1001 Tales - Gabriel
Again, this is spontaneous, just winging it. For other “writing on fly” pieces, see 1001 Tales - One and 1001 Tales - Two.
Let’s see how this one goes.
—
Gabriel
She watches the back of his hand fly towards her, and she knows it is going to hurt.
Physically and emotionally.
In that split second, time slows down, all she sees is the blur of the hand, the perfectly manicured nails that tell of a softness that is long gone. Around her, life goes on. The hustle and bustle of the busy street, the shoving and pushing, the horde of people heading about their business, all oblivious to the fact that right in their midst, her world, her life, her very existence has ended.
Just like that.
In her mind, one question rings out louder than the chaos around her.
“Dear God… how did we end up like this?”
And just before the hand hits her face, the tears start streaming.
“Hi, my name is Gabriel.”
She turns around and her heart almost stops. First she sees a magnificent and confident smile. He is the most handsome man she has ever seen. Tall and slender, with just a hint of the well built muscles rippling under the perfectly fitting shirt. The kind of muscles that cannot be purchased in a gym, but from good old manual labour and maybe an extreme sport like rock climbing.
She smiles and holds out her hand.
“I’m Anna. Anna Louise.”
“Beautiful name, it does you justice.” He smiles again, melting her heart, and lightly kisses the back of her hand, sending shivers down her spine.
He smiles again, and she is in love.
What follows is a whirlwind romance. They are perfect for each other, having enough in common to enjoy each other’s company and yet being so different that every day is a new discovery.
The months pass, they travel to exotic places. The skinny dip on the beaches of Maui, they kiss in the middle of Times Square, under the bright starless sky. They skydive over the green plains of New Zealand and stay in the shack of a local sheep farmer.
In all this, they stay faithful to each other. They both love their God with a passion that borders on fanaticism, but they love life as well, and live each day as if it were their last, and live their faith as if it were their first.
The best day of her life is when, under the beautiful moonlit night of Munnar in Kerala, the strains of the nadaswaran bathing them in its harmony, hundreds of feet above civilization, Gabriel gets down on one knee, and looking deep into her misting eyes, asks her to marry him. To share her forever with him.
She fell in love again.
Dear God…
The Bible hits the back of his head with enough force to knock him out. The hand freezes in mid air, a fraction of an inch away from her face and then his entire body crumbles. Without thinking, without missing a beat, she rushes forward and grabs him, gently lowering his unconscious body to the ground.
The seconds pass by, people around her are screaming. There is an unbelievable amount of chaos. There has been a major accident. She does not care. All she’s thinking about is Gabriel, is he okay? Was he hit hard enough to cause a concussion? She pulls out her phone to dial for help when she feels him stirring in her arms.
He groans and touches the back of his head. There is a very slight lump, nothing major. He looks around at the carnage, as his eyes grow wider in shock. He looks up at Anna. His beautiful Anna Louise.
She has tears in her eyes, and there is a hurt that he has never noticed. And yet here she is, by his side, at the very moment he chose to hurt her beyond anything he thought he could ever do.
He looks away, his own heart torn into a thousand pieces. How could he do such a thing? To Anna? The love of his life? He looks back at her and their eyes meet. His lips quaver, forming a question whose very answer he doesn’t want to hear.
“Did I… ?”
She pauses for a moment, then slowly shakes her head.
His sigh of relief came from the depths of his soul, like somehow, he has found redemption. He reaches out one hand and slowly touches her face, feeling her as if for the first time. She leans her face into his palm, feeling the old electricity coming back.
Suddenly, he pulls her down towards him, and kisses her with a passion that she didn’t think existed.
In the chaos surrounding them, she knows, somehow, she has found her true love again.
She kisses him back fiercely, framing his face with both her hands, pulling him towards her, kissing his mouth, his nose, his lips, his neck. She wants to get as much of him as possible. In her mind, one jubilant thought of praise, worship and adoration fills her very being.
“Dear God, how can I ever thank you?”
Around them, the chaos goes on. The cries and wails of those who have lost their loved ones, the shoving and pushing, the horde of people heading towards the scene of the accident, all oblivious to the fact that right in their midst, her world, her life, her very existence has begun again.
And between Gabriel and Anna Louise, while they held each other, looking deep into each other’s eyes, the Bible lay snug.
October 26th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
[...] in case you missed them, two new “writing on the fly” pieces at 2 W.E.A.K Dudes : 1001 Tales - Gabriel and 1001 Tales - [...]
October 26th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Beautiful story, will read the second part, still curious as to where the Bible intercepted what would have been a black eye…has me wishing my Bible would step in and get a few things done.
October 26th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
its really good.
what accident? bible, what?
October 27th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I also have many questions. But the writing is beautiful. Had you intended to leave us hanging?
October 27th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
@Walkonby, lol, God works in mysterious ways.
@Eleet, look beyond what you see.
@Carlo, yes, I think towards the end of writing in, I decided to leave huge gaps.
Y’all might want to read the stories relative to each other.
October 28th, 2008 at 11:32 am
really good… also wondering about the Bible and the accident connection
October 28th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
ba people. BIBLE! read previous post duh!
unh, DK i hope i’m right. hehehehe.
i like. i really like.
please write more.
December 4th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
mmm…
DK = Gab?!