Stepping out of the sandwich shop and onto the South Bank Sally blinked at the unexpected brightness, momentarily dazzled. She never failed to be surprised and strangely delighted at how the weather could turn on a sixpence. Oh! The marvels of meterology: one of the many delights of being English. Deciding to take advantage of the sunshine she wandered to one of the deceptively uncomfortable-looking concrete benches placed at regular intervals along the river bank and settled down.
Glancing to her right she noticed them immediately. They were hard to miss, their aura of happiness radiating from them in waves. They made her think of that old song, 'round, like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel…'. The girl, small and dark, sat across her lover's lap, one arm draped loosely over his shoulders, hand twining in his fair hair; while he wrapped his upstage leg around behind her, hands clasped around her waist. They were kissing each other deeply, oblivious to those surrounding them. Usually she would find such displays repellent and unnecessary, but for some reason these two made her smile. It seemed that their attachment to each other was from love, rather than lust – there was an innocence about them that made it hard to be offended. Looking around her she could see that she was not the only person to feel this way: as people walked by a change seemed to come over them, like flowers opening themselves to the sun after a shower, they seemed to relax and show their best selves.
A policeman approached, dressed in the standard neon-yellow jacket that is so hard to miss and yet so easy to ignore. He seemed to be making his way towards the Lovers, as if to tell them to move on somewhere else. However, as he entered their circle of influence, he faltered. Nothing, it seemed, could break the spell that they had cast. Smiling and shaking his head slightly, his course changed and he walked on past, the tedium of his day momentarily lifted.
The Lovers began to unwind themselves, suddenly bashful. As they broke apart, clouds appeared and rain began to spot. Gathering her coat and bag quickly to her and beginning to run for shelter, Sally looked behind her to where they had been, just moments before. She was not surprised to see that they had disappeared completely; their particular brand of ephemeral magic could not possibly withstand an English summer rainstorm. Smiling a little wistfully to herself she hoped that they would cross her path again soon.
Recent Comments