A Golden Afternoon in Summer

Brian and Lisa walked along the narrow shore between the sea cliffs and the sea. They had spent the morning packing a picnic lunch of egg salad and vegemite sandwiches ("Its such a pleasant break from peanut butter, and its packed with vitamins and minerals!" Lisa explained after the Brian cautiously tasted a speck of the red-brown yeast goo) and lemonade. Brian had slung his guitar over his shoulder, and Lisa lugged along her saxophone.

There was but a few metres of beach for them to sit on. The waves would certainly reach them by high tide. But it was still early in the day, and the tide was just at its lowest point.

"This is beautiful, Brian."

"I knew you'd love it."

"Its like another world. Just hear, the sheer cliff walls, the broiling sea, the golden sun, the air so fresh and clean…"

"Like the beginning of the world."

Lisa looked at him and smiled.

"My thoughts exactly."

He looked at her and smiled. The wind in her hair, her cheeks ruddy with the salty breeze, barefoot on the sand…beautiful.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful?"

Her smile became smaller, her lips puckered slightly.

"Not someone who really meant it."

They sat and talked for a while. Lisa felt like playing her sax, and Brian accompanied her on his guitar. The idea was that they could maybe work on a few ideas for their new

Springfield Nine album, but the wind just blew their papers all around, so they just gave it up and had fun.

They decided to go swimming. Lisa found herself, if only that lingering vestige of her petty schoolgirl self, disappointed at Brian's physique. He wasn't fat, nor was he a rippling mass of muscle or thin and gaunt. She reasoned it was just that he looked soft. But she knew better. She'd seen him the year before actually killing, and, from both his total clobbering of Millhouse two months before, and his effortless climb down the jagged cliffs showed that he was still in good shape. You're so shallow! What are you, twelve?

"Want to go see one of the caves."

"There are caves?"

"Sure. Let's go back in, I brought two flashlights back in the basket."

"Okay."

After they got back to the shore, towelled off and dressed, they walked along the narrow shore to the cave. The water was just a few feet from the cave. Brian knew Lisa would notice and be worried that they would get caught inside with the high tide.

"It won't take long. There's just something in here I want you to see."

Lisa immediately began to wonder what this beautiful lunatic had in store. A little red flag went up in the back of her mind. A man inviting her to follow him into a cave, because he had 'something in here I want you to see' is usually sign of something bad to come. But she'd been with this man, more or less, for ten months, not counting her having seen, been introduced to, and argued with him several times the year before. He was eccentric, and conservative, and, at times, borderline mad, but beneath all his bluster and rhetoric was a simple, gentle man who wanted only to be loved. He went from extremes quickly, but then again so did Homer, and, to a degree, her mother and brother and sister. He suffered from occasional depression, but, then again, she did too. It was hard to be a artist and a genius and not feel alone in Springfield…or in the world.

He lead her into the cave. She flicked her torch about. The floor was sandy, and littered with shells and rotting seaweed. The limestone walls dripped around her. He led her over an embankment and deeper into the cave. The light from the outside grew fainter, a distant speck in the distance. Their torches were their only light. Lisa looked around. Water trickled down from above. The lime was being slowly dissolved. Stalactites hung down from the ceiling.

"No cathedral was ever as beautiful."

"God's creation is the inspiration-man can only hope to mirror it."

Brian chuckled. "Did you get that from one of my lectures or one of my poems?"

"Lectures."

"Ah. This way. Just a little further."

The dark and winding passageways seemed to go on forever. Despite all its ethereal beauty, Lisa began to grow antsy. It was getting pretty monotonous, for one thing. Secondly, she was worried that the encroaching tidal would was away all their belongings, including her saxophone, which she'd had for fifteen years.

All at once she saw light. Blinding, brilliant light from on high. A sinkhole had been opened up, after years of rain and erosion. Midday sunlight streamed down from the distant blue sky.

"Oh, Brian, this is beautiful."

"I knew you'd like it."

Lisa was still looking up out of awe, when she felt Brian take her hand. She looked and saw him sinking to one knee. The look of utter love on his face was one she had only seen on his face at the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, just as they did when he was walking down the aisle at St. Anthony's, and the choir was singing 'O Come, Let Us Adore Him'.

