Andrew

Conscience or Emotion, Regret or Love

The name is perhaps decieving....there was no water to be seen besides the once vibrant stream, now a dam that existed as a desolate wasteland. Resurfacing trolleys; a tangled wreck of steel and wire. They are artifacts that represent the backstreets behind the concrete facade, supposedly a garden. Thus, there was barely any water and even less of a garden.

___________________________

We walked out of the subway and along the boardwalk that was riddled with garbage from nearby take away outlets. Alongside the wooden footholds sat an almost empty stream, it was a miracle if you could find any aquatic life in the still and murky water other than the foaming algae. The weather was cool and the slight breeze felt comfortable as it passed in between my skin and my cotton shirt collecting lynx fragrance on its way out to continue its wayward journey. Today, the sun gave way to the fluffy cumulous clouds that stretched infinitely over the horizon only peeking through the odd gaps every now and than. Regardless, the light radiating from the fiery orb still managed to reach the Earth by illuminating the heavans above.

My airways tickled as I inhaled a copius amount of cool air that passed through my nostrils and deep into my lungs. I held my breath for only a brief moment but it seemed an eternity as my mind processed thousands, perhaps millions of thoughts simultaneously. My heart rate was higher than usual, erratic and unsteady. The result of an abundance of adrenaline flowing through my veins, hairs on the back of my neck were armed and ready to erect if need be. I was on edge, and for once that wasnt because of family. It was because of the thing that stood in front of me eating a macadamia cookie. I was looking straight into her bright hazel eyes, the feeling was electric and sent produced convulsions that rippled through my my mind. I turned my head slowly back out at the stream and exhaled slowly.

I heard the frequency of her footsteps increase dramatically as she broke into a power walk to be by my side. As I predicted the follicles on my neck stood up. I wheeled around and scanned the environment as a sentry would. During this process I heard something that I understood as 'I wanna go'. She seemed uneasy and I didnt understand why although she read me easily from the look of chagrin on my face. She gazed into the near distance at a small group of birds. No more than ten. The flock was composed primarily of seagulls and the odd crow perched on the banisters about 15 metres away. The sound of their calls were just audible when I blocked out the background noise.

'crows scare me'

It was hard to believe that something so delicate had me alert and ready. I chuckled at the insight and I felt my muscles relax. I could see the look of embarrassement as her face flushed momentarily. I tilted my head slightly and smiled. As the twinkling faded we disappeared back into the concrete jungle.

Perhaps it was at that moment where I let my emotion not conscience be the predominant force in my mind. I hope i dont regret that.