the-joker-and-the-jean

[the-joker-and-the-jean]

It's not the same

He sat there on the edge, the earth breathing beneath him. 

He looked at his girl’s sun-kissed face. The orange of the sky blanketing them.

But it wasn’t the first time, just maybe for him…

It was still dark when the fragrant dews falling from her hair woke him up. “We’ll be late again!” she whispered in his ears. “We don’t want the sun to win today!” It tickled his ears turning them red just as it always used to. The only lights in the street were coming from their window and the streetlight, rest were twinkling in the sky. His eyes opened, brown and calm, squinting. But would they not open wide to scan every bit of a princess in front of him who adorned a beautiful baby blue dress? The guttery ruffles couldn’t outshine her bright cherry-red smile. The window curtains blew as the cool breeze brushed past their faces. Today, the curtains were changed to blue as well. Someone had mentioned that the ladybugs, her new obsession, love blue. 

“Hurry up! Your blue tuxedo is waiting for you in the cupboard, crisp and clean!” Her voice chimed, excited to maybe spot some ladybugs on the mountain. 

“Tuxedo! Don’t you think we’re going overboard?” It wasn’t the first time when the most beautiful girl of the town, or so Ren called her, was making him do things he would never do. Like painting their room in more than 8 different colors or wearing a Tuxedo to watch a ladybug on a mountain! Her eyebrows were drawn together the next second. “Tuxedo it is! I’ll be back before the alarm rings”, He pointed at the new red alarm clock on the side table with black alarm bells. Of course, they looked like the ladybug because apparently, Lily could only focus on ladybugs and the things that looked like it. Finally leaving the bed, his hands reach out the cupboard to find a crisp white shirt and a blue Tuxedo hanging as the only option for him. 

Saturdays were always the most bizarre in this house. Usually, Ren would be in a hurry to reach the far away university to take his lessons. But on the weekends, Ren wasn’t a professor anymore. Ren wasn’t even Ren anymore. He was what Lily would make him that day. Today, as Ren had promised, they were going to drive to the mountain they could clearly see from their window. “That’s where the ladybugs come from!” a lady had told her when she for the first time saw it on a flower. She mistook it for a bead of some kind. Now she has painted all the red beads with black paint dots. Lily has never ever loved, she only ever gets obsessed, and miraculously, Ren always knows about it and joins her.

She is sitting on the edge of the bed nervously tapping the floor with her feet when Ren comes out, his face freshly shaven. “See, there’s still a few minutes to five!” He screams victoriously. She doesn’t look pleased. And suddenly she remembers about her lost earring, “I can’t find my blue earrings!” She screams frantically and starts searching for them in the box in a wooden dresser and then under the bed. The only one is hanging in her right ear. 

He looks at her from the mirror half smiling. She looks like a bud of flowers dancing in the room, her ruffles catching the air every time she turns. She halts finally to find his gaze fixed on her, buttoning the sleeves. “We can’t go! I can’t find my earrings! It’s not here!”

“What a catastrophe! Do you have another pair?”

“It won’t match!” She stomps and folds her arms. 

“We can work this one earring; your hair can cover up for the other one!” He says proudly. Lily agrees with the idea and brings some hair in front to cover the ear. The released tension makes Lily hum a song. He catches the beat immediately, it’s the song that Lily loves and immediately she joins him. It’s their voice that gently wakes up the birds most weekends. After fixing the ring on his finger, and spraying the perfume, he turns around singing, searching for her eyes. Lily has too lost the track of time. Jumbling up the words where they don’t know the lyrics, they keep continuing to sing, and now have started to dance. His ironed sleeves meet the ruffled glitter, his brown meets the dark sweet eyes, his hands wrapped around her, almost lifting her up in the air. Squeeks fill the room when the alarm rings. It instantly reminds them of their mission. 

A blue pair of shoes have managed to hide under the long blue dress. He holds her hand and climbs down still singing the song. An old lady at the end of the handrail was waiting, tired and wrinkled, bags under her eyes. Maybe angry? 

“Good morning mum!”

“Where are you going, Ren?” 

“Oh, I am so sorry to wake you up! Lily and I are going to the cliff. She believes we will see some ladybugs under the shining sun.” 

“For how long Ren? How long?” Her voice breaks, her lower chin quivers.

“We will be back soon, I promise. Take care mom!” He kisses his mom goodbye and reaches for the knob. “Don’t worry mom! We will be okay.” He gives an assuring smile looking back and ushers out the door holding Lily’s hand. 