"Oh-!"

"Lisa…" he gulped, then forced a smile. She could feel his hands were trembling. He reached into hi pocket. He pulled out a small, velvet box. He opened it. Inside was a golden ring. The central stone was an enormous diamond, two carats at the very least, flanked by two red stones red as dove blood. "Will you marry me?"

She smiled, then felt a warm tear slide down her cheek.

"Oh Brian, of course!" she said, half-laughing and half-crying.

He started to stand up. She threw herself at him, peppering his face with giddy kisses. He fell over.

"Ow! Sharp…very very sharp rocks!"

"Oh Brian, I'm so sorry."

"Its alright. But, could you be a dear and help me up?"

She helped him to his feet. He grimaced and held his back.

"You sure you're alright?"

"Certain." He smiled. "Let's get out of here."

They walked out holding each other's hand. When they got back to their things, the water was just a few centimetres away. They packed up their belongings, shaking out the sand and patting off what had been gotten splashed, and started up the cliffs.

It was a long, tiring climb. The sun was low, shinning straight onto their backs. Lisa felt the stinging sweat trickling into her eyes and ears. Her hands sent screaming discomfort up her nerves as she slung to the sharp, jagged rocks. Her saxophone's carrying strap cut into her collar bone. She had tried not to look up for the entire time, knowing that it would only discourage her. After what had seemed to be hours, she dared a glance. They weren't even halfway there. She let out a frustrated groan.

"Come on Lisa. We're halfway there."

Every inch, every millimetre seemed to double the pain. Her arms felt like they were shutting down. Her mind was a dull throb of nerve signals and rapid oxygen-deprivation-induced half-thoughts. She pulled, hand over hand. She closed her eyes, focusing her strained muscles, forcing them to pull, pull, pull! She felt for a ledge, a protruding rock, something to grab. She felt something. She grabbed on to it. To her horror, it began to pull away. She opened her eyes. It was Brian's boot.

"Hey!" he managed to yell between panting breaths.

"Sorry," she answered after a while, the word barely escaping.

Lisa grew numb. Her hands felt as though they were miles away, the feel of the rocks became distant tingling. Her mind felt as though it was closing in. She thought that she wasn't going to make it, that she would fall off the cliff like a dead fly, into the waves below. She forced one last reach. She felt a hand seize her wrist. She saw Brian, leaning precariously over the edge. She lifted a foot, and searched for a ledge. She found one, and put her weight on it. She pushed up. He leaned back, pulling with the full force of his weight. She shot up, and grabbed the ledge of the cliff. She pulled herself up. She crawled across the sparse grass, and collapsed next to Brian. They lied there for some. Time. Slowly, Brian rolled onto his front, and, struggling for a moment, pushed himself up. He got to his feet, swayed for a moment, then took a deep breathe and shook his head.

"Ohhh…I'm dead!" Lisa moaned.

"Let's never do that again."

"Agreed."

"Come on, let's get out of here."

"No, Lisa sleep now."

"You can sleep at the house. Get up, the bugs will bite you."

"No they won't."

"Well they bit me, and I wasn't the one on the anthill."

Lisa's eyes widened. She leapt to her feet, nearly jumping off the cliff. "Ahh! GET THEM OFF! AHH! OW!"

Brian laughed. Lisa looked at him and scowled, and made fist of mock-anger.

Back at the house, Lisa took a bath in the while Brian washed her clothes and called to confirm the dinner reservation and the guest lecture he was scheduled to deliver at the Springfield Chapter Right to Life. Her clothes were just finishing dying when Lisa came out of the bathroom with a towel around herself and a second wrapped around her head. Brian saw her. He did a double-take, surprised to see her like that. He opened the solar-powered dryer, and handed her the still-somewhat damp clothes.

"Here you go."

She smiled. Brian managed a smile, but was a little intimidated. Not wanting to pressure him, she left and got dressed in another room. She came back in, bathed and dressed, feeling fresh and alive.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

"Yes." She smiled and hugged him, giving him a quick kiss.

"Where're we eating?"

"The Happy Sumo."

"Will anyone be joining us?"

"No."

She smiled.

"Think of it as a 'celebratory date'."

"Well, knowing what your concept of 'celebration' is, I hope you have some money to call a cab."