drabbles..

He woke up with a start, and cursed when he saw that dawn has passed. The sun was beginning to rise, leaving orange strips of sky revealed through the open window of his room, overlooking the vast expanse of the South China Sea. He was late.

Stumbling out of bed, he pulled on a fresh pair of jeans as he made his way to the toilet to wash up. Merely seconds later, he exited with drops of water dripping at the end of his overgrown bangs, mouth smelling of colgate.

He scanned his messy room for his Nikon dslr, but it was in vain. The floors were strewn with photographs and a line hung across the room, where dozens of self developed pictures hung. His laptop lay open on the study table, and about half a dozen electrical gadgets were scattered all over the place.

The pictures were almost identical, most of them taken at dawn, with the sun rising across the sea’s horizon. And within all the pictures was a silhouette of a girl, with long legs, hair up in a ponytail, jogging barefooted along the shores of the beach and nothing more. The images of her were all over the room, from the photographs to the wall paper of his laptop. Ironically though, he had no idea who she was or how she looked like. The photos were only a shadow of his mystery girl.

He made his way downstairs towards the kitchen counter and smiled. His Nikon was there, next to a mug of steaming coffee. He made a mental note to thank his mother later, as he gulped down the coffee and rushed through the backyard, opening to the beach.

The path to the beach was a bit tricky. There was a tiny forest of shrubs he had to pass before he could reach the shore. But the cooling shades of the trees made the whole journey looked magical, especially with rays of sunshine peeking through the leaves, playing a puppet show of shadows on the ground.

He didn’t have his hopes high. He was very late, that he knew. The sun had fully risen, casting majestic gold rays on the beach. Heaving a sigh of frustration, he tried diverting his disappointment by capturing the alluring morning panorama instead. Moving the lenses along the beach to find the right angle, he stopped short when he saw the familiar silhouette, sitting on the beach. Long legs stretched outwards, palms resting backwards as she gazed towards the sea. The angle was perfect.

Click. Click. Click.

And she turned around at the sound of his shutters, long black hair flowing in a cascade of ebony waves. He saw her almond shaped eyes widen in mild surprise, as she blinked those heavy black lashes of hers in utter amazement. He felt his camera slip from his grasp when she suddenly smiled, dimples forming on both her cheeks.

“You are late.”