May Christmas bring you good cheer, and thence a purposeful New Year!
(Photo Location: Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavík, Iceland)
Category Archives: travel
Oudegracht 109
“Where is the place he took that picture at?”
She was in the middle of a bustling sidewalk with two of his best friends. It was a cool summer evening and they were along the canal at one of the busiest parts of the city.
“Well… it’s kinda difficult to know exactly where, they all look the same. And I don’t have that picture with me right now,” one of them pondered.
“I don’t have it either,” she sighed.
It had been an entirely busy time before she made the trip to where he lived, and she wanted to be at that very place he had taken the photograph and sent her two years ago. One of the few photographs he had sent her, before he left them. It was too sudden, that accident was too much of a tragedy, and she had too few places she could treasure the memory of him.
She was exasperated that she had forgotten to save that photograph in her phone before the flight, but then again, time was always a troublemaker. And now, she could not do anything about it. All she could do was stand there, feeling defeated.
Trying to make light of the situation, the other friend started telling a joke about the names of the shops and she soon forgot that sense of defeat.
—
A year later, she was reminded of that photograph again. Taking a closer scrutiny this time, she discovered that she could vaguely make out the name of the restaurant in the picture. She quickly searched that name and located its details on a map. Then, using the street view function, she finally located the spot that provided the view closest to his perspective.
“Pearle Opticians… Unit 109!” she exclaimed. But what she noticed next made her gasp.
Right across from 109 was the very place she had conceded defeat a year ago.
—
He gazed out at the city he was to live in, with its lively canal ambience, then he took out his phone. Raising it to his eye, he made a picture. Then, he lowered his phone and scrutinised the photograph he had made. He smiled at it, then looked back up across the canal, still that smile on his face.
To Light
Wishing one and all an illuminated Christmas filled with the brightest love.
(Photo Location: Haeundae Beach, Busan, South Korea)
Glass
I hadn’t written in a while so I asked for a muse and got ‘glass’. Glass it is.
He lifted the glass to his lips and took a drink. Soft ambience music and quiet voices of other customers around him threatened to mingle with his thoughts.
Alone in a foreign city, he was a traveller between worlds, a dreamer lost in his conquests.
“Your glass looks lonely.”
He looked up as a female voice said quietly. It was matter-of-fact yet bore a hint of conspiracy, almost a whisper in his ear.
He hadn’t noticed her before, but there she was, gazing at him with a smile, sitting a few stools away, her drink held between her fingers with casual poise.
“Well then, it would be a pleasure if your glass could keep it company.”
“Don’t mind if it does.”
She walked over, placing her glass carefully beside his.
“It seems to be almost empty.”
“Yeah, it’s been here for a while. Hadn’t done much except to give me a taste of the city thus far.”
“And do you like what you have tasted?”
She looked at him as she tilted the contents in her glass between the parting of her lips.
“Mostly.”
“But there is more to the city than what your glass has to offer.”
“I’m sure there is.”
“Maybe I can show you… around.”
“That would be most delightful. And I’m sure my glass no longer needs my company now that it has yours for that.”
She laughed a little, a wink of amusement in her eyes, then both of them stepped out of the bar into the night, while his glass and hers remained, out of sight.
Love Everlasting
Wishing one and all a Christmas filled with warmth and inspiration.
(Photo Location: Fengshan Presbyterian Church, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan)
Castle
Canter to a halt, quiet
Still air laden; the leaves they whisper
Of martyrs and legends;
Blood once spilled where
Poppies grow, and silence that
Falls ’round the castell old;
Take me to the maiden, bound
To the dark night; take me in place
Of purity and light.
(Photo location: Eilean Donan, Scotland)
Chanced
He smiled from behind his shades
Raised a brow, cocking his head
Asking if I was coming on;
Alas, he’s not the one I was
Waiting for, so I shook my head and
Waved with a smile bright as day
To which he waved and returned,
A tad wryly, yet a smile nonetheless
Chanced, before we pulled away.
Daily Prompt: Foreign
When the daily becomes
Refreshing, and senses
Are wide open, the fresh
New sojourner revels and
Old gems are rediscovered.
This Season –
Let the light shine in
Even darkest corners, and
The spirit of Christmas inspire
Peace, hope and happiness.
(Photo Location: Cape Santiago Lighthouse, New Taipei City, Taiwan)
Awl and Scribe 