Right Place Right Time

Right Place, Right Time
Part I: Eliza

In the summer breeze on a park bench she reminisced. She was a long way from home. But for some reason today she felt like she was at home. Eliza called the south her home but sitting in the park today she could swear she could smell the peach trees on the wind. She could feel her hair grazing her face. She closed her light brown eyes and enjoyed every minute of it. She left the park bench and took off her sandals. She then proceeded to walk through the paths of the park as the wind played with her floral print summer dress. She felt free today. She had never been one to believe in omens but today she believed something special was going to happen. As she walked off the path she giggled as the grass prickled at the undersides of her feet. She felt free. Her mind drifted back to when she was a little girl and all she did was run around the countryside barefoot and dirty without a care in the world. She had always been a bit of a tomboy. It was something her grandmother fought hard to get out of her system. But Eliza was a strong spirit. Even though it ran her grandmother ragged, she knew she would be upset if her spirit would ever be broken. As Eliza grew up, she also grew out. Then her grandmother's efforts doubled to make a lady out of the young child. Some lessons took and Eliza grew to be the perfect typical southern belle. Some lessons on the other hand would secretly come out when grandma wasn't looking. As she walked through the park the wind blew her dress in a way to reveal two long, beautiful, strong legs that were quite accustomed to climbing up and down the tree to her window in the middle of the night. Her arms had shown to be lightly muscled from years of challenging the boys to wrestle and sometimes winning. But all these things that made her who she was had to be hidden or her grandmother would have gotten upset. As she got older her grandmother confided in her that she already knew all that she was doing. With a smile she told Eliza that she didn't want her to stop being who she was, she just wanted to teach her that there is a time and a place for everything. She also told Eliza that she had always admired her spirit. Grandma has been dead for about two years now. Eliza wondered why this came up now. What made her think of her past all of a sudden? She instinctively looked around to see if her grandmother was watching. She knew she wasn't, but someone was.
He looked at her doe-eyed expression with a half smile. It was actually more of a smirk. He put down his drawing pad and rose from his position under the tree. He stood about two inches taller than Eliza did. He had a roguish good look about him. His goatee was freshly trimmed and his head bald. At first glance he was quite forgettable but the longer Eliza regarded him the more attractive he became.
My apologies, I didn't mean to stare. It's just that you looked so at peace. I don't know if you even realized it but you were like a moving work of art. It was so natural I just had to capture it.
Eliza, still silent and somewhat embarrassed, found herself mesmerized. She had never heard such a deep voice before. It reminded her of sweet dark honey molasses. His words came slow and soothing. They seemed to take their time flowing out of his mouth. There was no accent, just soothing words so sweet to her ears.
It's okay, Eliza responded, I suppose I was just in my own world and finally seeing you put a fright to me.
That's some accent you got there. Where are you from Miss¦He trailed off fishing for a name?
Eliza, she responded. I'm from Mobile, Alabama. So's you can stop calling me miss, sir.
After noticing her getting somewhat upset he wiped at his beard in amusement. My apologies once again, here I am asking who you are and I haven't even had the decency to introduce myself. My name is Jalen, Jalen Thomas from Chicago, Illinois. Pleasure to meet you. He said with a sarcastic bow
Eliza hated smart alecks but she loved his voice so much that she figured she do what it took to keep him talking(even if it was only arguing). Well Mr. Thomas do you mind telling me what you were doing over there, or do you make a sport of staring at girls in the park?
Well actually I was drawing. I liked the way the park looked today. There was something special on the wind and I had to capture it. I had no idea that you would be what the wind blew in. But if I knew, I certainly would have dressed better.
Eliza blushed. She tried to hide it but couldn't. Well I tried to stay mad at you but it's not working. The least you can do for scaring me like that is show me your work.
Right this way. I didn't get to finish so go easy on me.

