CHERRY BLOSSOMS

Life is like a cherry blossom tree,
full of happiness and unparellel beauty
We had to enjoy this wonderful present,
Because it can only last in a few moments.



Spring had finally come. Light blue skies had enveloped the entire horizon as the sun rose so high majestically. You could see finally colourful blankets of blossoming flowers everywhere. They gave beautiful appeal to the scenery. The town’s roadsides had come alive with a glorious array of wildflowers, including pink moccasin flowers, asters, hawkweed, daisies, columbine, and bunchberry. Butterflies and hummingbirds flew freely from one flower to another as the chill winds had almost ceased.

On this particular day, I was happy to plan an all-day-out trip. It was cherry blossom season again. Actually, I would be meeting someone in the park, a very special person in my life. I was not very optimistic about love relationship, not until I met my boyfriend during the pink blooming season. I was so excited to finally meet him again. After a full year of not seeing him, I’d long for this special day to come. He was not here at the country right now that’s why we don’t see each other that much. Though this past three months, he never called me and seldom replied to my emails and text messages, we had agreed that this coming April 13th, we would meet up in the park to celebrate our anniversary as being official in a relationship. No matter how busy we were in our works or whatsoever in life, we would manage to spare this day to meet and celebrate our love day.

It’s ten in the morning, so I took a quick shower and got into my Sunday best dress and I decided to take a walk through the tree lined street in our town. The streets are unusually wide and straight for the park. And it was just few blocks away from my house. I walked through that drift of spring fragrant street, feeling the warmth of the gentle wind as it touched my face comforted me from any stress. And seeing different kinds of beautiful blossoms as I crossed the street, made me feel relaxed for a while. How refreshing to take this walk. And it was really a relief. I was glad I took this off.

When I reached the park, the place was packed with people. I found large and small groups of families and random mixes of people in the parks gathered under trees eating, singing and some were talking over a beer. I had never anticipated that the area will be flooded with many youngsters and families. Younger ones were playing dodge ball or throwing Frisbee around the vast open space of the long green meadow parallel to the garden lined with many types of cherry trees. Some kids were flying kite since the day was favourable enough to make it go up in the sky. On the other side of the park, children got some old cardboard boxes, smashed them flat and used them to slide down on the very steep grassy hill. And others were having a picnic under a tree in the warm spring air, sitting back, reading book while lying on the picnic blankets or admiring the vivid display of colour view comfortably.

I was enticed to see again the remarkable beauty of spring cherry blossoms enveloping the entire view park. I headed straight to the vacant wooden bench which stood between the two weeping cherry blossoms and invited myself to sit on it while waiting. As I wait for him to show up at our favourite spot of the park, I remember the first time we had met.

It was also a spectacular season of cherry blossom when we first met. I was busy then walking in the park, looking in amazement how beautiful the pink-flowered trees were. Then, suddenly, somebody bumped me hard and I fell off the ground.

“Hey, that was so rude of you!” I said as I fell hard on the grassy floor.

“I’m so sorry, really! Oh! Let me help you” he said, while offering me some help.

“It’s never my intension to hurt you, I’ve never noticed that someone was in front of me because I couldn’t get off my eyes from the beautiful blossoms.” he continued while I got into my feet and wiped off.

“Same here actually, though it’s not my first time to view cherry blossoms. I’m just really fascinated how beautiful it is. By the way, are you from this town, coz, you don’t look familiar and I haven’t seen you around actually.”

“No. I don’t reside here, I’m from the other side of the country, very far actually and it will take many hours to drive from there to here. I’m just visiting the place because my friends told me amazing stories about cherry blossoms. It’s my first time to… you know… to catch a glimpse of the delicate blooms. And it’s really good to watch it for relaxation, removing the head-torturing tensions in my system…”

“Ahh okay, I hope you like what you’re seeing now.”

“Yeah, I like it… so much.” I didn’t know what he meant from that but he was looking straight at me rather than the view.

“You know what I have realized viewing these wonderful blossoms was that Life was like the cheery tree that was full of happiness and unparallel beauty. It can only stay in a few days, so we need to enjoy its grandeur.” he stated.

Then, for no reason at all, a soft breeze came up, making the pink colored branches of the cherry trees to sway slowly in the air and pale pink petals showered down gracefully all around us. The time suddenly stopped. I could only see the two of us standing face to face under the cherry trees while fallen petals were like flakes of snow, slowly twirling with undefined grace over us. I got lost for a moment in his deep stares, hypnotizing my soul with blissful ecstasy, promising me towards a greater tomorrow. The moment was almost magical. I considered it as one of those moments in my life that I would never forget.

“By the way, I’m Erick, and you are?” he said as he broke the magical moment while extending his right hand towards me.

“Yeah, sorry… I’m Lexy. Nice meeting you.” I said while meeting his right hand with mine.

