Fyodor had stared into the waters of the Caspian Sea for roughly an hour already. He was hypnotized by the eternal movement of the waves. The afternoon sun was pleasant – it kept him warm but did not burn him as it would’ve only several hours ago.
He’s been sitting there for an hour, what’s so mesmerizing about it? Alyona thought. She was slightly irritated by his lucid state. She approached him, placing her hand on his shoulder, using it to slowly sit down next to him.
She’s so beautiful, and her hand feels so nice, thought Fyodor. He continued looking at the coastline.
“Everything alright?” her voice sounded like a spoonful of honey.
“Mhm.” he replied. He turned his gaze towards her slowly, looking into her beautiful eyes.
Crystals. Literal diamonds.
“You’ve been sitting here for an hour already, don’t you want to do something else?”
“I am doing something else.”
“What?”
“Well I was sitting here alone, now you’re accompanying me, and with you I can sit for days and nights and weeks.”
“Aren’t you just a romantic.” she proceeded to kiss him on the cheek. A wave loudly threw itself towards the coast, and a seagull cried in a momentary fear. “But seriously,” she continued, “what do you want to do after this?”.
“We can always go back to Astrakhan and go to a cafe. Are you hungry?”
“No… well… maybe. I just don’t want to waste all my time here.”
“I wouldn’t say that we’re wasting time right now, are we?”
“No.”
She’s troubled by something. She always acts like this when she wants to tell me something but can’t, and every time it’s an excruciating fishing match to try to get out even a bit of information.
“Look!” he said, trying to distract her, “Look, a dock!”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Let’s go there.”
He stood up in what seemed less than a single second, and extended his hand to her. Alyona took it, and he helped her get up. Then his hands moved again, swiftly picking her up. She laughed quietly,
“I live for moments like these.”
“I do too.”
Soon they were sitting at the dock, the splashing water of the waves occasionally reaching their legs. They spoke little, as both enjoyed the silence induced by their love, but finally, Fyodor spoke,
“You know, this is something I wanted to do this whole time that we’ve been together. Just sit together on a dock while the sun sets, completely alone. Just the two of us, sitting and enjoying each other’s presence and the sun’s warm rays.”
“I guess it has happened already.”
“And I could not be happier than right now.”
“Well…”
“What is it, my dear?”
“You said that you wanted it to be just the two of us, but…”
Fyodor quickly looked around. He didn’t see anyone near them whatsoever, and that confused him even more. He clutched his hands and could barely hold them together, while his mind spun as if it were the Earth itself. Her hand glided to her stomach,
“…but it’s really three of us, you know.”
Fyodor was disturbed by the cry of a seagull. He opened his eyes slowly, and saw before himself the setting sun. The Caspian Sea was calmer than ever before, and the waves could be barely heard. He approached the dock, walking over it carefully, listening to every creak that the boards made. As he sat down, he could smell her perfume, but she was nowhere to be seen. The scent vanished soon after, as did the dream.
By Henri Vasilyev
HOWLER LIT 