• I wake up to the feeling of the alertness. It feels good but that is not what comforts me this morning. What is most comforting to me is the feeling of an arm wrapped around my shoulders, holding me to a thin yet still muscular body. "Good moring, Rose." Vlad murmurs, kissing the top of my head. "Mmm... Buenos dias, mi amor." I say in my language. During the year that we have known each other I have unsuccessfully tried to teach him how to speak Spanish but he isn't all that great so we have decided to talk mostly in English.
    He chuckles and reminds me "You know I don't know very much Spanish and yet you still try to get me to speak it." I laugh as well and say "Everything is worth a shot. Besides I like my language and you understand the words, you just don't know how to speak it." He shrugs and kisses my lips. It's very brief but oh so sweet. "I suppose you're right. I love you." He always makes a point to tell me he loves me every day we're together. That's one of the things I love about him and it keeps our relationship strong. "Te amo." I say simply. "Te amo." he attempts to repeat but it still comes out in that funny gringo accent. I laugh and tell him "Maybe you should stick to English, at least we know you can pronounce those words properly... or at least most of them." I tease. "What can I say? I'm not bilingual like you. Do you want to go to the river today?" he asks
    The river is a few miles away from my families home. It's really a beautiful spot where the fish sometimes leap from the water's surface and the water glitters with such purity. "Of coarse!" I exclaim. "Shh..." he whispers, putting his index finger on my lips. "Right." I giggle. "I'll step out so you can get ready." He begins to get up from the bed, pulling me up with him.
    He walks me to the window and kisses me passionately, his hands of my waist and mine on his face. He pulls away slowly. "Time to get ready." he says, lightly jumping off the sill of my window of the second floor. I do not worry for he has something that will catch him. I look down and see him step softly on the ground; I still like to make sure he makes it down safely.
    I close the window and walk over to my closet. On my way there I stumble upon the rose of last night. I pick it up and look at it for a moment; it was so beautiful in an indescribable way. I lay it gently on my wardrobe. It looks so pretty there.
    I dress quickly in a pair of faded old jeans and T-shirt. I quickly throw on my shoes and comb through my hair. I go to the bathroom down the hall and brush my teeth as well. I look at my self in the full-body mirror in there. My curly black hair reaches to my shoulder blades and frames my face and accents my chocolate brown eyes. Vlad always said he liked me eyes because they reminded him of the warm earth. My T-shirt hangs loosly on my slim but curvy figure, as do my jeans. I run to room and open the window, it was still dark out and the full moon was like a spotlight tonight. "I'm ready I whisper."
    Suddenly Vladik is hugging me. "Do you want to go down my way or the boring way?" he asks playfully. "Your way." I say, a big smile on my lips. "Okay then." He lifts me up so that I am being carried like a new born baby. He perches himself on the window sill and jumps.
    It is such an addrenaline rush. My hair goes everywhere. And I see something unfolding behind Vlad. We smoothly land on the ground and the things that had unfolded behind him were no longer there. I blinked a few times at what had happened. It wasn't the first time it happened but it was still shocking, even when you knew the truth.
    "Wow." I mouth the word. He laughs and says "Yeah, I know. I was kinda scared I would drop you." He pretends to drop me but catches me. I let out a scream and smack his arm playfully as he sets me back on my feet. "Why'd you do that? You know I have fear of being dropped." I say. "Because I wanted to get you a little worked up for this." He bends down and kisses me. It feels amazing when he kisses me, so calming yet so exhilerating. I pull away to see him smiling at me.
    Without words being said we interlock hands and after he spins me we go walking towards our river. This felt so much like a fairy tale that it could not be real, at times it didn't even feel real but I constantly remind myself that I it is.
    There is a few minutes of silence as we walk the abandoned road alone in the darkness of early morning. Vladik breaks that silence with a statement "I feel aweful about last night. I gave you that horrible information on the first night I see you when we have been separated over a month. How could you ever forgive me for this?" I look at him, his perfect features contorted in regret and sadness. "Ay. It wasn't so bad. The only thing I fear is that you may love her more than you love me..." I give his hand an affectionate squeeze before continuing "I can forgive you because I love you and I always will, no matter what happens, I will always love you." He gives me a slight smile and I smile broadly at him. "You are too kind to me, Rose. I don't deserve this kind of affection." He looks at our hands, then at my face, and lastly stares at the moon with the sad eyes of an ancient man. Our conversation ends once again. I contemplate what he means by when he said 'I don't deserve this kind of affection.'
    I sigh and look at the trees that suround the road we are on. How can they all be the same and unique at the same time. They actually remind me of people; how they can be from the same culture and still have their own personalities. It's funny how nature and humans can be so much alike. I chuckle at my strange thoughts. "What are you laughing at?" Vlad asks, curiousity in his tone. "Just at what I was thinking about." I shrug. "What were you thinking about?" he pries. "I was thinking how nature and humans are similar. The trees are all of the same species and they are also unique; people are from the same culture and still have personalities all their own, you see?" I state. He nods "I never thought of it like that. You notice all the little details, don't you?" "Not really, just what is laid out in front of me." I smile. "You are so silly, you know that? You are incredibly intelligent and observant and yet you just act as if your abilities are not there and you are like any other talentless person out there. There are people who would love to notice what you do but they don't. You know why? Because they don't have that talent." he lectures me. I sigh and then he says "Don't go acting as if you didn't hear me. You are an incredibly talented young woman and if I would be so bold as to say, a very beautiful young woman as well." I blush. "Umm... Thank you." I murmur to the ground.
    A few moments pass and we are at the bay of our river. I took off the sandals I had but on and just stand there, letting the water and the sand to play at my feet. For a moment I felt as if I were flying. I felt so free here, here I didn't have to hear that I was insane for believing in love or anything else, here I could be myself, no filter or anything, just me. He lets go of my hand and stands behind me with his arms wrap around me. I lean slightly on his chest as I close my eyes just so I can feel everything around me without the distraction of sight.
    We decide to sit on a rock that hangs over the edge a bit so that we can see all that goes on in the water.
    Time passes and I suddenly laugh to myself when I see my reflection on the water. Yes, only my reflection, without Vladik's in sight. "Why do you laugh?" he asks. "Look at the water and tell me what you see." I say smiling. He looks at the water and laughs as well. "So this is what people see when we're together..." I muse. "Just me holding and being held by what appears to be air." He kisses my lips gently.