Tuesday Night~~
I feel like a thief, stealing time. I give a quick kiss to Rikk, a hello to Justin, and throw a storebought roasted chicken and salad on the kitchen counter. I see that R. has cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, and Justin has something on his mind., but I head to the computer room, head down, fingers itching, needing to be a mermaid, swimming, stroking, floating, with the words held inside me.
Another crazy day at work. Training Lenny, taking care of customer problems, checking in trucks. Finally, a big sale, made by fighting the urge to throw myself at their feet and beg for the sale. It is a fancy dance, par and thrust, while i guage their need, and make them want what i have. I am tired by the end of the day, but satisfied.
There have been people in my life that have so overwhelmed me with their love. My diamonds don't rest on my fingers, but in my heart.
Last night in the midst of writing, feeling frustrated by interruptions and commitments, i looked to my right, and posted on the wall were 21 mermaids, all different sirens of the sea, and in the middle, a photo of me, taken at 22, sitting bikini-clad on a beach in Greece, with a live octopus on my knee.
I was astounded! It was a gift from Rikk, with me as the land-legged mermaid at it's center..
I remember that day well..I lived in a tent on the edge of the Aegean Sea,surrounded by hills of wild thyme and olive trees. The only thing around for miles was a little taverna, and the fishmen who set their wooden boats out each morning. I was an oddity, an American woman barefoot and bikinid, who spent her days writing, reading,walking the hills and lying in the sun. They didn't know what to do with me...ignore me, befriend me, or spy on me when i slipped away to the farthest corner of rocks to sunbathe nude. I gave them no choice. I talked to them in my halting Greek, which they found hilarious. It wasn't long before they tried to teach me to fish, and then the day of the photo came. I was too soft and citified to touch the octopus they caught, they said. It was too creepy and slimy, they said.
I couldn't resist....It was the size of a cat, and looked dangerous. What would the tentacles feel like, sucking against my skin? Was it slimy, or silky and slippery? I sat in the sand, and they placed it upon my knee. The tentacles grasped my leg tightly, and the body felt like silk. I felt erotic, and wild, and slid my fingers over the length of its body. It was one of those moments where all feeling is magnified, the wind tossing my hair, the grit of the sand, the laughing hiss of the sea,the intent eyes of the fishermen watching me.I smiled into the camera, willing myself to remember it forever.
And I have........