Small Places : Nick L Belardes [46 of 128]

• She leans over the pier railing. Her skin is dark. There is a shine to it in the hot sun and I suddenly want to hold her.
• I want to touch her shoulder, wrap myself around her waist and feel her lips. She turns and looks into my eyes.
• She gazes and starts smiling. Mulani turns and looks over the sand and sea. "China is so far away," she says.
• "Are you the kind of person who would take me there?" I don't have to think about this: "Sure. Why wouldn't I?"
• Mulani: "There are things I need to do and see but I'm afraid." Me: "I know."
• Down below, a few large waves roll across the surf. I sneak closer. I want to put my arms around her waist. She can sense it too.
• "Tell me what you're feeling," she says. It's as if she knows what I'm feeling--that I can't shake her, or this, or anything about her.
• I'm about to answer when my eyes move from Mulani down below to Vishnu who just dropped the Frisbee. He points to the ocean.
• If I had watched Mulani I would have seen something in her eyes just then I had never seen: the same adoration I feel for her perhaps?