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A Few of my Favourite Thinks

| pocketdreams24

Christmas is approaching, *screams in excitement*, but instead of a list of my favourite things, I decided to share a list of my favourite words. Because yes, I have one.

I have always loved to learn new words and been fascinated by their etymology. I’m that cool kid. When I am trying to decide on a name (either for a pet, a brand, etc.), I like to look up every possible way to say the word in every language I can find because there are so many beautiful ways to express one thing. Furthermore, my friends have always made fun of how strongly I react to a guy’s vocabulary. If he cannot spell when he texts me or maybe he can, but can’t be bothered to make the effort to seem intelligent, I’m out. But if you’re punny and witty I will love you forever. Are these things not important to everyone ?

I’m not sure how to explain the reason these next words are on this list. Some of them I just like the way they roll off the tongue, others I like the image they conjure up, but for most of them I simply love the way they make me feel. Strange how a single word can evoke emotions. Yet every day we use them without realizing just how powerful they are. Remember that next time you’re about to string a few together without thinking, they have more of an impact than we may realize. It’s something I am currently working on aswell, to think before blurting my feelings out.

1- Quintessential: perfectly typical or representative of a particular kind of person or thing.

2- Vibrant: pulsating with life, vigor, or activity.

3- Wanderlust: strong longing for or impulse toward wandering.

4- Vivacious: lively in temper, conduct, or spirit : SPRIGHTLY.

5- Tangerine: any of various mandarin oranges that have usually deep orange skin and pulp.

6- Firefly: any of various winged nocturnal beetles (especially family Lampyridae) that produce a bright soft intermittent light by oxidation of luciferin especially for courtship purposes.

7- Dreamy:  –full of dreams.

                     -pleasantly abstracted from immediate reality.

8- Lilac: –a widely cultivated European shrub (Syringa vulgaris) of the olive family that has cordate ovate leaves and large panicles of fragrant pinkish-purple or white flowers

-a variable color averaging a moderate purple.

9- Aqua: –plural aquae\ˈä-​ˌkwī also ˈa-​(ˌ)kwē\ : WATERespecially

                -plural aquas : a light greenish-blue color

10- Turquoise:  –a mineral that is a blue, bluish-green, or greenish-gray hydrous basic phosphate of copper and aluminum, takes a high polish, and is valued as a gem when sky blue

                         –a light greenish blue

11- Lavender: – Mediterranean mint (Lavandula angustifoliasynonym L. officinalis) widely cultivated for its narrow aromatic leaves and spikes of lilac-purple flowers which are dried and used in sachets and from which is extracted an aromatic oil used chiefly in perfumery

                        – a pale purple

12- Indigo: –a blue vat dye obtained from plants (such as indigo plants)

                    –the principal coloring matter C16H10N2O2 of natural indigo usually synthesized as a blue powder with a coppery luster

 

                     -a deep reddish blue

13- Whirlwind: –a small rotating windstorm of limited extent

                            –a confused rush : WHIRL

                            –a violent or destructive force or agency

14- Hurricane: –a tropical cyclone with winds of 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour or greater that occurs especially in the western Atlantic, that is usually accompanied by rain, thunder, and lightning, and that sometimes moves into temperate latitudes— see BEAUFORT SCALE TABLE

                         –something resembling a hurricane especially in its turmoil

15- Lightning: –the flashing of light produced by a discharge of atmospheric electricity

                            also : the discharge itself

                           –a sudden stroke of fortune

16- Nebula: –any of numerous clouds of gas or dust in interstellar space

                      –GALAXY sense: a galaxy other than the Milky Way galaxy —not used technically

17- Constellation: –the configuration of stars especially at one’s birth

                                –any of 88 arbitrary configurations of stars or an area of the celestial sphere covering one of these configurations

18- Sunshine: –the sun’s light or direct rays

                        –the warmth and light given by the sun’s rays

                        –a spot or surface on which the sun’s light shines

 

                        –someone or something (such as a person, condition, or influence) that radiates warmth, cheer, or happiness

 

19- Daffodil: –any of various perennial bulbous herbs (genus Narcissus) of the amaryllis family

                       -especially : one whose flowers have a large corona elongated into a trumpet— compare JONQUIL, NARCISSUS

20- Dandelion: – any of a genus (Taraxacum) of yellow-flowered composite herbs with milky sap

                           -especially : one (T. officinale) sometimes grown as a potherb and nearly cosmopolitan as a weed

