Author's Note (A/N): Every time you come across this 🎵 symbol, click the Play button to go to the song link. Resume reading after the song.
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"Paradise..."
"It's almost sunset on this tropic isle."
"Everything is so peaceful... and quiet, except for that occasional noise from the local fauna thriving in the nearby jungle and the seagulls circling the spotless sky."
"Such is a feeble attempt from wildlife as it tries to break the calming sound of shallow waves splashing lazily against the powdery white shoreline."
At the moment, Hans was on the beach, soaking his feet, ankle-deep into the warm crystal water that stretched out to the open sea, inadvertently treating himself to a natural foot spa experience.
Despite all this, he could hardly care about the fine perks of the natural beauty around him.
Instead, his mind was preoccupied with something else...
Someone else...
He smiled at the woman he was holding and thought to himself...
"People have always held a notion that paradise looks like some tropical island scenery lifted from a postcard."
"But not me."
"Paradise is not a place on the map."
"It's not a scene that you can look at or capture with a tap on the phone and post on Instagram."
"It's not something tangible."
"Yet, it's as real as the wind that kisses our faces and the reason behind our smiles."
"Paradise is a moment..."
"A time when we are smiling nearest to the one dearest to our heart"
"And to me..."
"My Paradise is when I'm this close to you."
"Yes, you..."
"I could never get enough of this magical feeling."
"Every single time, my senses still get overwhelmed by your mere presence."
"And it doesn't really take much to make me crave you even more."
"Especially now when I find myself like this, standing just a smile away from you."
"As our arms locked around each other..."
"How I wish I could just live in this moment..."
"... forever."
Hans must have spoken out loud because he could hear himself clearly even though his lips hadn't moved.
And he must have been gazing at her for some time too because he knew she was beautiful beyond imagination, even though he didn't really see the details of her face.
He imagined that her eyes twinkled as she lovingly looked back at him.
And he recognized his own profound longing, heralded by the loud thumping of his heartbeat against hers.
For the nth time, he looked with earnest at her faceless smile.
Then slowly he closed his eyes and leaned forward...
Placing his lips on the spot where he knew precisely her lips would be waiting.
He kissed her, as he vividly pictured in his mind the slightest opening of her mouth, just enough to welcome his...
He felt the mellow impact and the warm air from her breath.
She uttered a soft moan when she moved in closer as he tightened his arms around her...
Just then, sparks flew out of the exact places where their lips and bodies had touched.
All of a sudden, Hans was once more caught up in the moment...
He grinned to himself.
"Yes,"
"I'm back in Paradise..."
Then he started to sing his heart out...
...in his DREAM.
🎵 (Click the Play button)
(Resume reading)
While Hans sang, his sleepy face smiled as he embraced the bliss.
"What have I done to deserve this?"
"You could have easily been miles away."
"And yet fate had other plans."
"Once again, I find you here..."
"Smiling right next to my heart"
But suddenly, like the ones before, the golden moment didn't last very long.
For in his dream, the clear skies of paradise soon turned gray, and rain started to drizzle.
"What's this?"
"A short summer rain perhaps?"
"Probably just out to bless this happy experience."
But before Hans could even blink, the sky had quickly darkened and the trickling grew stronger and stronger still.
The once peaceful scene of the beach had blurred as raindrops the size of peas began to narrow the visibility to just a few feet away.
All at once, Hans found himself already soaked in place, and tried as he might, he couldn't move.
"What's happening?!"
Still, the clouds and the rain grew angrier by the second. By now the gentle splashing of the sea has rapidly turned into rough waves.
He began to hear the intense howling of the wind and felt its cold gustiness blowing mercilessly against his wet bare skin.
He stared far out into the horizon, just in time to see the birth of an ocean wave, FIVE STORIES HIGH. It started racing towards the shore, threatening to wash away everything in its path!
As he looked up, he recognized the ominous eye at the center of a swirling storm.
"A typhoon?!"
"I don't recall the weather company ever reporting a forecast like this."
For a moment Hans forgot all about the woman he was with while he tried to make sense of the inclement weather.
As terror quickly gripped his senses, he realized something...
"I have never experienced the wrath of a super typhoon before!"
"At least not in Wuhan where I've lived most of my life."
"But that is not my concern at the moment."
Then he remembered...
"I'm still with her... right?"
"Or am I?"
"I know that she is still in my arms for that was my last memory of her."
Hans looked straight...
He looked to his left...
He looked to his right...
"OH NO! She's gone!"
"Where did she go?"
"Didn't I embrace her just minutes ago?!"
"What's going on?"
In an instant, he gets overwhelmed by panic as he worries about the whereabouts of the woman he held so dearest.
"Where are you?!"
He tried shouting, calling her out by a name that he could have sworn he knew but now he couldn't remember.
Yet, nothing came out of his lips.
He strived to shout even louder to call her...
"What was her name again??"
