Strange But Sweet

I have not seen you in 4 years, but here we are, walking hand in hand towards the carnival. We talk constantly, while studying the crowd and the rides. Then as we come closer to a small outdoor pub, you signal at the band playing. They look familiar, maybe from my college or yours, but I’m not really sure, so I just return a smile and a wave. The waiter accompanies us to a nearby table. You hesitate for a moment to order because I still have not decided what to drink, but then I tell you to go on, so you order a bottle of beer. Not really up for a drink, so I ask for a slice of cake instead (yes, in a pub). Still holding your beer bottle, you inch towards the platform where the band is playing, and whisper to the vocalist (call it a whisper, but I sure can hear it from here) “My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains by EBTG”. Then, without any hints, you grab the microphone, and sing the song yourself. I want to laugh, knowing you have never sung in front of a crowd, and that the song is actually sung by a woman, but I realize you do it just to impress me. The words still echo in my head…

I’ll let a train be my feet if it’s too far to walk to you
And if a train don’t go there
I’ll get a jet or a bus
'Cuz I’m gonna find you
You’re gonna see my shadow soon around you
And my head is my only house unless it rains

We share the cake (a lemon chiffon with white icing and little strands of vermicelli) with a lone fork. You take a quick gulp of beer, and hand the bottle to me. I do not even care about the clean glass sitting right in front of me. I just drink from that same bottle, and give it back to you. We talk endlessly as we pass the bottle to each other. The moment is so intimate. It feels like we are lovers, and friends.

We walk out of the pub and into the crowd. Aware of each other’s closeness, and just walking past the rides; carousel on our left, spinning AND tilting up to 90 degrees, and what looks like a flying fiesta on the right.

Then the damn alarm clock rang.