You lay on the grass—their soft blades tickle playfully against your skin

As you close your eyes against the bright sunlight

To watch the afterimages dance their show.

The heat caresses your skin as it beats down upon you, warming you from the outside in.

The soft breeze carries the scent of lilacs to your waiting senses.

Crickets chirp lyrics under the soft rustling of the trees; together, they form a lullaby.

Sleep hangs over you, and you’re about to surrender…

Until you feel the soft touch of another,

The heat of skin against skin more intense than the sun.

Fingers intertwining with yours.

You open your eyes and plunge into an ocean

To drown in the sapphire depths of the eyes that have stolen your soul.

Silken lips, with gentle intensity part your own.

The soft rustling of the leaves becomes a tumult.

Your breath quickens in rhythm with the wind.

The sweetness of the sudden pouring rain

Mixes with the saltiness of sweat,

Soothing the sting of sharp nails and hungry teeth.

Beating hearts form a tempo,

Drums driving the force of the rain to fall harder.

The trees pull this way and that as they wrestle against their fate.

But the clap-clap of the rain gradually turns to pitter-patter.

Trees succumb to nature, slowing their fight.

Your breath calms and your eyes feel heavy again.

Tightly clenched fingers begin to loosen and finally separate.

The sun warms you once more,

Drying the drenched blades of grass that cling to your skin as if they are a part of you.

You take one last look into the eyes of the only other living soul in the universe,

The eyes that owned you so briefly,

And then they are gone, it is only the deep blue sky stretching above you,

Clouds clearing as quickly as they came.

You close your eyes once more, imagining the gentle touch of the wind

To be the breath of another.

Your lips curve into a smile,

And you finally slip into the most blissful sleep ever imagined.