Her Smile

By Aienla M Imchen (Pen Name - Anostalgicwriter)

“What is your favourite animal?” She asked as they took yet another one of their conspicuous rides.

“Dog”

“Mmhh.. what is your favourite bird?”

“Peacock”

“Why are those your favourite?”

“A dog is loyal and a good companion,” he glances backward as though trying to read her emotion and then continues “peacocks are serene and..”

“Beautiful?”

“Yes, very.”

“So you like the dog because it is loyal and the peacock because it is beautiful and serene?”

“That’s true”

They ride in silence for a while and she speaks up again “the tiger is my favourite animal and the eagle is my favourite bird. ”

He smiled a smile all too familiar and evident as though he had anticipated his own surprise yet again. It was not foreign to him. She never failed to surprise him but he knew all too well that she was full of surprises. “Why do you like them?” he asked.

Her smile gave away a radiance and a vibe that made her smile contagious. She was always sure of herself. She always knew what she wanted and why she wanted it. This time was no different.

“The tiger is a majestic being” she beamed as she looked at the far blue sky “and the eagle is the king of the sky. The tiger’s strength and the eagle’s will to survive and soar high above the clouds is what entices me.”

As always he was impressed by her great passion in the simplest of things. He looked lost for a moment and then his eyes glistened in the afternoon sun with his hair blown back as he rode his motorcycle along the broad highway. He appeared to be getting ready to launch an attack on her. A debate of wit and passion. With an amused curiosity and an expression proclaiming that he believed he had already lost the battle, he said “you can have the dog by your side all the time, they are considered men’s best friend and it’s not impossible to have a peacock as a pet. But the tiger and the eagle cannot be tamed and you cannot have them around you at all.”

It was a rather weak protest that posed no threat to her as she leaned forward and ardently listened to him without the slightest physically contact. “That’s the beauty of it all. The wildness, the power, the freedom to go far and high. That’s what I like. They are not meant to be ever caged or tamed. They are created to fly high above the clouds and run wild and free.”

Even the way she sat demonstrated how carefree and fearless she was. She was now leaning back and looking up towards the sky as she said “to be feared by the wild and to fly above the storm and rain, isn’t that wonderful?”

She smiled in a way that was so pure but it did not give away the burden of her heart. If one looked into her eyes hard enough they might find a faint trace of fear and anguish but it never really showed. Her smile was genuinely from the heart because she believed that the troubles of the present are transient. She smiled and let smile.

Whilst he was dumbstruck by her reply and by how much her mind explored things that he did not dare entertain, another thought struck her mind.

“Oh how our desires differ. You prefer loyalty and companionship, I’d rather have strength and majesty.”

Momentarily, her seemingly insolent remark made him feel slightly ridiculed but when he turned around and looked at her, his groundless insecurity dissolved. How could that smile ever be misunderstood. It was a smile that said “I understand you”, “I feel you”, “I respect you”... It was a smile that said “everything is alright”, “life is beautiful” and it was a smile that said “I am happy”.

“Our differences are beautiful. Life is all the more beautiful because of all the differences that exist. We want various things that are gorgeous and unique in their own ways.”

All he could do was smile. Taken aback by how she managed to give him the perfect answer every time. He was amazed at the way she saw and interpreted things. She was like a window that opened to a mystical land. She saw beauty in the simplest of things. A mystical creature that transcended his understanding. They had found the perfect friendship in each other.

He feared oblivion, yet here she was sitting behind him and smiling, willingly oblivious to everything around them with her auburn hair flying in the wind.

She was lost in the mystical land which she had created for her alone. A world where no one had access to. It was a place where she kept her most beautiful imaginations and her deepest secrets. Her desires and fears all carefully hidden from the outside world. Yet her eyes and her smile betrayed her discreet tongue. Her eyes projected how beautiful her imagination was without her consent and her smile narrated how happy she was, deceiving her lips. Not a word was uttered but her smile said it all.

By Aienla M Imchen (Pen Name - Anostalgicwriter)