Inside

 Past the pathway.

Past the grasses lining the walk, the quiet familiarity...the summer scent still in full bloom...an evening previously roiled by storms so only the crisp air loitering...

A proximity, not quite close enough to discern but working and walking towards an entrance that is not on any map but rather a pathway in my mind.  I have been there before...I recognize and I remember.

If I were to pause it would only be to smile.

And an urge to walk perhaps even faster...get there sooner.  Arrive.

I see the candles that I wondered if they were still lit and they still are...casting perfect shadows and lighting that is exceptional.  The arcs of cheekbones in my memory...the curvatures that I crave. And the whole time the warm humid air is amongst me, sticking to me...a delicate sweat, a cloying moisture that is a second skin.

A familiarity.

I arrive at the entrance, a few steps winnowing down to a very small point to conjoin.  

There is a moment, when there is a pause and I am outside.  A moment that is just mine.  A pause.  A quickening.

And then I push and I am inside.

I see the candles and I feel the warmth.  I smell the scents of a summer and I am inhaling them.  I look up and I see you there.