Once in a Blue Moon

It had been a great start to what promises to be an even better year. I spent the New Year on the perfect beach, and along the way I met the perfect girl. When I came back, I spent some more time with her. Everything was turning out like I hoped everything would… that was until a cold, hard slap from reality woke me up from that intoxicating dream. Things were just too good to be true…

I remember that early new-year morning I spent on the powdery-white sands of the island of Potipot, under the dimmed light of stars meekly hiding behind the cover of night clouds. I was barely able to get some sleep, although my body badly ached for it. The day and night that passed I spent in celebration with close friends: we basked in the beauty that surrounded us; we met the coming year with high spirits and renewed hope. The revelry drained not only weariness, but eventually, also strength from our bodies; soon, our enthusiasm was drowned by inevitable exhaustion.

Countless times I had been woken from a shallow slumber, at times by the inexplicable warmth in the air and always by mosquitoes that seemed eager to partake of the night’s festivities. In one such waking moment, I was greeted by brightness all around me. I looked up at the source of the wondrous light, and I then saw her: the half moon shining splendidly through a patch of clear sky, covering everything with a sparkling white sheen. It was one of the most breathtaking scenes I have ever seen in my life: the light magnified the splendor of the sand and the sea a thousand fold. I rubbed my eyes, thinking that it was a dream as it could not be otherwise for such beauty could not be possible. I looked up again, and there she still was, like a glorious white angel high above the horizon. I spent a few more moments soaking in the magnificence that surrounded me, then fell into a contented and blissful sleep.

I woke up to the piercing rays of the morning sun. My first thought was of what I saw previous night. Was it all a dream? I looked up and saw that she was still there, barely visible against the bright blue sky, but there nonetheless. And that certainty, that assurance that it was all real, was enough for me.

How many times do we encounter such perfection in our lives? I count myself lucky that it has happened to me even just that once: to behold such grace, such beauty, such radiance is more than enough reason to live. But in the end, I’m afraid that’s all it will be: a momentary flash of brightness in the dark that will eventually wane at the world’s turning. How I long to touch her, how I desire to hold her, just once! If only she were not beyond my grasp, if only she were not. But she is.

And however it pains me to accept that I might not see her again, my memory of her shall burn as brightly as the half moon did that early new-year morning.