**excerpt from a monstrously long story about going to Door County**
... I starred off into the distance but my gaze was suddenly interrupted when a very drunk danish girl, with fire red hair and a Nordic sweater stumbled over and began slurring,
"You have thhhhe most BEAUTIFUL eyes!!!" I laughed aloud and smiled appreciatively,
"Thank you so much!" I responded
"I..I was gonna tell you earlier...I like your outfit too....but it thought, i thought it was too much to say at once...i, uh, i didn't want you to be weirded out!!!" she laughed and swayed. I laughed too.
"There's no way I would be weirded out, thats awesome thank you! I'm in love with your sweater!!"
"Thanks!" she said, and as she did, I saw a boy saunter back over to where this girl and I were conversing.
She turned to him and blurted to him "her eyes are beautiful!!" he laughed, and the three of us began talking.
I found out through our conversation that this stranger and this girl were roommates, and that they lived just down the road.
Eventually the red-headed girl became distracted and wandered away, leaving me and the unfamiliar boy awkwardly starring in opposite directions. I couldn't bear the unusual silence,
"So, you know a lot of people here" I proclaimed to ease the awkwardness
"Yeah, I grew up here. I haven't missed a summer"
"oh really? and you live in Milwaukee for the school year?"
"Yeah, but i'm taking some time off. I'm almost finished with my degree but I don't know what i'm going to do with it. I think i want to get out of the state for a while, take some time to figure things out"
finally. an actual conversation.
"Thats cool, where do you want to go?"
"Colorado. my friend and I want to move there in the winter"
"I've heard great things. iI've never been, but its supposed to be incredible"
Our conversation went on like this for a while. I peered at the clock and noticed it was getting close to bar time. I felt a sense of now or never. and i asked a bold question
"Hey, do you know how far the piers are from here?"
"Not far, just down the block actually"
"Do you want to go for a walk?"
He smiled, so did I
"Sure! Let me grab my coat and say goodbye"
"Yeah, I have to let my friend know."
I walked over to Indy with a huge smile.
"We are going to go for a walk!" I told her, "I will keep my phone on loud, what are you doing?"
"Well I have to take a few people home, do you want a ride too?" I nodded furiously
I wasn't all that drunk, but I knew my car would live in Sister Bay that night.
"Well, I will drop these guys off and come back for you.
"Well, I will drop these guys off and come back for you.
I didn't want this to be a long and drawn out thing. Boy or not, it was a harvest moon and I intended to sit under the stars by the water and soak it all in. Just for a few minutes.
I saw that the boy had put on his coat. I made sure I had my things and walked over to meet up with him.
"You ready?" I said. he nodded. We made our way outside.
If only there were actual words to describe this night.
The moon was high overhead, it was full. It was the harvest moon. Not a single cloud hung in the sky and the stars overhead shown infinitely against the blackness. There were no planes in the sky.I'd grown accostumed to green and red flashing lights filling Madison skies. But not here, Here there were only stars.
It was cool outside, and the wind off of Lake Michigan blanketed everything, we were of the water because we couldn't escape it. Smells and breezes intermingled with our scarves and faces and the ends of our hair as we walked down to the piers.
Grass ended in the park that lead to the water and led to a concrete ledge. Past which lay hundreds of giant boulders piling high out of the water. The water was close and if I climbed down a few of the boulders I could have easily felt the waves wash upon my feet. The moonlight cast a midnight blue across the entire bay. This harbor, which I had seen during the day, was a completely new world at night. An alien one that seemed created from a dream or a film strip; completely unreal and foreign and breathtaking. In the distance I spotted the steep cliffs of the land that encircled around us to create the bay. The white moon's light reflected off the trees and rocks and bluffs. The black water gently played with its beams as it rose and fell in shimmering waves, crashing heavily on the rocks below us. The lake was calm but fluid. It wasn't flat, like it would be on a windless night. It rolled rhythmically. The motion was peaceful, and the sounds were comforting, Like how the beating of a heart, and the rise and fall of lungs are comforting when you're resting your head on someone's chest.
If i could paint a better night, it would seem too perfect; too crisp in its presentation, It would lose all its beauty. In truth, no picture, or painting, or memory even could recreate that place. As we sat there it barely mattered who we were, or who we were with. All that mattered was that night. All that made sense was being there to experience it.
There were words exchanged. I remember few or them. It was late & my mind was full of stars. My chest bursting, trying desperately to inhale this place. To find a way to keep it inside of me forever.
My phone rang after about 20 minutes of us sitting there. It jolted me back into a world where time had a meaning.
It was Indy. She would be there in a few short minutes, she told me, we should walk to the road so she can see us. I hung up the phone. I told the boy we had to go.
He didn't say anything, He just looked at me intently and I gazed back at him. I think we were overwhelmed by this place, not feeling quite human within it. He leaned in and kissed me.
It was surprising and unsurprising. my first thought fell on how long it had been since I was last kissed. probably over a year. It was odd, I had been kissed regularly for four years. I'd forgotten how weird it was, but I'd also forgotten how nice it was.
Our lips were shiver cold. It wasn't a bad kiss, but it was a kiss out of context. In all honesty the night had worked its magic on our minds. Moonlight is painfully deceiving. So the kiss seemed formed from the world we were experiencing, and not from any fire that we had created together. The action was pleasant but the feeling was vacant. Although it fit uncannily well in the mysterious and unnatural place we found ourselves encapsulated within.
when we broke apart i looked up, smiled, and began to laugh. an involuntary reaction that I experience often. he smiled at me, looking puzzled.
"What?" he said.
"oh, nothing. i just...I like laughing" I had no better answer
I hopped up from the seat, having seen a car drive past in my periphery.
We made our way to the street. I ran there, feeling weightless and giddy. We waited on the sidewalk. Exchanged phone numbers.
as Indy pulled up, I hugged him goodbye. I asked if he wanted a ride home. he said no, he would walk. I couldn't blame him. I would have walked if I could. I would have given anything to never let those midnight hours go.
It seemed clear to me that he was interested in more of a painless fling. That honestly annoyed me less than the way he had carried himself all night; just another guy trying too hard to be cool and detached. I don't have any patience for it.
My car was parked in sister bay, So I had time to eat breakfast, read, and get ready. I didn't know that this next day would be the epitome of the surprises i would experience that weekend. little did I know that the next one was waiting at the cafe just down the street.
I made my way down the road, my headphones were in, music playing, words repeating
"as the years go by
close your eyes
because everything is
perfectly aligned"
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