From Sunrise To Sunset

Sunrise 1

Jonathan

I come here many times, intending to paint the sunrise, but I always find myself constantly gazing at her and painting her instead. I've spent days watching her, wondering if I'll ever muster up the courage to walk up to her and introduce myself. I've never felt insecure because of a woman before. I'm usually very confident and forthright but with her I become immobile; I have no speech or movement. I've heard stories of men who've felt this way toward women before, and I've always thought of them as imbeciles. But here I am now, the biggest imbecile of them all, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to go after the woman who makes my soul dance.

I remember the first time I saw her here. I remember hearing her dainty, bare footsteps hitting against the concrete softly in the quiet of the morning as she ran towards the fence. It was that very noise that made me remove my eyes from my canvas. I remember the way her long flare white dress lifted in the morning breeze revealing her ankles to me. She held onto the fence tightly anticipating the rise of the sun. I had never seen anybody hold onto a fence so tightly before. It was like she was holding on to save her life. I think it was that very thing that made me curious about her. I kept staring wondering if she'd ever let go of the fence, but when the sun finally peeped from behind the ocean she took a deep breath and stopped holding on tightly, allowing her hands to relax. She stayed there staring until the sunrise was over then turned and walked away. The moment she turned away from the sun to leave I became stunned by her beauty. The way her raven black hair, olive-brown skin, and gray eyes contrasted with each other was enough to make me stare forever. It was enough to make me come here for almost two weeks now just so I could feel her presence and gaze at her beauty. She never notices me here. I always stand on the side of the lighthouse and stare in silence watching as she does the same thing every day, and wondering why she keeps doing it. What could have made her obsessed with the sunrise? I love the fact that she was obsessed with it. It meant I got to see her every morning but still, I can't help but wonder.

I stand waiting patiently for her to make her appearance. She's always here about five minute before the sun rises. I look at my watch and count down the last five seconds before she appears and just like magic I hear her dainty bear footsteps running towards the fence as they did every day for the past several days.

Today I won't be immobile. Today I will walk straight up to her and introduce myself. I watch her as she holds onto the fence tightly, then loosens her fist around it and takes a deep breath as the sun begins to rise. I wait patiently for the sun to show its entire face and just as she's about to turn to walk away I begin walking in her direction.

"G'day Miss," I say, standing a few meters behind her.

"I see you got tired of staring," she says, folding her arms against her chest and turning around. "You've finally decided to make an introduction..."

I become dumbfounded as those words fall from her lips but smile satisfied that my presence had not gone unnoticed.

"I did not realize that you knew I had been here this entire time."

"I come here every morning and usually there's no other soul present so when one is, I think I can tell the difference. Besides, you were not exactly discrete in your steps."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well as you know it's really quiet here in the morning so when you wear noisy shoes such as these." She says looking down at my pair of oxfords. "It's not very hard to not hear them moving against the concrete, no matter how slowly you try to move."

All this time I thought that I had been unnoticeable, and all this time she had been aware of my presence.

I chuckle. "Why didn't you acknowledge my presence?"