It can be said by many that feelings and emotions may very well have a mind of their own.
Much like a dog or cat’s tail – finding various opportunities to flail randomly in your direction, reminding you of their existence, like an unexpected guest.
All it takes is a slight scent, a curious smile, a cool evening’s breeze and the levy has broken. In floods the long buried past, given life once again by the powerful emotion each memory clings to.
An attraction visited on the highway of life.
A landmark amongst many in the days past and the days to come.
Perhaps the distant, thick aroma of blazing fire wood rushes you back to a jovial, drunken gathering in the woods, fending off daring raccoons and sparking the collective greenery.
Crawling into bed, pulling the covers over your shoulders to keep warm much like Mom used to tucking you in years ago with a loving smile and comforting kiss on the forehead.
It is never us that do the searching for such a trigger. Yet, it is these triggers, sparks and memories that lure us into a false sense of security, then…
Each trigger, each memory, each emotion is as unique to you as the very bystanders passing you by every day. And yet, they all have power.
So amongst the slim, smooth skipping-stones sits a young man. Before him the sea claws at the land as waves crash like a ticking clock, or a heartbeat. They seem to slow time, nearly send time backwards. The night sky is lit by a pale-faced moon, casting a vague, translucent shadow across the rocky pile. Across the body of water, the horizon is outlined by the distant city’s colours; oranges, blues, reds as brilliant sparks glimmer details of the clouds.
A storm brews, lightning plays hide and seek with his eyes, retreating behind fluffy grays and whites.
And although this night has orchestrated a truly majestic scene, the young man’s mind has caught wind of a memory – sending him spiraling back years.
A shared moment, hidden within trees and the dark, cuddling before the crashing waves and delicate moonlight, when something twice as beautiful as what was presently before him kept his attention. Emotions as strong as rock, the memory as steady as the beating waves.
A kiss, a caress, sweet words between two. Shared feelings, shared struggle, shared love.
And suddenly the final embrace, the goodbyes, and the memory fades.
The crashing waves claw at the land, once again reclaiming his attention, welcoming him back to the present.
He rises from the stones, acknowledges the pale-faced light in the sky and heads home.
A memory rekindled, a memory cherished.