21- Daisy: –a composite plant (as of the genera Bellis or Chrysanthemum) having a flower head with well-developed ray flowers usually arranged in one or a few whorls: such as

    –a low European herb (Bellis perennis) with white or pink ray flowers

— called also English daisy

    -a leafy-stemmed perennial herb (Leucanthemum vulgare synonym Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) with long white ray flowers and a yellow disk that was introduced into the U.S. from Europe

                  -a first-rate person or thing

 

22- Oasis: –a fertile or green area in an arid region (such as a desert)

              –something that provides refuge, relief, or pleasant contrast

23- Fluffy: –covered with or resembling fluff

-being light and soft or airy : puffed up

                   –lacking in meaning or substance : SUPERFICIAL

24- Velvet: –a characteristic (such as softness or smoothness) of velvet

                    –the soft vascular skin that envelops and nourishes the developing antlers of deer

 

25- Chaos: the inherent unpredictability in the behavior of a complex natural system (such as the atmosphere, boiling water, or the beating heart)

26- Fascinated:  –to transfix and hold spellbound by an irresistible power

                            -to command the interest of : ALLURE

27- Adventure: –an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks

                            -an exciting or remarkable experience

28- Paradise: a place or state of bliss, felicity, or delight

29- Wonderstruck:(of a person) experiencing a sudden feeling of awed delight or wonder.

30– Enchanted: –placed under or as if under a magic spell

                        –made to feel delightfully pleased or charmed

(Guess which song I was listening to … YES T SWIFT)

31- Firecracker: –a loud, explosive firework; a banger

-an outstanding, exciting, or attractive person or thing.

32- Sugarplum: A small round sweet of flavoured boiled sugar.

 

33-Peach: –a low spreading freely branching Chinese tree (Prunus persica) of the rose family that has lanceolate leaves and sessile usually pink flowers and is widely cultivated in temperate areas for its edible fruit which is a single-seeded drupe with a hard central stone, a pulpy white or yellow flesh, and a thin fuzzy skin

            –the edible fruit of the peach

            -a moderate yellowish pink

-one resembling a peach (as in sweetness, beauty, or excellence)

 

34- Pocket: A small bag sewn into or on clothing so as to form part of it, used for carrying small articles.

35- Ethereal: Extremely delicate and light in a way that seems not to be of this world.

36- Iridescence : a lustrous rainbowlike play of color caused by differential refraction of light waves (as from an oil slick, soap bubble, or fish scales) that tends to change as the angle of view changes

-37 Swirl: to move with an eddying or whirling motion.

38- Aurora: –A natural electrical phenomenon characterized by the appearance of streamers of reddish or greenish light in the sky, especially near the northern or southern magnetic pole. The effect is caused by the interaction of charged particles from the sun with atoms in the upper atmosphere. In northern and southern regions it is respectively called aurora borealis or Northern Lights and aurora australis or Southern Lights.

               -Literary: The dawn.

39- Bubbly: –Full of bubbles – EFFERVESCENCE

                 -(of a person) full of cheerful high spirits.

– CHAMPAGNE

40- Dazzling: –Extremely bright, especially so as to blind the eyes temporarily.

                     -Extremely impressive, beautiful, or skilful.

41- Wonderland: –an imaginary (I personally don’t agree that it has to be imaginary) place of delicate beauty or magical charm

                               –a place that excites admiration or wonder

42- Illusion: perception of something objectively existing in such a way as to cause misinterpretation of its actual nature

43- Ephemeral: lasting a very short time

44- Cozy: Giving a feeling of comfort, warmth, and relaxation.

45- Mercurial: –of, relating to, or born under the planet Mercury

                           –having qualities of eloquence, ingenuity, or thievishness attributed to the god Mercury or to the influence of the planet Mercury

                          -characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mooda mercurial temper

-of, relating to, containing, or caused by mercury

46- Spark: –A small fiery particle thrown off from a fire, alight in ashes, or produced by striking together two hard surfaces such as stone or metal.

-A small flash of light produced by a sudden disruptive electrical discharge through the air.

-An electrical discharge that ignites the explosive mixture in an internal combustion engine.

-A small amount of a quality or intense feeling.

                     -A sense of liveliness and excitement.

47- Balloons: –A small coloured rubber bag which is inflated with air and then sealed at the neck, used as a child’s toy or a decoration.

                        -A large bag filled with hot air or gas to make it rise in the air, typically one carrying a basket for passengers.

