled patterns like the arms of some distant galaxy.
"I trust you."
"Look up, lover," he instructed me, nudging his chin toward the sky.
I lifted my eyes, and allowed my cheeks to follow. The half moon gazed down at us like a sleepy, half-lidded eye. There were more stars than I had ever seen, and more constellations than I could accurately recognize. I lifted a finger from the water and traced a few of them. The scene looked so familiar, a glowing pool of darkness, pinpricks of light in a sea of black. I stared back down at the cloud of bioluminescence. I was a creature in space, surrounded and encompassed, wrapped up in mythology.
We drifted there together, lost in time and space, swimming in limbo between the two. I lifted my eyes to his, to the specters of light that drew me away from the breaking, crashing shore. My arms encircled his shoulders and the plankton followed us, surrounding our joined bodies like a halo. I found his smooth, pale lips and invited them to mine. He treaded water as we kissed, as we floated in space. I was flying and sinking, sailing and drifting. He was my buoy, my anchor, my net. His tongue caressed mine, keeping me close.
His lips descended from my mouth, along the curve of my jaw, until they found the beat of my heart in my throat. His tongue was worshipful, desirous, lusting. He lapped at my skin as though it were covered in sugar and salt, cooked to perfection, his last meal on Earth. His strong hands curled around my hips and his head dipped beneath the inky surface. I was alone among the stars, but I could see his profile illuminated. His hungry mouth found its way to my breast.
We were stars in the open sea, crashing together and showering sparks. His fingers traced the radiant outline of my body, skipped over the petals of my innermost flesh, jumped inside me like dolphins leaping the crashing waves. I broke the night with a voice lifted high, higher than the songs of cicadas, louder than the chirping of crickets. I sang in praise of him, in praise of us. I sank beneath the glass to join him, to feel his mouth upon mine.
Suspended, we reached for one another in the dark, two bodies praying to be rejoined. In the night, we were one creature, coming into perfection, coming into ourselves, coming into one another. The water trembled as we raced toward the humid night air, joined in every way that two souls can be joined. I dug my fingers into his damp blond hair. He held my hips against his to keep us bound and tight. Each thrust was too long a time spent apart, and each gasp a relief to be together again.
I wept, and my salty tears shivered the starry lights of the sea.