STUDY - Technical - WRITING

a nEW mORNING of an old marriage

The Beginning of an ancient coexistence

He woke up “in a pool of sweat”, jumping in his seat, barely breathing… His old apnea was strangling his sleep, and it was so short because of his age.

He breathed deeply, trying to get as much air as possible.

Then he felt the caress of Jacqueline, who hadn’t gotten up but was just soothingly stroking his back, looking intently at him.

And the memories of Musashi torment you? Her voice was whispered.

How do you know? Jean replied, still in a whisper.

After over 90 years together, you still haven’t reconciled with me. And Jacqueline stood up beside Jean, cradling his wet body in her arms, her head resting on his shoulder.

Your look and your smile from that time, when you knew, I was going to certain death, I remembered them in every new journey, together.

You’re remembering Ayumi increasingly! Did that smile, or that destiny mark you that much?

It’s not that, and you know it! Then it all ended far too quickly. We still had so much to do together!

I don’t see the point... I just left too, that very day… I didn’t interrupt anything we had to do together…

Maybe you left because you were forced to jigai (the ritual “departure”) after my assassins were sure to start removing everything…

Flat man as always. You know the truth and you still hold your own! As you have driven me crazy for the next lifetimes with your love of martial arts… Knowing that it is only a perfection of the moment… And only a part of it.

As if you, eternally beautiful, were looking for anything other than feminine perfection?!? The Nitsitaha of the Comanches in you I find even now... After so many lives together...

And is it that bad? she asks, cupping his head with her hands and kissing him passionately.

Jack responded to her prolonged kiss, but when she rested her head on his chest as if resting after that experience, he wiped his lips “softly” and, holding her in his arms, said:

Yes, our perfections, as much as we could, were permanently complemented. Even if you keep forgetting that we are over 90 years old, morning kisses also bring a different flavor to love.

Yes, the years go by… Our longest life together... Always ending too soon...

I feel as if you now want to remind me of Quanah, the great hunter!

Yes, it is! Like Ayumi, you let Nitsitaha come after you on her own, on the same path.

Are you still angry about that? The horse stumbled, and I fell under the feet of the herd, blindly following the leader. It was no longer a personal ambition.

I notified you several times of the Kiowa’s Slut Raven’s intentions to attack the nunumu (our tribe) to have me after he kills you. So, you went alone without a fight.

Yes, you have told me many times about your shamanic premonitions. And when you invoked Take-Mikazuchi (the Shinto god of war) in the Kasuga temple and when you danced for Ussen (the Comanche god of war), even though I, then, left on a simple bison hunt...

Yes, and listened to somehow? Did you listen to what I was feeling, what I was telling you?

In both cases. And now I have in my mind your face from the night of the dance before going hunting! Even though I have no memories of Ayumi doing the same,

But I remember loving you unforgettably every night before my end. Our end.

Believing that love and living are everything.

Why do I feel so guilty every time you remind me of all this?

Oh, I don’t want us to get upset! As always, I always understood you. Look, in this life, we avoided ending up the same way. I understood what I did wrong.

Are you sure this is what I wanted you to feel and avoid? I was always by your side, regardless of your choices.

What do you want to say?

Jean, joy with you fills my soul every time. But now you have also known the joy of our children. Of those who carry on our experiences.

My dear Jacqueline, I get it! But why do I feel you are unhappy?

Time has passed, and even if in two other lives you did not listen to my intuitions, in this life you did. Whether achieving a wonderful family together or having accomplished children.

Yes, you are right! Now I understand you! I felt that we still had a lot to do. I understood that if we are together completely, we will achieve them.

That is why we are incomplete. We are two halves of angels who have yet to become one and who only open their wings fully together.

Yes, yes, my dear, you’ve told me every time. I will never forget this!

Come on, now I feel like our Alzheimer’s will tear us apart again. Maybe for the last time!

We’re leaving this morning anyway! The fireplace will do its job; I haven’t cleaned it in years.

Weird, I feel it too! See you in the next life! Be open to my intuition!

Intuitions? What insights? Who are you, woman?

Note: Images are created by me, Merticaru Dorin Nicolae, using Microsoft Bing Image Creator.

Dorin, Merticaru (10.29, 2023)