06-28-2016, 09:17 PM
It doesn't take long, though it would have been fair to leave me waiting for an age or two. Ah, but that was never Yael's way. The air blurs in front of me, and in an instant she is there, golden and shining in the desert sun. God, it feels good to see her again, to see joy light up her eyes, to hear the strange rhythms and tones of her voice and know I have at least one friend left that I didn't irrevocably alienate in my grief.
She wraps herself around me, enfolding me in her great, feathered wings, and I can't help but smile against the gold of her skin. “Ah, Yael, looking lovelier than ever. God, I've missed you too.” I hug her back, holding her tight to me for as long as I can. Oh, I've got a couple of my kids, a couple of sons-in-law, a couple of grandbabies that love me. But there is nothing in this world like an old friend holding onto you and welcoming you home after far too long away. “How are you, love?” I ask, just breathing her in, burying my face in her silver mane and letting her love wash over me.
I've felt her now and again, inquisitive touches light as those beautiful golden feathers brushing against me, checking to see if I was okay, if I was alive, if I needed her. I've done the same, trying to leave no trace and just making sure the people I loved were alright. I could have reached out to her, could have made contact with those feather-light touches and invited her in, let her see how I was, where I was, anything. But I wasn't ready. Not in all those years away.
I finally let go and take a step back, my own smile just as warm, just as joyful as the one that lit her face when she saw me. “It's so good to see you, my friend. I'm sorry it took me so long.”
She wraps herself around me, enfolding me in her great, feathered wings, and I can't help but smile against the gold of her skin. “Ah, Yael, looking lovelier than ever. God, I've missed you too.” I hug her back, holding her tight to me for as long as I can. Oh, I've got a couple of my kids, a couple of sons-in-law, a couple of grandbabies that love me. But there is nothing in this world like an old friend holding onto you and welcoming you home after far too long away. “How are you, love?” I ask, just breathing her in, burying my face in her silver mane and letting her love wash over me.
I've felt her now and again, inquisitive touches light as those beautiful golden feathers brushing against me, checking to see if I was okay, if I was alive, if I needed her. I've done the same, trying to leave no trace and just making sure the people I loved were alright. I could have reached out to her, could have made contact with those feather-light touches and invited her in, let her see how I was, where I was, anything. But I wasn't ready. Not in all those years away.
I finally let go and take a step back, my own smile just as warm, just as joyful as the one that lit her face when she saw me. “It's so good to see you, my friend. I'm sorry it took me so long.”