Out of Words

He saw her sitting by the window. She just sat there, with no sound, stared blankly outside. Her hand was under her chin, caressing aimlessly, thinking. Her other hand, was playing with a half drunk coffee on her table. He approached her and sat in front of her. He watched her for a few minutes, a table apart, but she did not seem to realize his presence so close from her.

“Hmm” he cleared his throat.

She startled and jumped an actual shock.

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you.” Said the guy, politely.

She took a deep calming breath and said, “no, it’s okay. I didn’t see you there.” Then she went back to her aimless gazing, indifference to his presence. Other girls would definitely shove him out before he uttered his second word but she seemed unbothered yet uninterested toward this stranger.

He looked at her, intrigued by her stillness. “Why are you so quiet?”

“Sorry, what?” her head was not present, her head was somewhere wondering about.

He chuckled, “I asked, why are you so quiet?”

“Oh no. Me?” she said, “Well, I don’t know. It’s just so loud in my head. I could barely hear a thing.” She explained then forced a smile. It was odd that she looked sadder with a smile than without. She realized that what she said might sound very strange. She did not care, though, because it was actually crowded inside her head. So loud, it made her dizzy.

“What do you hear?” asked the guy. She did not expect it. She thought he would just go and let her be, but he sat there, still.

“Hmm… lots of things. I could not really tell. Like in a night market.”

“Night market, eh?” he smiled. “That could be pleasant, you know, to be in a night market.”

She looked at him, now she really paid attention to him. “How so?”

“I like the street musician.” He said, “look for him, he played nice merry song with his flute.”

She chuckled. She started to think that he was just playing with her. She felt a little anger inside her, but she held it. “Well, too bad for me, Mister, this night market is a chaos one. I can’t tell anything apart. You know, like scrambled eggs.” She laughed then sipped her already cold coffee on her table. It was enough for her to deal with a turmoil inside her head, let alone disturbed by an anonymous stranger in front of her face.

“No, you just have to look for him, find him, find the flutist.” He tried to convince her.

She actually laughed now. “How?”

“Okay. Close your eyes.”

“What?! Are you fucking kidding me?” She lost her temper.

“No. no, just close your eyes. Trust me, I got this.”

She threw an angry look at him. But somehow with his eyes, he convinced her. Her expression soften, she looked more relaxed. A few seconds later she closed her eyes. “Okay, now what?”

“Take a deep breath. Then, try to put the pieces together.” He said.

She mentally arranged her visions. She realized that with her eyes closed, she could see better, clearer. It was actually a night market.One by one, she could tell each other apart. Torchlight, food stalls, people chatting and laughing, street performances, … Street performance! She just got to find the flutist now. Oh come on, where is the flutist?

Then she heard a nice melody from a flute. She saw that people were dancing around the source of the sound. All the people dancing looked so happy, she could not stop her mouth from smiling. Then there, at the middle of the crowd, the flutist playing his song.

“Have you found him, yet?” the guy asked her, seeing a smile on her face.

“Yes.” She said. “You were right, it is nice. He plays a beautiful song.”

“Do you see the fireworks?” His face inclined to hers.

Firework? She looked up at any point at the sky, looking for firework in her night market, “What firework?” she asked.

But then his lips touched hers. He felt the soft flesh, smooth and nice, and he sunk into it. He closed his eyes and felt her kissing him back. They melted in a single breathe. He grabbed her head, feeling the soft hair behind her ears, the scent of freshly cut grass in the middle of July. People say that there are fireworks when they kiss, he wondered if she found fireworks, too.

Then they let go. She opened her eyes, staring at her kisser.

“Did you see it?” he asked, “the fireworks?”

“No. The night market was gone.” she shook her head, smilingly. “It was a complete silence. All the peace that I ever needed.”