Cloud of Pink

Her neck was stretched back and to the point of exhaustion. She was beginning to feel the way people do when they sleep a little too long in a car while trying to replicate the effects of a pillow with a lousy seatbelt. But she paid no mind to the discomfort. Her eyes were set. Fixed. Centered almost on the motions of the blossoms. The way the wind carried them from side to side. Falling like thin pieces of paper. She had missed it, the day of full bloom. But to her the best part wasn’t seeing them bloom, is was watching them dance their way down to the earth.

She fixed her eyes on one, it was holding on so very tight, afraid that it’d miss a step on its way down. As the cars sped by and the wind gusted, all she could do was watch the blossom. Trying her best to not lose sight of it. If she looked away or blinked one second too long, she might lose it to the blinding cloud of pink. So instead she decided to wait for it to fall. Maybe if she was lucky enough it’d land on the bridge of her nose or graze the side of her cheek on its way down.

Suddenly, she felt a boiling liquid pour down her spine and her back began to tingle.

“Aaahhhgg!”

Her aching back and the pungent smell of coffee made her forget all about her nervous friend above and she soon found herself gazing at a boy. The burning sensation faded and now the only thing that remained was an unsettling damp feeling. It reminded her of the many times she had impatiently taken her clothes out the dryer a minute too soon.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I was just, I…I’m sorry. I was just looking up while I was walking. I don’t know why…uh, I’m sorry,” said the boy. He seemed unsure like he was the one that had coffee streaming down his back. But his apology was sincere, she knew it was.

Nevertheless, she responded.

“You know your apology isn’t going to get this stain out my shirt, pay attention clutz. God people like you just walk around like you’re the only people in the world, paying no mind to others or anything else for that matter.”

He seemed shocked, his face was flushed and pink. Much like the blossoms which engulfed them. After seeing the expression on his face, she began to rethink everything she said and felt an ounce of remorse. But then she felt her beige shirt sticking to her back and that feeling left faster than it had arrived.

He continued to stare at her, and then he cut the silence, “They’re beautiful.”

“They’re what, what are you talking about. I’m leaving.”

“The blossoms. The blossoms are beautiful...I...I mean it sucks they’re falling but it doesn’t mean they’re not…you know...beautiful. You know what I mean?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Well weren’t you looking at them, I saw you, looking at them.”

“But I thought you said you didn’t see me, hence the coffee on my shirt. Unless you did all of this for amusement. And in that case, you’re not clumsy, you’re just a jerk.”

“No, I mean I didn’t see you. I did, but not right before I ran into you. I saw you looking up like a block away. So, then I looked up to0 and next thing you know I’m running you over.”

“Well you’re wrong I wasn’t looking at them, I just thought I saw something, but I was wrong. You know I don’t have to explain myself to a random stranger. Have a good day, my day is ruined but maybe you can still have a good one. I’d ask you how your coffee tastes but it’s all on my shirt. Whatever I need to go, good bye.”

“Ethan.”

“What?”

“Ethan, my name is Ethan. You said we were strangers, well my name is Ethan.”

“Well then, in that case, good bye Ethan.”

She sped off confidently, as if her plans for the afternoon weren’t to stand there until the sun went down. There was something about that boy that seemed very familiar to her, but she just didn’t know what. She looked back for a second. She saw him staring up at the blossom tree just like she had. As she walked off a smile started to form on his face, like he knew something that everyone else didn’t. Like he could hear the song the blossoms moved to, just like she could. His eyes were fixed on the cloud of pink above and soon he found a blossom grazing the side of his face and he said silently, “I guess I’m not the only brave one today.”