Of winds and waves

Caio Cesar Velenosi
Nov 6 · 2 min read

I try to get out of the bed silently, weightlessly. I’m not too good at it, but it’s enough — she keeps sleeping, barely moving, unaware of the extra space she has now. I smile looking at her sleeping, amazed on how such a lioness can become no more than a kitten, purring in her sleep. I try to memorize every detail of this scene before turning away.

In the living room I look at memories, things from past close and far, some still shining with the glow of recent achievements, some almost completely forgotten, the details long gone. I grab just a couple of them, the ones that are worthless to the world, and laugh at how the dull things were always the ones I was the most interested at.

Walking outside the house I feel the sand around my feet, cold and soft. The sea wind strokes my face and I walk towards the waves, which I can hear but barely see under the pale moonlight. Getting closer, I can hear them also crashing against the wooden dock and against my boat, its silhouette rocking against the sea, in a peaceful contrast with the furious waves.

I jump aboard and go straight to the cabin, lighting it up. I look at the charts while wearing my coat and gloves, taking mental notes of which stars I should follow when I leave the shore. I do have more advanced equipment, but I like the idea of using them as little as possible. There’s a poetry to letting the signs and elder gods guide the journey.

I climb back to the deck. The sky is clear, as readable as the charts on my desk, and I quickly find my way, the arrow shot by the centaur pointing the direction. I look back to the house. I wish I could say bye, but I know that she would stare into my eyes and that look would keep me here, our lives moving on but none of us fully happy. She’ll probably hate me for a while. Heck, even I hate myself a little right now, the cowardice of sailing away in the silence of the night weighing on my shoulders. But I’ve already come to terms with it, and so will she, I hope.

I set the sails lose and the sound of the wind against them fills my heart with joy for what’s to come. I ask all the winds to lead me in a good journey, and if so they wish, one day I’ll return to this shore. And maybe, by that time, I’ll fold the sails and remain docked.

Caio Cesar Velenosi

Written by

Creative Technologist @ MediaMonks, dealing with code, art, graphics, sounds and whatever links to those.

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