He showed her the picture that he drew of her. Then he showed her three more of her. It made her wonder how long she was in a daze. His work was really good. She thought she looked beautiful. She had never felt that way before. He showed her some other drawing that he had done and she even posed for another picture for him. After he finished, they talked and laughed all day. All day he adored her accent. All day she loved his voice. In the end they shared a sunset. In the end they shared a kiss. She had never shown anyone the full of herself like she did with Jalen. They even had a playful wrestling match. No other man appreciated that side of her before. At times, what she showed them was too much, sometimes when she held back it was too little. But today she did neither. She was all Eliza, and this time it was the right time and the right place to be Eliza. She had a good feeling about this day. She also knew that her grandma was smiling down at her.

Right Place, Right Time
Part II: Jalen

Today feels different. Jalen remarked
Normally when Jalen awoke, all he did was grumble and growl. He had never been a morning person. When he and his father crossed paths in the morning, they would exchange animal type grunts and move on with the burden that some people call morning. But today he actually woke up somewhat vocal. He had a good feeling about the day. The wind was blowing through his apartment window. It felt so good. As he looked out his window he saw that he just had to get outside. Everyone in the city seemed so stiff and rigid to him. He wanted to capture the beauty of the day on paper but he was just getting lost in a sea of humanity. He had grown up in the city. The hustle of the people was nothing new to him but today he was looking for something different. He tried to draw a building and it worked out ok but he wanted more. His hands were moving all by themselves today. His art was just coming alive on his paper. He felt like a spectator. But after all he'd accomplished, he still wasn't satisfied.
He later walked into the park. His father used to bring him here all the time. He used to do a lot of things with his father. They could talk for hours, rough house, and just pass the time like best friends. He missed those times. Though his father was still alive, Jalen had just gotten older and didn't have the time to spend with his father like he wanted. Dad would have loved today, he thought. I'll have to give him a call.
Jalen started to sketch a few things from under a tree. A squirrel here, a grove of trees their. He almost gave up until he saw¦her. In a city of uptight overachievers, there was her. She didn't see him but he definitely saw her. She walked with no shoes or socks on. Her sundress and shoulder length hair flowing on the wind. She was a tapestry in motion. As a child he loved to look at art books. He would marvel at how the artist would capture the beauty of the moment. He thought that the women that some artist painted were prettier than the real women that he saw everyday. He knew in his heart of hearts that somewhere in a mythical land there roamed women so beautiful that they defied description. He had waited his whole childhood to see such a woman. As he grew older, Jalen gave up on such nonsense. That is, until today. Today he was a child once more. Today he found himself plopped in an anthology of his favorite books.
Every step she took, took him through a myriad of emotions. He was excited, shy, aroused, overjoyed, and possessed of feeling that he never knew existed. It was a feeling that curled around his everything and squeezed new life into it. His inner child was excited to finally see one of the nymphs that he grew up searching for. Before the child could lose it he sketched with a fire of inspiration that evolved into an inferno. With it he set his drawing pad ablaze. Picture after picture, he rifled off the drawings of her every movement. He never looked at his pad yet his hands moved so freely. He was unconscious in his efforts. He had never known such inspiration. All she did was show up and she lifted him to new unimaginable heights.
She was so free. The sun kissed her body day after day. Her face had never known the need for make-up. The wind used the fabric of her dress to make love to every curve of her body. Her small, full, breasts never needed anything to hold them up in their proud independence. She was a creature of modesty. She had no idea how great she was. If she ever knew how wonderful she was in Jalen's eyes, she would own him. If she never spoke to him, she still would have walked away with his breath. If she never looked in his direction she would still have walked away with his attention. But she did. She looked at him and he stared happily into twin galaxies. All he could do was smile. Then he rose to speak to a goddess. When he heard her speak all he could hear was his favorite new song. After he had broken the ice with her, he did something he never did; he shared his work with her. She looked on with interest. She found favor with his talent. Jalen couldn't be happier. Even as they shared a sunset he found joy. He was a happy little boy walking hand and hand with a dream that he had been chasing for years. He wanted to tell her but he chose to hold on for just a little longer. For right now he would walk hand in hand with his dream.