                         -A rounded outline in which the words or thoughts of characters in a comic strip or cartoon are written.
                         -Scottish informal: A stupid person.

48- Bloom: –A flower, especially one cultivated for its beauty.

                    -The state or period of flowering.

                    -The state or period of greatest beauty, freshness, or vigour.

49- Aquamarine: –A precious stone consisting of a light bluish-green variety of beryl.

                               -A light bluish-green colour.

50- Émerveillée: Eng.: Marvel: Be filled with wonder or astonishment.

51- Intertwine: –Twist or twine together.

                           -Connect or link (two or more things) closely.

52- Existential: –of, relating to, or affirming existence

                            –grounded in existence or the experience of existence

                            –having being in time and space

53- Reverie: –A state of being pleasantly lost in one’s thoughts; a daydream.

                      -Music: An instrumental piece suggesting a dreamy or musing state.

                      -A fanciful or impractical idea or theory.
I have also had a few expressions catch my interest but I can only remember one that I love: I thank my lucky stars.

I’ll have to add to that later.

I’m sure that I could keep expanding this list forever but I wanted my readers to make it to the end alive, so I tried to condense it as much as possible.

What are some of your favourite words?

I’ll end on two of mine: MERRY CHRISTMAS !

 

 

 

*All definitions are sourced from:

-https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/

and

-https://www.merriam-webster.com/

 

 

Another Life

| pocketdreams24

There she was at the top of the gala steps, radiant in her yellow silk fitted dress. She tripped on the hem and grabbed her suitor’s arm, laughing at her clumsiness. She looked down and their gazes caught. He glimpsed a flicker of surprise in her eyes but she nodded politely and stepped inside with him. The rest of the night was a blur.

The next morning he awoke in the hotel and headed downstairs for breakfast. His fiancee paused at the foot of the stairs to take selfies in the “perfect lighting”. He glanced back up the winding staircase and saw them. Both casually dressed in rumpled t-shirts and shorts. Her hair in a messy bun laughing at something he had said. She said something and he ran partway down the stairs to catch her as she slid down the banister giggling like a child. He caught her and spun her around, both laughing. He kissed her hand repeatedly as they walked into the dining hall. He watched as they went over to the cereal table and proceeded to fill their bowls with a mix of every single type of cereal available, whispering in a conspiratorial way.He sat in silence as his fiancee ordered plain egg whites and began to talk about where she wanted to go shopping that day. Meanwhile, they were sliding expensive salt and pepper shakers back and forth across the table in such a familiar way he assumed they did it quite often. He watched curiously as the shaker stopped just before sliding over the edge of the table and she groaned in a dramatic way, picking it up to poor salt into her palm and then proceeding to lick it off with a disgusted but humorous expression. They both exploded into laughter.

They radiated happiness and seemed completely unaware of anyone’s existence outside of their own. While he couldn’t tear his gaze away.

Sunrise

| pocketdreams24
She had a small sun tattoo on the back of her neck.
And when he woke up early in the morning, he dazedly untangled their limbs, leaned over and kissed the marking as if she herself were the sunrise; nestling his face into her hair as he gently slipped back into his dreams.

