Dry Skin

(Originally 17th October 2006, 3:40 pm)

It was a lazy night, probably about eleven plus and music was blaring through the corridors. Amidst rows and rows of bars and entertainment, stood the most laid back and relaxed room of them all. It played soft, gentle music, with a nature-themed decor. The room was filled with rustling chatter and an occasional raucous laughter; otherwise, the room was like a mother cradling a child to sleep.

2 nondescript people, stood up and walked out the smokeless room, each coaxing a cigarette out of their pocket. Once out, they both lovingly kissed their sticks and lit them up. Suddenly, they were like enshrouded in a muffled world, where the noisy corridor didn’t seem audible and all that was heard was like a deep static drone.

Time stood still.

“What’s that on your lip? It looks like tissue.”

He rubbed his lip.

“Wait, it’s still there…”

And she reached over and with two fingers, gently pinched his lips and caressed away the tissue. Time and space, at that moment, didn’t exist. He stood there, feeling the sensation of her skin on his lip, in utter wonderment, no, more like awe.

“Oh. It’s just dry skin.”