noctivagus deus

I sensed a glow and looked up coyly.

Towering over me, a beaming smile bursting with quiet contentment and amused delight met my eyes. It was a whole person smile, not one of those half-hearted toothy efforts that vanish the minute the camera has been put away. This, I thought, is the genuine article. What's more, I could even be in the rare presence of a happy person. Alien alert!

I was to look up many more times over the next fortnight, coquettishly at first, then compulsively. A stolen glance here, another quick peek there, as if to ensure the smile hadn't faded or disappeared. Often, I'd actively seek the presence of the smile, for it had magical properties. One look at it and my worries would recede into the background, another look and I would start to relax. Eventually, I too would smile, engaging into that speechless communication process that spells out far more than words ever do.

During the day, the smile would often see me through difficult times. After hours, it became a source of lightheartedness and convoluted conversations, a repository of wit, quips and puns. Oh how I brazenly feasted my eyes on that smile, holding it still in my mind, letting it rub away all traces of sadness, pain, disappointment...

The smile spoke of secrets, stories and songs, it showed me how to laugh again, taught me about the past, its people and places.

It left in the middle of the night some weeks ago, but it still illuminates my dreams from a distance.

[Elsewhere, the debate continues...]