Bloom

| pocketdreams24

A few years ago, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I cannot begin to imagine the internal battle she fought, since all she externalized was strength. She never complained, she was so positive and continued trying to do all of her usual activities.
I however, could not handle it. I ran away from it, being home as little as possible, because it hurt too much to see her so sick while I couldn’t do anything to make it better. I skipped most classes during my last year of high school and didn’t tell anyone about it. If I didn’t say it out loud, maybe it wasn’t real. I was a coward and still feel horribly guilty for not being there for her.
For years I couldn’t deal with it, even after she got better. I couldn’t say the “C word”, would leave the room if someone else mentioned it, I refused to watch movies or television shows if one of the characters was sick, I never talked to my family about it, I acted like it never happened. But I would have nightmares about me finding a lump in my breast, or worse, my mum getting sick again. I would wake up shaking and crying and unable to calm down.
I got really drunk one night this year, and something triggered me, breaking me down into a sobbing mess, huddled on the floor in the corner of the bathroom. But someone I love very much said one simple thing over and over: “She’s okay now.” And as silly as it may seem, that helped. It felt as if a weight that I hadn’t even been aware of, had been lifted.
A few weeks ago, I was watching a new show that I looooved, Jane The Virgin, when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Jane’s mom got diagnosed with breast cancer. I immediately turned it off and decided not to watch it anymore. My boyfriend gently told me that we grow through facing our fears, but I refused to continue watching with him. A few days later, after having mulled it over, I decided it was something I needed to do alone. So I watched the next episode and the next and I cried and I laughed; and I realized that I didn’t want to be a coward anymore.
So I started a painting of a woman’s anatomy, slightly resembling that of a plant, whose chest is covered by a monarch butterfly. The placement represents the beauty left by a single or double mastectomy.
My decision in using the monarch butterfly has 2 polarized meanings behind it:
Firstly, monarch butterflies are toxic, which I thought to be an accurate portrayal of cancer.
But secondly, they are beautiful and see the colours of the world on a spectrum unknown to humans. This is the way I imagine my mother to be after having come out of such an awful situation an even more stunning woman who sees the world differently to others who haven’t experienced such things.
The word “monarch” can also describe the ruler of a kingdom, such as a queen, a term of endearment my father often uses, referring to himself and my mother as King and Queen.
The use of the monarch butterfly in this painting was further solidified by the inspiration I have always, but especially recently, felt from Halsey’s music which often depicts the butterfly.
As for the flower atop her head, I chose it partially because daffodils symbolize rebirth and new beginnings and partially as a tribute to the fond memories I have of reading Rose Petal Place as a child with my mum.
Ultimately, butterflies and flowers represent endurance, growth, hope and life. My mother has endured so much and grown so gracefully through it all, showing me to live hopefully.
I would like to emphasize that I only focused on my side of the story, as hers is not mine to tell and the ache that I felt was nothing compared to what she went through.
And while these words and even these brushstrokes don’t do justice to the enormity of the feelings they depict or the admiration that I have for her, it feels good to finally share them.
Now I just have to convince her to get a matching monarch tattoo with me !

bloom

Bang Bang

| pocketdreams24

I would like to start off by specifying that I wrote a few of these stories years ago. I only just recently created this blog where I could keep them all in one place forever. This particular one was written in 2015, while I was torn between two worlds.

Why do dreams feel so real ?
She barely knew him.
Does he dream of her too ?
She finds herself sleeping in late, just so she can try to go back to her dreams where he’s hugging her tight. She finds it slightly embarrassing how often she thinks of him, when they only went on three “dates”.
She was very different then. She was still very much in the process of figuring out who she was. She needed a lot of attention, she was selfish, loud and pushy. He was quiet, shy and awkward, but she could see the spark of humour that came out around his friends. He made her comfortably uncomfortable.
Comfortable, because she was the same way, though she refused to show her more introverted side; uncomfortable, because she was never sure what was going through his head.
It was the most innocent way of spending time and she had never met anyone as genuine and sweet. She just wanted to spend as much time with him as she could. She had equally never been so nervous when going to meet anyone, She probably changed her mind – wavering back and forth between making up an excuse to cancel their plans or not – at least 10 times. She still remembers the way he looked over and laughed at her terrible singing in his car on their way home from the movies, reaching over to squeeze her leg. Or when they went to the casino and just sat in his car talking for what felt like ages but minutes at the same time. She told him she hated stripes and he laughed, asking if she realized that every shirt she had seen him in was striped. But she liked everything about him, he could be a zebra for all she cared. The rest of that night was a blur for her, babbling as she does when she’s nervous.
It makes her wonder what he remembers about her.
But she was moving away in 2 weeks and as much as she wanted him to, he never showed up to her going away party.
They made plans one last time when she came home to visit a month later, having spent her whole 30 days away thinking about him, instead of focusing on her exciting new university life in the big city.
After that they gradually stopped talking and she wished more than ever that she had never moved away.
She saw him once more at a New Years Eve rave and her heart nearly beat out of her chest when he hugged her. She hoped that this encounter might start them talking again, but it did not.
For at least a year after all of this, every time her phone buzzed, she hoped it was him, every time someone knocked on her door, she would run to open it wishing that he would be stood there, saying that 5 hours of driving was nothing, that he missed her, that he wanted to try this and see where it went because no one else he met compared (because the people she met certainly didn’t).
But it never was.
She eventually accepted that she liked him a lot more than he had liked her. But a small part of her still looks for him every time she goes home, hoping to bump into him, wondering how he’s doing, what odd songs he likes now, what he thinks about.
She loves her life now and every single person in it. She’s grown into a (slightly) more patient person, who’s comfortable in her own skin, prefers to listen rather than feeling the need to talk all the time and is okay being a weirdo.
Yet she still dreams of him way too often and it’s silly and disconcerting to her. She can’t help but wonder what life would have been like if she had stayed.
She tells herself she likes the idea of him more than the real him, because she never truly got to know the real him, she only saw glimpses. Plus, she really hates fishing.
But she admired how HIM he seemed. Who knows, maybe she’s more her because of their brief bond.
She knows that it’s probably all in her head and romanticized imagination, but she does wonder if he ever thinks of her.

