The Owl On His Chest

My eyes open in panic in the middle of the night.

Hesitating for a moment as my body looks for you. I take a deep breath as the moonlight shines at the owl moving up and down on your chest.

Should I close my eyes again? No!

I don’t want to miss any moment away from you. I stay awake just to admire your skin and listen to your soft breathing.

My lips want to devour you, but I don’t want to wake you. I’m sorry I can’t help it, but I just have to lose myself in the beauty of your face, your freckles, your scent, as every loving memory of you stored in my head begins to run wild. “I can’t help it”, I think with a smile.

The clock continues to march forward, and my eyes are getting tired but I’m afraid to close them. I’m terrified that this is nothing but a simple dream. What if you’re just a work of my imagination? No! My lips caress your shoulder so gently to not wake you and I whisper softly “I love you” in hopes that when I open my eyes again, you feel the same way I do.

In the morning, I’ll wake up to reality. You haven’t felt the same way about me. In fact, you've been traveling in a different direction for quite some time. I must be crazy for wanting to stay around, but for now, I’m enjoying the last few days in this cloud called nine. For after we walk our separate ways, I’ll never see the owl that resides on your chest. The same owl that held my dreams, my thoughts, daily thinking about our future plans. Plans we had as a power pair who swore not to ever part in different ways.

The night is almost over, and I take one more look at you. With the moonlight caressing your figure, I see a shape that has changed since the day I fell for you. I’m proud, yet terrified because I know it won’t be long until other arms want to hold you carelessly with disdain. But not tonight! Tonight, I force myself awake to count the freckles on your skin. To see the shining light of your dark hair waves. To say I love you, as the beautiful bird shifts suddenly my way. I turn to let your arm hold me tight before closing my eyes, so I can dream about you, forever holding me tight.

Dear reader, you must know I’ve never been one to express my feelings the way I did on this particular night. But my intuition was telling me I needed to record my thoughts. Something was brewing in the air and a cycle was coming to an end. The life I spent with the guy and the owl on his chest. It was hands down one of the best lessons was given in my time. As we both continue our journey in paths that lead to a different life, I’ll never regret living the moments that inspired me to dig deep into my heart. But reader, don’t think the healing happened over night, it has taken me plenty of moonlights to finally be ok seeing him in other arms. I know it’s so cliché to say that time is your best friend, but I humbly back up that statement as an accurate phrase. The night I describe in my writing isn’t to cause any sorrow or sense of the blues. It’s to express that in the heart aches of love, you take the lesson and let it hurt. But life isn't over I'm telling you the truth! Because once healed the pain will turn into somthing beautiful too. I’ll say in this final note that time can only tell, so one must continue to keep walking ahead. But don't throw everything away. Every beautiful memory will endlessly illuminate, the nightfalls in life's journey one must face.