All The World We Seek
Laura Elizabeth Horgan
©
Copyright 2021 by Laura Elizabeth Horgan
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I've
never been able to find God. But if the entity exists, I want to walk
in the Holy man's shoes and pray to the heavens, become exalted in
the sea of belief. My skin will be flushed, the thoughts that come
and go will be tethered to the adoration of the self, and each
connection we have as individuals to the great being.
But
I don’t believe in God.
There
is no devout being to prey to. Just prey to yourself. There is only
the nature of things. There is only the vivid emerald of the spring
after it rains. The hot sand of a desert island beach that burns the
flesh of the sole. The bleeding colours of a spring sunset sky that
set fire to the clouds in hot blends of crimson.
My
god is nature. My god is travel and the world.
The
sound of summer is the symphony of lawn mowers from dusk to dawn. The
act of which permeates the air with fresh cut grass along with smoked
BBQs and aperol spritz. I sit under a ceiling of blue, not a cloud in
the sky and watch the planes fly across the baby blue landscape,
leaving white trails of cloud.
I
wonder where the people on board the cylindrical object with wings
are heading. A new life? A quick adventure? Are they heading home? Or
going to say goodbye? The want to join them aches within. You travel
once and the thirst is never quenched, the hunger never dulls. It
waivers, maybe you even forget for a little while. But ultimately,
you go back to it, crave it, lust salaciously after it.
I'm
older now though. I don’t feel my age, but the reflection tells
a different story. The woman who stares back has seen life, witnessed
death and slowly has been fading away to time.
Sat
with my granddaughter, a girl so similar to myself once, I decide to
tell her a story. Tearing my eyes from the plane in the sky, and
sipping my spritz I call her name softly, and her gaze meets mine
over a book.
‘Would
you like to hear a story?’
She
grins, a Cheshire cat smile that answers without words. Eyes two
bright gemstones, ready for a tale. I rarely tell stories now, but
when I do, they are always of my youth, my life on the road.
‘Always
grandma, always.’
‘Ok,’
I take breath and tap my chin with my finger. ‘Where to
start….’
I
fold my hands on my lap, getting comfortable and begin.
‘Salt
was always in my hair, and sand always between my toes. I was on an
island off the coast of Cambodia. On a boat that docked on a small
wooden pier, as soon as your feet met land you were on to the sandy
highway. Bars, restaurants, and hostels lined the beach front. Not a
road or car in sight.
No
need for shoes, just sunscreen and a bathing suit. Fisherman's boats
lined the shore waiting for the tourist excursion or catch of
the day. Travellers all alike walked in slow padded steps, tanned and
beautiful. All a mystery, all of us going somewhere and nowhere at
exactly the same time. All sharing a moment in one place, not caring
about yesterday or tomorrow. Each day was like that, just another
shot at happiness. Another content moment of being and not distracted
by anything other than living.
Sharp
and vivid memories of a cerulean sea, and powder white sand fringed
with palm trees are prominent in my mind, how beautiful a place could
be, how seemingly untouched in comparison with the rushed corporate
world. I was twenty-five, only a few months into the greatest
adventure of my life, and utterly captivated at every turn.’
I
look away from the sky and at my granddaughter’s face, she
squints in the sun, a finger book marking her place within her
half-read novel. She smiles tenderly when I catch her eye, I
reciprocate the gesture, and the sight of her, looking so much like
my daughter steals my breath momentarily.
‘I
was quite a dish in those days you know.’
My
sweet, sweet child laughs.
‘I
bet you were.’
‘Lean
and tanned, I caught a few eyes, turned a few heads.’
So
long ago and yet the image of those years is still so fresh within
the confines of my mind. I unconsciously brush my lips with my index
finger, remembering wild nights with wilder boys, and kisses that
still felt as if they lingered there. As hot and heavy as the humid
nights of south-east Asia.
‘I
would smoke pot with strangers, spend long nights drinking island
vodka and spinning under the stars, talking about life. All the
mysteries yet to be discovered, for us and all of humanity.
The
sea would sparkle sapphire when disturbed at night, music would carry
over the beach and love and sex and conversation was rampant. I slept
ten feet from the beach on a bed made up of more sand than linen.’
‘That
sounds awful.’ My granddaughter giggles.
I
laugh, ‘it was. Bed bugs too.’
‘Oh
no.’ She cries as she covers her mouth.
‘All
a part of the fun, my dear.’
I
stop to take a sip of my beverage, wetting my lips and clearing my
throat.
‘I
met a man, and he –‘
‘Grandma.’
My Granddaughter protests, ‘what are you going to tell me?’
She grimaces, hiding her face behind her delicate hand, in an attempt
to shield herself from some sordid affair.
‘Oh,
hush now. You have me all wrong. This was not one of my many
lovers.’
Between
the gaps in her fingers, I spy her blushing, her innocence endearing
to me.
‘He
was one of the people I met along the way who enjoyed sharing his
joint and his wisdom. The two went hand-in-hand.’
‘What
wisdom did he share?’
I
smile to myself, ‘that every thing I seek, is seeking me.’
My
granddaughter furrows her brow, ‘that sounds familiar.’
I
laugh to myself as I say, ‘that’s because it is. It is a
famous quote by the poet Rumi. No doubt you have heard of his work
before. But I hadn’t, not at twenty-five, I should have, but I
hadn’t.’
‘So,
this man stole his wisdom from a poet?’
The
book that was in my granddaughters lap was now officially book marked
and resting on the table.
‘No,
my child. Wisdom in any form is often what we learn in life. Whether
that be anecdotes or pearls, they are traded like secrets, or passed
down like heirlooms. To be treasured, used, loved, and eventually
handed on to someone else. Rumi is one of many whose words have been
spoken, sung and whispered on the winds. Little droplets of knowledge
to help other souls find their way.’
I
watched as my granddaughter contemplated my words, ‘and what
did you learn, from these words grandma?’
I
sat in contemplation for a moment before I said, ‘that anything
you want in life, no matter how big or small, if you believe in it,
you will get it. That what you believe, you will achieve.’
I
take another sip of my spritz, the condensation of the glass dripping
on to the table, and place it back on top of the broken ring
temporarily staining the table.
‘You
are a magnet in this world my child, you are destined for your
deepest desires. Never let them go. Never give up. Dream big because
what if those dreams came true?’
The
corner of my granddaughter’s mouth twitches upward, the world
has become her oyster, her future full of endless possibilities and
dreams and expectation.
‘Grandma.’
‘Yes,
my child?’
‘I
wish to be happy.’
I
reach once more for my cold glass of spritz, the sides wet and
chilling, I bring it to my lips and drink deeply. Once I am done, I
wipe my mouth with a napkin, look my beautiful, charming
granddaughter in the eye and say, ‘then happy you must be.’
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