That was the first time we met, and we got along fine that day. He invited me to have a walk around the park. And without a doubt, though he’s a total stranger to me, I’d accepted his offer. I took that opportunity to know him very well. I didn’t know why but there was something in him that I really wanted to know him better. Or probably I was just attracted to him. He’s undeniably beautiful and a successful career man. As he said, he lived at the other side of the country, and you really needed to spend many hours driving just to reach this town. So, instead of going back to his house that day, he asked his friend who was a resident of this town to sleep over at his house and stayed for another 2 days. Of course, we meet again with the succeeding days. I was mostly attracted to his tantalizing deep black eyes. But as I looked at his eyes, I could see loneliness and pain into them.

After two days, he came back to his town, but we managed to communicate often. We somehow established an online love affair. We talked through internet every night for about two hours; it seemed that he’s beside me. And our relationship grew strong. We often telephoned each other, exchange electronic mails, text messages and chatting. We were even sending seasonal greeting cards during special occasions though we knew cards were no longer famous nowadays. We never failed to lose that special communication between us, because this communication was binding our relationship to grow stronger day by day. As if I was with him the whole day. We sometimes had a fight, like in a normal couple, of course. However, we could still get over it and stayed intact with our relationship.

‘‘Ouch!” I scream suddenly, touching my head.

A Frisbee just hit my head accidentally that brought me back to my senses. I could see again lots of people walking around the park. And the noise was starting to sink into my system. I looked around to find out who owned the Frisbee.

‘‘Oh, sorry.” casted a young guy behind me, got his Frisbee and headed back to his playmates.

I suddenly heard my stomach growling, so I decided to buy hamburgers or hotdog sandwich for a while from some vendors within the park. So, I walked toward the shaded grove of food stands which were spread out among the trees on a comfortable hillside to get myself anything to put in my stomach. I passed by a row of pink, cottony cherry trees in full blossom along the way and smelled sweet fragrance that drifted through the air, so delicate I’ve never been able to pin it down to any source for there so many blossoms nearby. I closed my eyes and took a moment to smell the delightful fragrance of the blossom riding on a soft breeze. I let myself slip away to a time when I was with Erick.

We were having a picnic under the enormous cherry blossom trees right beside our favourite wooden bench. Picnic blanket was spread out in the grassy land carpeted with lovely pink petals. We could see from here the picturesque view of the lake which gave a beautiful attraction to the scenery. It was absolutely a heaven’s delight to witness such nature’s grandeur. I was sitting comfortably while Erick was laying in his back, his head leaning on my lap, listening comfortably to the soft soothing music being played in our portable radio. I was staring down at him. His eyes were closed, trying to take a good nap. I was brushing his wavy black hair with my fingers or caressed his petite nose. Then, he opened his eyes and looked at me straight in mine. He slowly raised his hands toward my face. He held it gently and pulled me toward his face, and gave me the most passionate kiss I had ever tasted in my life. I kissed him back with my eyes closed and savoured the moment. It was the sweetest moment in my life that I didn’t want to miss whenever I was with him; the wonderful feeling of being in love and being loved by someone special. What a perfect moment. It was really heaven!

I stopped kissing him and looked at him with my most affectionate stare. He held me close to him until I was lying next to him. His arms were wrapped around me. He snuggled closer and whispered in my ear…

“I really love you, baby”

“Remember that life was like the cheery tree that was full of happiness and unparallel beauty. It can only stay in a few days, so we need to enjoy its grandeur.” he told me again.

“Yeah I know…” I answered him

“And you should know that you’re the cherry blossom of my life and in my heart forever…” he said.

I knew it was really love and we forgot about the world around us. Time stood still that instance. Mellow music kept on playing while we were both lying on the blanket under the cherry tree, my head leaning on his right arm and my hand was around his body while his head leaned on his left arm. We stared upward at the branches, which looked wonderful against a deep blue sky, and laden with clusters of pure white blossom that they appear to be drooping at the tips, an illusion of course, but one that adds to the magic. We shared the sight of the dramatic blooming of the cherry blossom flower and had this enthralling sensation as they fall gracefully from the branches of the tree. The sight of falling petals were both exhilarating and agitating. The smell in the air was as thick as perfume and just as heavenly. It is visually breathtaking, but made me feel helpless against the tide of time. It made me feel happy seeing this marvel, but at the same time its short life made me sad… because I knew, Erick would leave soon same as the cherry blossom.

He slowly moved his head facing me; I looked at him as well. He slipped away his right hand and leaving my head leaned on the ground. He laid on his stomach and stared at me so passionately. He didn’t say anything, rather looked deep into their eyes as I gazed back at him. He started to move closer to me and with one finger, he traced the shape of my face, around the eyes, nose and then slowly over my lips and down to my chin. He brought my face close to his, slowly brought his lips to mine, softly kissing my upper lip, then the lower, and brought his arms around me. He slowly let the kissing grow, lips parting, until both of us were washed away with passion. When we stopped kissing, he remained embracing me tight and looked deeply into my eyes again. That was so magical. I never felt such rapturous delight until that moment.

