A Spanish Paradise

  
A Spanish Paradise 

It is a start, a new seeking of life. Her heart has never been the same and how badly she wants it back. How dearly she wants to caress the moon with her lips and the sun her heart. Delicately letting her soul unfold like the blooming of a flower beneath the cool rain of spring.

  And so Melody takes to the skies with a one way ticket to her paradise. To a small town in South America where she had gone once before as a child, visiting her grandfather. She remembers the buildings, how warm their sandstone colors were.

  How elegantly the sun danced off the artistry of the horizon against the mountains covered in the lushness of nature. How beautifully the glow of the moon glittered upon the stone streets after a rainy day.

  So much beauty, so much history in each curve, each arch, each stone. Everything is painted so well in her memory. She looks down from her seat through the window of the plane and sees the cascade of flourishing hills. The landscape of green kissed roads and vast undertones of earth's chest.

  Her face builds with anticipation as a smile shimmers brightly upon her. Her eyes reflecting the view beneath her. She rests her head against the plane and falls asleep. A few hours go by and she wakes as the plane lands.

  Her heart sparks with excitement, she can hardly wait. Anxiously she taps her foot as she waits for the pilot to announce the dismounting from the plane. Twenty minutes ooze by and the plane is released of passengers.

 Melody, with her black backpack rushes to gather the rest of her luggage and scrambles through the crowd of the airport as quickly as possible. She reaches the exit and hails for a cab. An old yellow Oldsmobile pulls up. She pulls open the door and tosses her luggage inside to the other side of the car.

  She sits down and hands the cab driver an address written on a small piece of scrap paper. The cab driver nods and they head out. An hour goes by and they arrive. They arrive at the quaint town of Saint Maria. A small town just a mile from the coast sitting atop hill overlooking a valley.

  She hands the cab driver money, grabs her luggage and steps out of the car. At first she doesn't move from where she stands. She brushes back her dark hair tinted with hints of red. She looks around and takes in the warm tropic air.

  She breathes it in and slowly releases it. Feeling her lungs capture the essence of memories. In front of her, on the other side of a small dirt road, is an old path to the town. You can only get into the town by foot.

  She steps across the street and makes her way through a narrow path hugged by palm trees and other exotic plants. She can already smell the ocean air rising up from the coast. She reaches the main entrance of the town.

  A long stretch of shoulder to shoulder buildings hold a smooth stone pathway. The path is wide enough for three people to walk shoulder to shoulder. Melody takes in the quaint view before her, the lustrous colors of the buildings enthrall her.

  She runs memories through her head of her and her grandfather laughing together down this exact path. Before walking onward, she turns back and looks back up the path she came from. She gives way to a sigh of relief and her body instantly relaxes.

  Every bone, every muscle, every stress floats away from her like a log lost as sea. Her worries dissipate as she takes on this new way of life. She left it all behind, her job, she loathed. Her ex-husband, her car, her home, she left it all.

  She was never one to enjoy the speed of the life in a city, or anywhere for that matter. She always dreamed of being disconnected, of finding that primal state of the mind and living in it. Living on the edge, off the grid of world.

  She turns back and looks to the town and makes her way in. She looks down at the stone pathway and enjoys the pattern beneath her feet. Red stones lay neck in neck with colors of blue, green, and yellow scattered throughout.

 But perfectly placed as not to cause the mind to distress. She walks to the end of the path. Where it opens up to the center of the town to a courtyard. In the center sits a man with a cigar and a glass of tequila.

  He holds a guitar in hand playing soft tones of Spanish rhythms. A warm breeze picks up and brushes over Melody. Her hair wavers gently to the breeze and while it passes she listens to the music tenderly echo through the courtyard.

 Taken to the music to she lets go of thought and prances her eyes about. Melody looks around and across to the other-side of the courtyard is an old catholic church, built back in the 1800's.

  Looking at the church she smiles and says, "Everything about this place is exactly how I remember it. Remote, peaceful, beautiful and romantic."

  After dawning herself in the spectacle of the town and the supple sound of music, she makes way to the right and arrives at a small building. It sits squeezed between two buildings that stretch just one  story higher. She walks up two steps and stands in front of the entrance.

  It's dark cherry red door resonates with a calming feel. Melody lets go of the luggage in her left hand and clasps the handmade handle to the door. Then lets go of her other bag and reaches into her pocket and pulls out a key.

  She places it in the lock, but before she turns it. She lets the moment sink in, she lets herself get lost in what is going to be a new life. A new wonder of what life can truly be. She is in her paradise, her oasis of soul.

 She turns the key and slowly opens the door. She grabs her luggage and makes her way inside. It is silent as she enters, not a peep, the only noise heard is the singing of the birds and the faint noise of the guitar dying off in the distance. And then, as she passes the stairs on her right.

  She suddenly hears rampant footsteps, passing the stairs two small children coming running out with arms wide, smiles on their faces yelling out, "Mommy, mommy!"

 Melody lets all her luggage fall from her, she kneels down and embraces her children with love. She kisses them on the head as they clasp onto her tightly. She closes her eyes and whispers in her children's ears, "I love you guys so much."

 She opens her eyes and there behind her kids stands her grandfather smiling. His silver hair slicked back, his beard neatly trimmed wearing a white cotton collared shirt. Melody carefully stands up and comes to tears of joy.

  Her grandfather steps to her and they embrace as her kids hold on, each to one of her legs. Her grandfather kisses her on the forehead and says, "My beautiful granddaughter, may we never part before it is necessary and may this new start be the beginning of miracles."

  They hug for a moment longer and then depart to the kitchen to celebrate.

 Melody has always been a loving mother. A person of great care and triumph. She has never steered from a challenge nor let tragedy fault her into misery. But, six months ago, she lost her entire family to a plane crash. Everyone was coming in for a family reunion. But death had gripped tightly upon that day and stripped away much of Melody's love.

  But now, she is with her children and her grandfather.
 ---
Sometimes we have to leave it all behind and start over. Getting away from all the distractions that give us no momentum to move forward. 

May you find peace in your mind and peace in your heart, A Man's Traveled Heart
Coming soon, The Bleeding of Words

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