Bald-headed
Ch. 20
They arrived at the dock a short time later. After throwing the bag into the canoe, Sugi immediately checked to make sure he had not missed anything, then pushed the canoe into the water.
"Can I do something?"
"No, just go in."
After he boarded, he pushed the canoe further into the water, close to the pier. Then she gracefully descended from the dock to the canoe, laying her feet carefully to prevent the canoe from overturning.
Birundasih was impressed by his dexterity, knowing that what he had done so quickly and easily turned out to be more difficult than it seemed.
Birundasih sits at the front of the canoe, facing back. Sugi had said something to her about losing sight of her when she started rowing later, but she shook her head, saying that she had no problem with it, she was fine.
And that's true.
She could see everything she really wanted to see if she turned her head, but most importantly she wanted to see the man, Sugi.
He's the one he wants to see, not the creek. His shirt was not draped on the top, and he could see his chest muscles flexing at each blow his paddle touched the water surface. His sleeves were also rolled up, and he could see the muscles in the man's arms bulging slightly. His muscles are well developed there as a result of pedaling every morning.
Artistic, thought. There was something almost artistic about him when he did all that.
Something natural, as if being on the water was out of his control, like the part of a gene passed down to him from an obscure pool of descendants. As He continued to pay attention to the man, he was reminded of how early explorers looked when they first discovered the continents.
He could not think of anyone else who resembled this man before him. He is complicated, almost contradictory in many ways, yet simple, a strange erotic combination.
On the surface he is a country boy, coming home from a life war, and he probably sees himself in that term. But there was so much more in him that could be seen for Birundasih.
It may be the poetry that made him different, or it may be the values that his father instilled as he grew up. Whatever it was, she seemed to be enjoying life more fully than anyone else seemed, and that was what first attracted her to this man.
"What are you thinking?"
He felt his entrails surge slightly as Sugi's voice brought him back to the present. She realized she hadn't talked much since they started, and she appreciated the silence the man allowed her. He's always been that kind of attention.
"Good things," he replied quietly, and he saw in Sugi's eyes that he knew he was thinking about it.
She likes the fact that Sugi knows about it, and she wishes she thought about it too.
He then understood that something was stirring within him, as it had been all those years ago. Observing him, seeing his body move, made him feel it.
And when their eyes paused for a moment, he felt the heat rush into his chest, and he blushed, turning around before Sugi realized something.
"How far away is it?" she asked.
"About half a mile away. No more than that."
After pause. Then, he said: "Here is beautiful. Very clean. Very calm. Almost like back in time."
He leaned towards her. "Tell me, Sugi, what do you remember most about the holiday season we spent together?"
"All.. everything."
"Something special?"
"No," he said.
"You don't remember?"
He replied after a while, silently, seriously.
"No, it's not that. Not what you think it is. I'm serious when I say 'everything.' I can remember every moment we were together, and in every moment there was something beautiful. I can't really choose one time that means more than another.
The whole holiday season is perfect, the kind of holiday period that everyone should have. How can I choose one moment over another?
Poets often describe love as an emotion that we cannot control, which overcomes logic and common sense. That's what it feels like to me.
I don't plan on falling in love with you, and I doubt if you're planning on falling in love with me. But once we meet, it's clear that none of us can control what happens to us.
We fall in love, despite our differences, and once we do, something rare and beautiful is created. For me, that kind of love only happens once, and that's why every minute we spend together has been etched into my memory. I'll never forget a single moment from her."
Birundasih. No one had ever said anything like that to her before.
Just this guy. He did not know what to say and remained silent, his face warmed.
"I'm sorry if I make you feel uncomfortable, Birundasih. I didn't mean that. But that holiday season stays with me and it always will. I know it can't be the same between us, but it doesn't change how I feel about you back then."
He spoke slowly, feeling warm from those memories.
"That doesn't make me uncomfortable, Sugi. ...It's just that I've never heard of anything like that. What you said was beautiful. It takes a poet to speak as you do, and as I said, you are the only poet I have ever met."
A peaceful silence enveloped them. An osprey is crying somewhere in the distance. Belanak splashed near the edge. The paddles moved rhythmically, causing a slight tremor to shake the boat. The breeze stopped, and the clouds grew darker as the canoe moved towards an unknown destination.
[**Osprey: commonly referred to as a fish eagle or oyster eagle. Its population is spread almost all over the world. Osprey is not an eagle. The osprey is classified into the genus Pandion and the family Pandionidae as a single species, distinct from the eagle family called Accipitridae.]
Birundasih paid attention to everything, every voice, every thought. Her feelings came alive, refreshing her, and she felt her mind drift over the past few weeks.
He thought about the anxiety that had caused him to come here. Surprised at the sight of the article, sleepless nights, his short temper during the day. Even yesterday he was scared and wanted to escape.
The tension is gone now, every part of it, is replaced by something else, and she is happy about it as she now rides a deep red sampan in silence with the man.