Closer

| pocketdreams24

She was working bottle service at her favourite club in the city.

She partied too much and didn’t take anything or anyone seriously, but she was always plagued by the feeling that something was missing, that she could be doing so much more with her life.

All until one day, a boy invited her to a party. This boy was different to all the others, shy, awkward, yet funny and endearing. It took a lot of convincing, but she got her best friend to go to the party with her. She wasn’t sure how he would be, he seemed to be a real guys’ guy, but as soon as she got there, she saw her excitement to see him mirrored in his eyes. And the rest of the night was theirs. They talked, played beer pong, laughed and teased each other. He gave her his sweater when she got cold and she was delighted because this meant that she would have an excuse to see him again. And she was surprised at how much she wanted to see him again soon. She had to leave the party early to his dismay, but this is where it all started.

They spent the rest of the summer playing mini-putt, driving around with the windows down singing their hearts out, smoking, eating pizza, cuddling, watching movies, playing volleyball, falling deeper and deeper.

Then one day, he found a letter on her kitchen table, saying she had been accepted to a university hours away. He became frantically upset and stormed out, leaving her in tears.

He wouldn’t speak to her and as moving day approached, she hoped in vain that he would show up at a party … or at her house the morning she was packing her things into her car. She sat in the driver’s seat and stared hopelessly in the rearview mirror. But he never came.

​

Weeks later she was sat in a bar, all dressed up with one of her friends that had come to visit her. A handsome young businessman walked up to their table and asked her to dance. She pushed down the thoughts of the boy she had left behind and said yes. He whirled her around, made her laugh and feel desired. She got lost in the flurry of courtship that followed, full of romantic dates and enormous bouquets of flowers and lavish gifts delivered to her work making her the envy of all of her coworkers. One candlelit night, he asked her to marry him and it only seemed natural to say yes. But as the months progressed, she realized that she had been so entranced by how flashy and new this lifestyle was that she had failed to notice that her and her fiance had nothing in common. She sat through countless business meetings smiling politely as it dawned on her that he cared only about making money and she was basically the equivalent to a pretty watch on his arm, making him look good. They had more and more arguments as she explained that he had no interest in her thoughts or dreams, they never just relaxed and had fun or went on spontaneous roadtrips together, they hadn’t built any sort of friendship to go along with their romantic relationship. Each time he dismissed her worries, saying he had more important things to worry about.

Until all of a sudden it was their engagement party. She sat in a huge pastel blue ball gown in her changing room, staring unseeingly out the window, lost in her memories. She was thinking of the boy she had left behind, the one that could have been her best friend, her soulmate even, had they had more time together. She smiled wistfully, remembering how much fun they had had. Her smile slipped from her face as she also remembered thinking, the day she realized that they would probably never speak again, that she would never meet another like him. Her thoughts were interrupted as her fiancé’s sisters burst into the room, ushering her into the hall. She started her long walk down the hallway toward the ballroom. Everything felt as if she were underwater, in slow motion, as her mind turned to chaos thinking of how things could have been, had she done them differently. She had reached the balcony overlooking the two winding staircases that descended into the humongous ballroom. And as she looked down upon the sea of cold, unfamiliar faces, she came to a decision.

​

Miles away, in what seemed like another lifetime, the boy she left behind was searching through his closet for his volleyball. As he reached up to the top shelf, he lost his balance and bumped into the shelf causing a box to fall on his head and break open, spilling it’s contents of long lost polaroids across the bedroom floor. He knelt down to hastily stuff them back in, but froze as his gaze locked on her smile. It was a picture of the two of them, from that first party long ago, their arms wrapped about each other- her wearing his sweater- smiling giddily at the camera. He sunk to the floor and started going through each photo one by one, letting the memories of the girl that had made him feel more alive than anyone he had ever met, wash over him. And thinking for the millionth time, what a big mistake he had made.

