LomoLit: Flutter (Part 4)

Losing someone is not always through break ups, over a fight, or text messages. Sometimes, it’s the fleeting moments of indifference that can make a then close proximity into a gaping divide that just ends it all for a relationship.

Photo by clownshoes

Dean seemed to drift away more from Mika and vice versa. Gone were the days when they couldn’t peel themselves away from each other. He no longer tucked her unkempt hair into the back of her ears. She was fine with him being away for weeks at end. They both stopped trying even if it was a simple thing like dialing the phone.The distance between them became normal and evident in their relationship.

But as Mika recalled everything in her chair before she stood up to walk to the checking counter at the airport, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for herself and the things that could have been.

Photo by slanecek

He was important to her and she knew it. She felt that feeling looming over her during the last few months they resumed contact. She saw Dean’s latest photos on his profile. He looked better clean-shaven. He traded his tangled mop hair into a clean business cut. He was still wearing distressed jeans that were now tapered to his lean build.

“Do you ever feel that we can be strangers once again in the future?”

Mika looked up to Dean the way she always had: as the petite girl under the shadow of a hulking mass of motor oil, rust, grease and dust. She loved how his smell reminds her of the term Renaissance man.

“Us? Strangers?”

There was a perplexed look on Dean’s face. The strong features softened for a moment. It’s what gave him away and he knew it when Mika noticed that look on his face. He recognized a glimmer of triumph in her deep eyes.

Photo by jean_louis_pujol

“Yea. I mean, we can be strangers in the future, right? It can happen.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I wouldn’t want that.”

He shrugged and slightly turned his back on her. His feet shuffled and the soles of his shoes scratched the dust from the floor into swirl of life.

She could still remember how the glittered specks flew through and around the beam of light. How could she forget? It hurt each time she remembered.

Eight hours later, Mika exhaled the last of the recycled plane air from her nostrils. She was happy to be off that plane. She distinctly disliked the feeling of being in transit – it made her feel ambivalent. It was an unpleasant feeling of being at two places at the same time. She hated the thought of traveling although she liked the view now and then.

Photo by vici

She was still holding the silver paper butterfly in her left hand. She hadn’t noticed that she was until she saw some decayed sliver from it on her jacket. It was cold and she could feel the dampness of her nostrils taking in the chilled air.

Suddenly, a pair of arms grabbed her from the back and a warm gust of breath found its way to her neck. She knew who it was. Well, who else could it be?

“I missed you. Welcome home.”

“I’m glad to be home.”

Mika turned around and found a familiar face looking down on her with the intensity she longed for. She returned the favor of a warm hug though she had to slightly tiptoe just to reach the top of a wide pair of shoulders. She knew she was home.

Photo by lomomowlem

“Make me another butterfly.”

“But I don’t smoke anymore.”

“I know. Let’s grab something to eat. I’m up for some pancakes.”

Photo by ryszardl70

“You don’t know how much I’d like that. And oh, Lucy wanted to come but she was too sleepy to get up. She told me to give you a hug from behind. She was very specific. I feel like I was talking to a pushy old lady.”

Mika just smiled and slipped the crumpled butterfly into her pocket.

LomoLit: Flutter Part 1

LomoLit: Flutter Part 2

LomoLit: Flutter Part 3