The earthquake in the sky isn’t that loud, but it’s one of those nights where you must stay awake and watch as the rain trickles down the glass of the bedroom window drop by drop. A night where it’s not chilly, but it’s cold and you just have to get out and about, regardless of the time.

You turn and find me up as well, looking at you lost in a train of thoughts. The rain continues to patter our roof, sounding more like a stampede of wildebeest than a gentle tap tap pitter-pat. You give a nudge and I smile at your half-asleep face. In a minute we’re both up. Holding on to a half-asleep you and we slowly make our way downstairs. Right now, the small lamps in the living room seem better to be switched on that the wall lights.

Sitting down on the comfy rug you pull your legs up and hug your knees, keeping your chin on them. Your gaze fixed longingly at the rain falling outside the window to the patio, and beyond to the garden. It smells electric, not a tense feeling but a sparky feeling that has our senses on end.

You hear a spoon knocking periodically on the edges of an aluminum container ringing ping…ping…ping…ping…ping…. as you lean on to the window and let out a small sigh. In a while, the sound of the gas being turned off, and more clutters and pings proceed. Your insides tingle as the smell of warm and fresh hot chocolate gets closer. A smile lights up your face as a mug of hot chocolate is kept nearby. With that, I sit down next to you cross-legged with the mug in between my lap. You breathe in the wafting chocolaty aroma and feel your senses sparking up. And with twinkling eyes, I look at you and get up, this time to open the window and let the cool air light up our nerves.

The smell of the freshness and happiness of the trees and grass and soil mixed with hot chocolate is intoxicating. Sparky senses evolve and become sparkly and bright. We lean on each other and just enjoy the shower outside. Taking a sip of our drink we go back to silently watching the rain.

The beauty of silence is something that is reserved for the best and most precious moments. Moments where words aren’t necessary for two people to read and interpret each other’s thoughts. It’s like dancing on a moonlit lake of ice as a piano softly plays a slow and charming ballad. No fortes. No allegros. Just the graceful legato of note by note filling the atmosphere with an unknown substance that can’t be felt by litmus, but can only be felt with the mind and heart. Silence allows for the beauty of nature to be heard as acutely as possible. It lets that special symphony to be heard as close as possible to the composer’s intentions.

And so we lean on each other and lose ourselves together in the cadences of the rain and wind. The lightning provides the occasional lighting and the thunder signals the end of a movement. We slowly sip bit by bit of our hot chocolates, each other’s gulps heard clearly, making us smile at each other. I get up once more and turn on the patio lights, causing a light firefly like glow to emanate place to place. A soft luminescent yellow lighting up along the top of our heads.

Sitting back we cuddle as we watch the rain and listen to all the sounds. Soon, I hear your breath fall steadily. A soft inhale and an even softer exhale as you fall asleep on my shoulder. And in a moment I close my eyes too. Leaning my head on yours and let our breaths and heartbeats synchronize, mine slowing down to yours. And we soundlessly fall asleep surrounded by a sky of firefly lights and rain.

Image courtesy:

• Featured image: https://bit.ly/2XdvmIK
• Article image: https://i.redd.it/bka8r3gysn321.png