Suddenly, I could hear my favourite song playing. When I opened my eyes, I saw again floods of people at the park. I just remembered that the song being played was my ring tone, so I immediately checked my mobile, and I received one message. I opened the message and read it,

“In a few minutes, I’ll be in our meeting place, love lots, baby…”

The message was coming from Erick. So, I went to the food stand and bought hotdog sandwich and a can of soda and headed back to the bench. There, I ate the food I bought while waiting for him. When, I finished eating the food, Erick was not coming yet. I looked around the park, saw couple walking hand by hand while others intimately sitting under the trees, but Erick was nowhere in sight. I waited and waited, wondering what our date would turn out to be this time. I was so excited to see him again. How I really longed to be with him, to feel his warmth of his embraces, taste his sweet kisses and experience again the bliss of being loved and being in love. And the certain magic when we were together.

I threw my sight at the lake view, where the sun was almost touching the horizon. The light of the sun was almost blinding my sight. I could still see the view but in shadows. Then, I saw a silhouette of a guy opposite to my place. I could feel he was looking at me although I could hardly see his face. I observed him. He was moving closer to me. As he moved closer, I could smell a familiar scent. It was the perfume that Erick was always wearing every time we met here at the park. I could finally visualize the face of the man. It was not Erick; he’s not the man I was waiting for. But he was still moving closer to me. I tried to dodge my glances to him. Then, he stopped in front of me.

“Are you Lexy?” he asked.

I looked at him and answered him politely.

“Yes I am… Do I know you?”

“No, but I do know you.” he replied

I was surprised hearing those words from him.

“A friend of mine had already told stories about you. He was right. You are really stunningly attractive. Anyway, I’m Mark. Erick’s friend.” he continued

I was confused. I didn’t understand it. Where’s Erick. And why all of a sudden, a guy named Mark came to me and talking to me. I felt my heart constrict. I felt this overwhelming fear inside me.

“Where’s Erick?” I asked him.

He didn’t answer me, instead, he handed me an envelope. I grabbed it, immediately opened the letter and read it.

“Life was like the cheery tree that was full of happiness and unparallel beauty. It can only stay in a few days, so we need to enjoy its grandeur. I can’t be with you today, because I will be in a far away place.

I am happy I have found you. You are reason why I keep on fighting to live, my reason why I took the medication just to extend my life to be with you each passing day. My body is giving up, but my heart doesn’t want. I wanted to see you before I go, I wanted to be with you with my last minute, but I can’t hold on too long. I will always love you until my last breathe… and even after death…”

After reading the letter, I was stunned. I was surprised to feel suddenly a surge of grief, at the most unexpected time. Mark looked intently at me. And then, he gave me a nudge on the shoulder and said…

“Everything has a reason. Three years back, he was lifeless, no reason to live. He had just accepted his fate that he only had 3 years to live as his doctor said, until he met you. He tried to undergo again the medication, fight to live, to be with you.”

I wanted to ask but I stay quiet. He just keep talking and talking.

“For the past 3 months, I am the one replying to your messages and emails because he told me to do so. I never called because I don’t have the same tone with Erick. So, I waited for this day to tell you about what happened to him. I’m so sorry…” as he stood and started walking away from me.

A sudden gust of wind had just passed by. Fallen petals of Cheery blossoms tumbled down and danced away toward me. I smelled the delicate scent of Erick’s perfume rather than the fragrance of the flowers as the soft breezed passed right through me. I knew in my heart, he was there, looking at me and bade his last goodbye. Tears fell unstoppably. I tried to suppress it but I couldn’t. I closed my eyes and held the letter in my bosom tightly. Took a deep breathe and sobbed harder to release the unbearable pain and grief of losing him in my life.

“Nothing lasts forever, I love you Erick…Goodbye for now… until we meet again…” I told myself.

There were no permanent things in this world, I realized. Sooner or later, the things you had right now would be gone. Life was all about a touch and go. I had it right now, after a while; it would be out in my hand. I had him once in my life, and he just slipped away after that. I just accepted that this was our fate, to be in love and separated by destiny, I love him so much and I knew he loved me the same, but sometimes love was not enough to make the relationship stay forever. And, I’ll just say goodbye to him, not because I don’t love him but because I had to let him go. He would always be in my heart. I would just have to think what he often told to me, Life was like a cherry blossom, full of happiness and unparallel beauty, and we had to enjoy its beauty because it would only last in a short time. He was my cherry blossom, the happiness and unparalleled beauty of my life. I just had to treasure his memories, here in my mind and deep in my heart… forever…


by BHELAT