Evening Trees

She turned the key on the back door of the restaurant,  felt the lock slide into place and tugged at the handle to ensure it was locked.

The night was concussive, tree crickets chirping their songs, the heavy humidity of July in Surry blanketing the still air...after the cool air in the bar it was warming to her.

She pulled out a cigarette and lit it, the brief match flare and the orange tip the only things near enough to see.  Further out she could find the one parking lot lamp dripping yellow light onto her car but here in the doorway it was very dark.  She preferred that.

She twirled a bit of her hair in her finger, a habit when she was thinking, the tendrils wrapping around her and she thought about whether or not she would shower when she got back.

katy-did,  katy-didn't

The sound of the chirping was loud, almost like from a concert's speaker, and beneath the blackened limbs she could see the tell-tale blinks of fireflies.

The river was beyond them, the void between work and home, and she knew the ferry was waiting for her.

It could wait.

She inhaled, letting the smoke infuse her and she closed her eyes against the evening.  She remembered some of things he had said in their last stay...straining to listen as if he was still whispering to her.

She exhaled, releasing the smoke into the air, and with it she started to relax.

She felt loved.  She felt at peace.

katy-did, katy-didn't.

In the dark noise she wondered when she would see him next...and if they would have the chance to share a pillow, share proximity.

Or if they would just greet...a brief hug.  Maybe a kiss near the ear.

Eyes sharing something that the mind already knew existed...maybe widening a little at the first glimpse of each other...like salt spilling out of its shaker the anticipation of a taste...a spice that was shared.  She drew in another puff of smoke, shorter...and started walking to her car.

katy-did, katy-didn't

The trees grew louder as she crossed the lot.  She exhaled and flicked the remnant and it arced in the air, orange sparks alighting and hit the gravel and flared briefly.

She pulled the car door open, no reason to lock it down here...nobody would steal it...nothing inside worth protecting.

She let the windows down and turned on the radio to a station near the beach...she thought about starting another cigarette.

She remembered the taste of his mouth, the shape of it...the contortions against hers.  She remembered once the collision of teeth in a moment.

She backed out of the space, the outside noise spilling inside the car, the bit of breeze in the movement, and headed towards the ferry pier, the sounds of the evening trees filling her ears and she could smell salt in the air...

katy-did, katy didn't