Sunrise, Coffee, and Sanctuary

With each sunrise we start anew

Vanessa sits on her porch in the stillness of the morning. She sees the sun coming up through the maple tree in the back yard. Her coffee is next to her. Filled to the brim with dark roast, real creamer, and a drizzle of caramel sauce. She’s reading. One of her go to books of the summer. It’s set in the South of course. She thinks she was a debutante in a former life. She’s always been drawn to those types of books. Romance, in the South. Life, in the South. Even with the bigotry, she still feels drawn there.

She sets her book down on the table next to her. And watches the sun ascend and become brighter. Its color changing from dark orange to a warm yellow, like the color of an egg yolk. It’s like she hears it. It sizzles, cracks and pops. Like a campfire that is only embers, and the wood splits with the intense heat of it.

Vanessa looks to the right and sees the swimming hole n the side yard. It’s one of the reasons that she and Liam picked this place to live. To love. The sun’s rays cause a reflection on the water in the morning light. She thinks of him, and smiles. She left him sleeping, so she could read, and watch the sunrise. It’s been a busy few days for them. They’re finally together, in the same place. No more running back and forth from place to place.

They have their sanctuary, in the middle of nowhere. It’s just them. Finally. No need for commitment. Or wedding rings. There’s just bliss. They get to, just be. The sun is higher in the sky. The flies and bees begin to buzz around her. Vanessa doesn’t care though. She picks up her coffee mug and takes a huge drink. It’s cold, but the caramel still tastes fantastic!

She rises from her chair and descends the three concrete steps of the wraparound porch. She makes a right and heads to the swimming hole. She starts taking off her clothes as she walks to the waters edge. Her tank shirt is the first to go. She just leaves it in the grass. Next go her sleep pants. Again, in the grass. When she gets to the waters edge, she takes off her boys shorts and flings them off her fingers. She jumps head first in the water.

As Vanessa resurfaces, shakes her head and opens her eyes. She sees Liam standing on the shore. He’s the love of her life. He’s naked of course. He’s always naked. And he’s smiling. Actually he’s laughing. He always laughs when he’s with his silly girl. He jumps in the water and swims up to her. They wrap their arms around each other, kiss passionately and smile. She blushes. For some reason he still makes her blush.

She says to him, My God you are perfect. This is perfect. He says, Honey I’m far from perfect. I’ll settle for decent. She says, Okay we are not perfect, we are decent. But this life, this life will be perfect. He says to her, I think we finally got it right.

They hold each other in the water. Their bodies entwined and shivering in the morning light. They look around at their sanctuary and then descend below the surface to share a kiss.