The city seems to go lazy on the weekends. They stand there holding hands observing the beauty of nature. On his right is a tree. A bed of dry leaves circling it. It’s the time of the morning when the dew shines on the edge of every leaf. The buds will soon bloom into flowers revealing their bright colors. There is a car parked to his left. “We will go buy coffee first!” He unlocks the cars and opens the door waiting for her. She lifts her long gown up a little to show her shoes and fixes herself in the passenger seat. 

Engine starts with a vibration and off they go passing many houses painted in pastels. The hue of the sky slowly lifting and the streetlights opening up the roads in front. They arrive at a cafe on the way. It had just opened, probably in a hurry. Many flowerpots are kept guiding the visitors to the door. At the window are some crocheted animals with lovely different colors. Lily loved them. The cafe was once a house for a couple who has been living here. Their son decided to make a cafe from the extra space near the porch. It still looks like a house from the outside, except it has big windows. 

“I'll have a boba coffee shaken with ice, a lot of whipped cream and topped with chocolate syrup, please." He tells the lady, “To go”. The lady looks at him expecting he’d be there, although Ren is pretty new to the surroundings and yet not so new. 

The cafe has many wooden tables each with a flower vase and a table number. On the shelf are some magazines and newspapers. It is too early for any visitors to be here on a weekend. Ren looks around searching for someone.

“Coffee to go for Lily.” The lady announces as she appears from the kitchen. “Looking for someone?” She senses him searching for Derek. He is the one who handles morning shifts in the cafe on the weekends. 

“Oh! Derek is not here today. He’s occupied with some work at home. It’ll be me for a couple of days.” She smiled half assuring. “I have been a barista too, so don’t worry! You’re in good hands.” She giggles. Ren tries to make sense of what the lady said but stays confused. An awkwardly silent and confused moment later Ren lifts the cold cup marked ‘Lily’ with a heart.

“No yeah, it looks good!” Ren gives an assuring smile. “Cafe has a really good vibe.” He looks around. “It does look delicious. Can’t wait.”, Lily adds. “Thanks Missy!” 

“Well, anything else?” Ren shakes his head. “Thank you for ordering and I wish you a great day!” 

The light from the cafe fades as he races to the mountain. Birds start to appear closer, flapping their huge wings as they try to race them. The stars have disappeared completely now, and the sun has started to paint its colors. They drive up the slope passing the grass and the stones and rocks along the way. 

Many trees have grown on the sloped edges of the mountains standing stronger and taller than ever. Winds waving its branches. Lily is busy monitoring continuously out the window searching for any trace of red, squinting. Her hands hanging out touching the grass. Morning dew welcoming her. It tickled her fingers and that made her smile, her cheeks turning redder with joy. Ren would often catch her glance. 

The car comes to a random halt. She turns to him with a raised eyebrow. “Did you spot it?”

“I reckon it’ll be there.” he turns her face to show a thick trunk of a tree standing so bold. Its leaves danced in the sun, shading the ground under it. 

“It’s ethereal!” 

He opens the door and takes her by her hand; she follows him captivated by the beauty of the mountain. Her dress would often pass over pieces of tiny rocks and pebbles on the way. They notice tiny flowers blooming from the bushes. Even the white dandelions appear golden. He takes out his camera from his pocket to capture the beauty running in one of the most beautiful places on the earth. 

“I want to climb that tree!” she giggles as she runs towards it. Her gown held up for her to run. The early daylight electrifies the whole scene. Ren tries to catch up to her, but she is wearing her shoes! Her giggles run with her chasing the wind. Her hair bouncing up and down. Even in the mud she runs gracefully. Edge of her dress has some dandelions intertwined. But the sloppy soil ditches her pace. The air couldn’t catch her anymore. Her ankle twists. Ren puts the camera down and runs towards her, but she loses her balance and disappears into a landless ground. Ren’s hand hopelessly swings out to catch her, yet again, but all he sees is a delicate figure wrapped in the starry blue plummeting down. 

He roars aloud. His veins swell up. All the blue from his eyes have disappeared in the deep dark. Birds stop chirping. Winds stop blowing. No one breathes. 

“We’re stuck in this aren’t we?” 

Her voice breathes back the life in him. The only glance he’d never want to lose. As if the springs had returned, his garden had been blessed, his heart started to pump again to keep him from dying. There she was, standing in her baby blue, one earring and blooded hair. He reaches for her but somehow, he just couldn’t, though he could see her. He allows himself to breathe.

“You scared me to death, Lily!” He laughs. 

They walk towards the side of the cliff and sit side by side. Winds start blowing again. Birds start to appear in the sky. They consume the sunlight as much as they could talking about things that make her giggle and him laugh. 

“Oh, there’s a ladybug on that leaf, look at it!”

“Yeah, I see, it’s pretty! 

The sun walks along from east to west welcoming the stars.