When The Sun Falls

It was the smile of someone who knew exactly what you were going through more than a little too well. That was the first thing that seemed the least bit amiss. And then those eyes. Those startlingly clear, piercing eyes boring holes straight through you and into your deepest thoughts.

Even I couldn't look into those eyes for very long, and I've always had a knack for seeing into people. Maybe it came from loving them. People, eyes...whichever. I rather loved both. But something was different...something so much more powerful, so much deeper, that I had to look away sometimes. Even the iron walls I had built about my deepest secrets couldn't keep out that gaze. So I turned my eyes aside to protect myself.

The people we meet always change us in one way or another. Usually, it requires for some time to pass for us to see the effect or understand the significance that someone may have on our lives. But not this time. This time I just knew it would be different. The first time I looked into those eyes, I understood that my life would never be the same, that I would change many times in many ways because of the influence this person would later have on my life.

All of that, in the space of five seconds spent staring into someone's eyes. I don't know how it happened or why it made so much sense. Maybe I should have been worried that it worked so well. I had known from the start that this wasn't the sort of thing that made sense, though...I never tried to make it one. And that's why it worked so well. I asked no questions of whatever it was, I put no labels on it, I just let it go, let it be. I stood back, with a smile on my face that wouldn't fade.

The sun was sinking below the horizon, marking the end of that day. Part of me knew the whole time that I would never be able to forget. Perhaps the sun was only sinking below the horizon, but to me it wouldn't have mattered if it was to fall right where I was standing in that moment. Something was different, something was right. Nothing else mattered. I felt the breeze hit my face, the slight chill of the air sending a shiver through my spine, but didn't care.

I found a reason to live, a way to be happy. I found something worthwhile. And that day, I was right...everything has changed since then, the days have melted together and the memories filled pleasant hours of recounting tales. So as the sun was falling that day, the soft glow fading from the earth, the all-knowing smile never left that face, and all that night, a matching one lit up mine.