GasWorks Sunset

While there hasn't been much in the way of blogging on my part, I have been writing...on napkins, boxes and any other surfaces when the ideas strike. Here is a story I started working on about 4 months ago. If anyone has feedback, let me hear it. Anyhow, it's all I've got for right now.

**It had been a while since I had spent any time at Gasworks in Seattle…it was such a beautiful and crisp summer night so I thought I would pull off 99 and spend some time on my beloved grassy hills. With no clouds in sight, and the sun about an hour from setting, it seemed destined for me to watch the sun kiss the sky goodbye for one more night. After backing my bike into the parking spot, turning the key and hearing the engine slowly purr to sleep, I took my helmet off…brushed my hair a bit forward and took in a deep breath of sea air. I thought to myself that I really wished I could share this night with you…and before I could finish my thought, I could hear kids playing on the other side of the trees and so for the moment my reverie was broken by the sound of laughter instead of the tears I have come to expect on a regular basis. I dismounted from my bike, put the keys in my pocket and started off through the closest trail. I remember thinking as I emerged from the tree line that the sky was starting to turn a soft hue of robin’s egg blue mixed with a soft pink pastel. The further West I looked the brighter and more intense the pink became until it reached a fire red, and as I headed towards the hills I could see the kids that had earlier broken my reverie with their laughter. They must have only been 5 and 7 years old, but running around each other playing tag with a little black fluffy dog. I smiled and waved as they looked in my direction and the littlest one waved back just before the dog jumped her and all three of them started rolling around on the grass in hysterical fits of laughter. If only someone could put that kind of joy and unbridled happiness in a bottle and sell it…they would be the richest souls to walk the Earth.

The seagulls were meandering around the area, oddly quiet. I started noticing the thick patches of tiny white flowers mixed in with the grass and the occasional dandy lion as I started up the hill. About half way up, I realized the park was unusually empty for this time of year…especially with the weather being as nice as it had been today. I didn’t think much of it as I was paying close attention to a sea plane that was coming in for a landing …I thought to myself what an awesome experience that must be to fly over the Puget sound, especially as the sun is setting. The top of the hill came a little quicker than I had expected, I must have been deep in thought to not have paid any attention to the separate levels that are marked off with the concrete walkway. My thoughts have been pretty heavy lately, but I’m not usually that engrossed in my thoughts. With the temperature being so mild, I took off my jacket, laying it on the grass where I was going to sit down. I put my helmet on the ground behind my jacket…I lay down on my back with my head resting on my helmet, it made a perfect make shift head rest so long as I didn’t fall asleep. I did that once before and paid the price for days with a killer kink in my neck. From this position I could see the sun setting just under the Aurora bridge, with the silhouettes of the sailboats in the foreground and with a slight turn of my head, I could see the Seattle sky line and the stars that were starting to give away their hiding spots that the daylight does not reveal. I wonder if people realize that day or night, sunny or cloudy…there are always stars out, we just can’t see them. I chuckled a little to myself when I realized that stars are just like our souls…they are always there, just sometimes we don’t show them or we are careful who we show them to. Funny how the universe applies to even the most basic elements of life, us.

As the minutes quietly passed by the sky to the East turned a deep blue and as my eyes wandered to the West the blue became lighter but the bright fiery red had given way to a softer orange. The sun would be saying goodnight shortly, and once again I realized that time had passed quicker than expected as I noticed my thoughts had turned to you. Wondering where you were, what you were doing, if you ever thought of me like I did you? I often replay our conversations in my head, wondering if there was something I could do or say different that would provide me the outcome I so badly desired. I looked up just in time to see the last of the suns rays fading…losing their fight with the darkness that comes each night. I sat up, looking around to see who else was still at the park…there was a lovely couple walking down the waterfront path, I smiled to myself but then wished that had been you and I instead. Walking together hand in hand, leaning into each other…talking sweetly, gently to each other with the occasional laughter busting through the silence of this new nightfall. My heart gave out a ragged beat…as if my longing had stopped it for a brief moment and then it remembered that it needed to beat a little extra to make up for what was missed.  Not enough beats could ever make up for the emptiness that consumes my heart these days.

I decided it was time to get going before I couldn’t see the pathway to the tree line anymore, I picked up my jacket shaking out the bugs and spare grass clippings before putting it back on, reached down and grabbed my helmet and with one last glance back towards the cities skyline silently said good night and started my way down the hill to my bike. It wasn’t too cold out tonight so I really was in no hurry to go any where, I pushed through the trees to where I had parked my ride…lifted my right leg over to straddle the bike and sat down in the ever so familiar seat. I took the key from my pocket, sticking it in the ignition and as I began to put my helmet on I realized I wasn’t alone in the parking lot. There was one lone car about 12 spots down from me and I thought I recognized it…my heart did a quick jump before my head weighed in on the matter, “deb chill out. What are the chances…like a million to one that it was her car? Get a freaking grip.” But then I thought to myself that I didn’t recall seeing anyone else at this end of the park. Again my heart skipped a beat and my head started racing…could it be her?**

Thanks for following along with me. And again sorry about not blogging more regularly. I guess I didn't think anyone would notice or care if I stopped. Well, I guess that's a topic for another day.