Spirit Off The Ground

"Look into my eyes and tell me what you see", she said. "I'm not very
good at this", I replied, but did as she ordered anyway.

At that moment, I saw what was in her sincere heart with ease, but
what I saw and what I felt were left unexplainable. I could clearly
hear the deafening sound of her young heart beat, and I shared the
fear that was burdening her from jumping into the mainstream of life
with both feet and opening herself to the unexpected in life; from
being the butterfly that so gracefully escapes life's jagged edges of
adventure; from feeling the heart of life thumping its way, holding
hope beyond existence, day by day. We sat there in a tense, wounded
silence, where everything seemed to stop. A glamorous feeling of
fearless solidarity with only one person, a feeling that my heart was
entwined with hers was triggered throughout my nerves. I felt that
nothing could have interfered with what we shared with one another. I
was strangely enlightened of a force that was in our presence, not a
presence of spirits or ghosts, but of one far greater; an unsummoned,
spiritual presence of special sorcery, of love, and friendship. I lay
staring up at my ceiling that night dwelling at what was left
unfathomed. My dwelling and wondering left me with nothing but a
shiver of aggravation through my cold body.

It was my time to leave her world, my time to start a life of my own
in a new home. In that special moment when we said our last good byes,
I looked in her eyes for the last time. What left me shivering the
night before, seemed to be projecting in my mind again. It was at that
cybermoment that so much happened in such little time, when I was
thrown into life's arms and saw its irony. She had this wide smile on
her face, yet she had lost that pair of smiling eyes she used to carry
around. Her defining eyes led me to find the masses of sadness in the
hollowness of her anything but pragmatic heart. I felt that fear that
shivered throughout her delicate body. I shared that hope of the
future she struggled to hold on to, the hope that kept her going, kept
her faith alive, that one day, there would be eternal salvation from
this bitter sweat world she was so sourly waiting for. Anguished
depredation overflowed from her heart. It was only a few seconds, but
at that moment in time, everything froze. At that magical moment, I
heard something whispering to my heart what I desperately longed to
know; insight on those undecipherable ideograms that seemed to be so
mesmerizing, an illumination that would clear her feelings of
abandonment. It was this revelation that would lead me to the sight of
the first stirrings of hope in a mourning heart. It was the gift! I
saw an extraordinary gift, an inborn talent that we were both
oblivious to. She had this rare gift of unconditional love and
irrevocable trust. It was a gift so mystical; like the sight of a
mermaid. It was that defining moment when I finally found the merchant
ship I didn't know I was looking for, when I finally saw the truth in
this helpless, but hopeful girl. I am grateful to my conscience for
standing up and trumpeting the moment, so that it wouldn't pass me by.

I am no longer physically near her anymore, but I can still hear the
rhythm of her heart thumping, breaking the silence of the moonlit
night. It's those defining moments in life that we feel rapture from
deep within, and carry this delight in our memories, and every once in
a while, flashes of that goodness come back and salvage us, and
glorify us. You can say she is like my guardian angel. I can feel her
unconditional love and I know she has my trust and I have hers
everywhere I go. Although there are high mountains and deep seas
between us, never will emotional obstacles fracture the wholeness of
our intricate bond, for there is a channel of thought between us. I
bear witness to the glorious mythology of a merchant ship that was
lost at sea, whose founder was fate. Distance is the ultimate test of
friendship. I will always love her from a distance. In my heart, there
will always remain a holy space, the most vital of amulets, with her
name engraved in it; she is what I call my "rock of stability".