His frustration swiftly turned into fear.
"Why couldn't I remember her name?!"
"What's wrong with me?"
"Did I not just kiss her?"
By now, hot tears have started rolling down, mixing with the cold raindrops that soaked his face.
"I need to find her and fast before that storm surge reaches land!"
As the terrifying wave grew closer and bigger, he started getting desperate
"Where are you?!"
"I need to bring you to safety, now!"
He tried shouting again at the top of his lungs...
Stronger and more forceful this time.
Then at last, for the first time, he heard himself verbalizing an audible, but meaningless sound...
<<< >>>
The next thing Hans remembered was that he was shouting in his bedroom as he inadvertently succeeded in waking himself up from the dream...
He opened his eyes and saw the darkened ceiling of his penthouse apartment.
As he sat up, he felt his pulse running.
He was crying at the same time trying to catch his breath.
"It was just a dream..."
"A wonderful one..."
"At first."
"But then it finished off as a nightmare..."
"Again."
He checked his watch.
"3:44 am."
He stared at the large window which perfectly framed the peaceful view of Wuhan's late-night cityscape.
The Yellow Crane tower is at the center of his window's view of the skyline, quietly soaking up the light from the full moon in the background.
Hans traced the familiar dark ribbon outline of the Yangtze River, meandering in the foreground, lined by the city's lights.
"What a stark contrast to the deadly storm in my dream..."
He was still recalling the details of his dream when he sensed the bedsheet stirring next to him.
"A woman?"
The eyes on her face reflected the lights from the window as she gazed worriedly at him
"I must have awakened her with my shouting..."
"Who is she again?"
"You were having a nightmare, Doctor Yu," the woman said.
"I guess I did," he replied, still confused about the presence of the 'unexpected guest' in his room...
... In his own bed.
He reviewed his last memory of the evening.
"I was attending the fellowship night of Wuhan's Society of Chest Physicians after being honored as a speaker at the scientific symposium."
"There were plenty of drinks..."
"Pretty colleagues..."
"A few good laughs..."
"And lots of flirting..."
"And then after that... nothing follows"
"Now I'm back here... in my bed with a beautiful stranger."
Hans started to notice the smell of alcohol in his breath and the threat of a splitting headache.
"I'm sorry about that, Lila. Go back to sleep. I'll be fine," he said automatically.
"Lila?!" she echoed.
"It's Liling, you moron!"
Instantly her tone shifted from concern to indignation.
"Not Lila?"
"Oops... wrong guess."
"I could have sworn she was a 'Lila'."
"My bad..."
"I'm so sorry," was all Hans could say.
"Who's Lila?!!" she demanded.
Before Hans could even answer, she was already out of bed, hastily trying to straighten her wrinkled clothes.
"You can't even get my name right!" her voice trailed off as sobs seemed to follow her angry accusation.
"After giving you the best night of your life, this is what I get?!"
"The best night of my life...? So that explains why we're in my bed."
He grinned inwardly.
Hans didn't dare to voice out his thoughts anymore for fear of wounding the woman's pride further.
A split second more and she was already storming out of his room, slamming the door hard behind her.
At first, Hans was shocked by the angry outburst.
Then he felt ashamed for not even remembering her name.
He sighs.
"Another damsel filled the sheets of my bed for the night."
"How long ago was that?"
He tried to clock his performance.
"'Could be five or six hours tops."
"Hmm... Not bad for my 'from-hello-to-bed' dating record. It's well within my self-imposed twenty-four-hour regulation time."
"But I've done better."
"Hey... wait a minute."
"Did she just say that she gave me the 'best night of my life'??"
He shook his head and chuckled despite himself.
"If history serves me right, I'm pretty sure it should be the other way around."
"I swear, women these days are giving themselves way too much credit."
He quickly dropped the image of the angry woman from his thoughts and remembered his dream.
"The 'best night of my life' actually began after I fell asleep..."
Hans checked the time again.
"3:48 am"
"I still have time..."
"I'm goin' back to sleep and try to catch that girl in my dream."
"If I'm lucky..."
"I just might find my Paradise..."
"... again."
He closed his eyes, and quickly fell asleep, oblivious to the drama that just happened.
In an instant, he went back to dreamland.
While sleeping, his face lit up with a smile...,
... again.
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A/N: If you liked the song press that ⭐ VOTE button on your screen :-)
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Just A Smile Away
Artist: Jaime Garchitorena
Composer: Danny Javier
Album: Jaime Garchitorena
Music available on Spotify
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This novel is a tribute to the music of Filipino artists, collectively known as OPM (Original Pilipino Music). This was written to celebrate, champion, and connect the best of OPM to Wattpad readers, worldwide.
Disclaimer: This author doesn't own the rights to the songs, videos, and images linked to this novel. To the owners, kindly call my attention if you wish to have your creation removed and don't want to be a part of the playlist.