In Another Life

Two soft cushioned chairs on a balcony faced an ancient willow tree, which grew quietly by a lake. Its gangly branches twisted and drooped, their soft leaves tiptoeing on the edge of the mossy water.

The sun had begun to set, casting golden shadows upon the couple gazing at the scene. Eyes squinted from their time in the sun, their hair grey as weathered stone, they sat in silence listening to the distant song of a whip bird. A thousand times they had watched the sunset, yet each time felt strangely new.

One wrinkled hand reached out over a wooden rocking chair and embraced the other. 

“Do you remember when we first met?” the old man smiled dearly at his wife, earning a gentle smile in response. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” he finished. 

“Which time?” croaked out his wife who once had a voice softer than a bird.

“All the times,” he chuckled. “This one was a good one. I knew it was you from the back of your head; no one has hair that red except you.” 

“I remember, we were merely seventeen and I was shopping with my friends, trying on all the slimmest dresses back then. I can’t wait to do that again.” She paused, smiling up at the sky. “I didn’t recognise you at first, took me a moment to realise.”

“What gave it away?”

“The way you carry things on,” she smiled, showing gummed teeth. “I knew it was you because every time I’d try to end a conversation or move on, you’d always have to have the last say. You can never end a conversation without coming to the conclusion.”

“Ah, but that’s why you love me,” he declared far too loudly for the quiet scene.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean it still doesn't make me mad.”

They lapsed into a swift silence watching the sun fall some more. Soft bird song echoed in the sky as they retreated to their nests for the night, ready to start the day again tomorrow. 

“And what about the time before that?” the old man questioned, bringing to life the conversation again. 

“That life took us too long to find each other,” the old lady waved her hand in the air. 

“I agree, but have you ever had so much fun? Sure, we were well into our forties but don’t you remember the thrill of being on stage and performing in front of millions, me on the drums, you on the guitar, opposing bands, the excitement, the tension, the passion,” he flirted, even after all those years. 

“All I wanted to do was crush your band and prove we were the better musicians… until I fell in love with you…. again.”

“It is inevitable my love,” he brought her wrinkled freckled hand to his lips and placed a slobbery kiss upon it. She would have wiped it off in pure disgust and teased him for not being able to keep his lips together, but now she was old and she was tired so it stayed shimmering wet on her veined hand.

“The time before that was my favourite though.”

“Ah yes, the garden. I dare say you have never looked more beautiful, swimming in that lake filled with cherry blossoms, buried in your hair, your eyes the brightest green,” he smiled at the distant memory. “What about the very first time?” he taunted, still carrying the conversation on despite the now dimming light.

“With the genie?”

“With the genie,” he nodded.

“I don’t think that poor genie knew what he would do when he granted us eternal life, binding us to each other. Thinking we would go mad.”

“We did for a few lifetimes,” he shrugged as if their previous murder attempts on each other was nothing.

“But we came around.”

The last of the sunlight faded, the blue of the sky washing away the day’s energy, painting it in coolness, the wind whistling through the trees like a secret promise as the light faded.

“See you in the next life,” they both whispered as the last of the light faded.