She gazed across the ornately decorated room as the trapped feeling grew in her chest until she thought she might explode. And in one swift movement, she flew down the winding staircase, pushed through the crowds of guests, slammed open the large wooden double doors and kept running as fast as she could. As she ran, she yanked off her ridiculously uncomfortable stilettos and ripped the blue flower pins from her hair, letting her long, brown curls tumble past her shoulders.

She burst out into the courtyard and ran to the busy street where she hailed a cab that took her to the train station. Ignoring the curious stares from everyone surrounding her, she purchased a ticket for the next train home.

The hours passed in a blur, as if she were in a trance and before she knew it she was stepping out of a cab in front of a familiar little house.

His dog ran across the lawn to greet her as if no time at all had passed. Drawing in a deep breath she walked up to the front door, suddenly uncertain. She gathered her courage and knocked. She heard footsteps and then the door opened, and there he was.

Tangled Paths

| pocketdreams24

This was it. The night she’d been dreaming of for years. She walked in a slow circle around her beautiful, bright gallery, drinking in the feelings she still got from each and every one of her photographs and paintings hanging upon the white walls.

She couldn’t help herself. She thought back to that night with him in the park, planning their futures, eyes bright with excitement…

She was going to open her own art gallery, complete with her own photos of ocean waves and laughing loved ones. The opening night would go by in a lovely blur of sparkly evening dresses and bubbly champagne. She would be astonished by how many people liked what she had created and he would look at her adoringly and say “I told you so”.

And once they locked the door behind the very last person to leave, they would pop some confetti and another bottle of champagne, sit on the floor and order a pineapple pizza. They would then proceed to talk about how far they had come, how amazing it was that they were living what had once just been a dream and the future dreams they wanted to live together. They would laugh and kiss and fall asleep  tangled in each others arms as the sun began to rise.

She heaved a sigh. That was how it was supposed to go.

But no ! She wouldn’t let that ruin her accomplishment.

The night did indeed go by in a blur and before she knew it, a week had passed. A week full of new clients asking for custom pieces, she could barely keep up.

​

It was a chilly, misty Wednesday morning and she was struggling to hang one of her large, heavy canvases on the wall when it fell on her little toe, causing her to hop around and make such loud, unflattering noises that she didn’t hear the bell jingle as someone walked in.

​

He had been around the corner of the building, debating for a good twenty minutes as to whether he should go in or not. As he watched her dance awkwardly to her music as she went about her work thinking no one was watching, he couldn’t help but smile. And almost unconsciously, he started toward the door as if being drawn by a giant magnet.

As he opened the door, she dropped a large canvas on her foot and made a string of noises that sounded like those of a baby goat. He smiled again, noting that she was still as clumsy as ever.

​

When she turned around mid-hop and their gazes caught, she just stared, a million expressions flitting across her face.

“Hello”, he said quietly.

“What-how”, she started to say but then went back to simply staring at him in shock.

He held up a newspaper, “I saw in a small article that you did it, you made your dream a reality. And I couldn’t help but want to come see everything and congratulate you.”

She seemed to regain her composure and thanked him politely, offering him a tour of the place.

They walked around in uncomfortable silence as he took in the energy of all of her pieces. So vibrant and soulful, he thought. They made him feel as though he were sat in a corner of her mind as she made them and could feel everything she felt.

She stopped abruptly at one corner and tried to divert him off to the left. Looking past her,  he saw a familiar pair of eyes gazing out of a frame back at him.

“You put up pictures of me ?” He said in amazement.

Pictures of him laughing, of him covered in her paint, reading a book, drinking coffee from his favourite mug, of him gazing sleepily up at the camera, of him laughing again as he threw flour at the camera, they had been making pancakes that morning, he remembered.

“They were some of my favourites,” she said quietly, not meeting his eyes. “and some of my best sellers!” She laughed, seeming embarrassed.

She was even more beautiful than he remembered and as he stared into those big brown eyes that used to sparkle up at him, he felt physical pain. He had never wanted to wrap someone in his arms as much as he did in that moment. He wanted to crush her body into his until he didn’t know where he ended and she began. He wanted to run his fingers through her sunkissed hair, down her long tanned neck and arms and intertwine them with her slender fingers, always splattered with paint, he wanted to – His mind spluttered as he focused on her left hand.

No.

She followed his gaze and flushed.

“I should go.” He turned and stalked out before she could say anything.

She stood there stunned. She had never expected to see him again. The volume of crushing emotions she was experiencing threatened to suffocate her as she stared after him.

And before she knew what she was doing, she ran out the door after him.