The Wanderer

“God this place is so beautiful, I wish I could live here”

“Let’s do it then”

She looked in my direction, our eyes lingering for a moment. She smiles and laughs at the prospect before looking down the street again. Our hands intertwined swinging back and forth as we walk down the cobblestone street.

“Yea sure lets just move to the south of France”

“Why not?”

She stops for a moment, looking back at me. My eyes already locked on hers. She looks bewildered, reading my face to see if I’m serious or not. I return a look of certainty.

“Well for starters we both have jobs.”

“Who needs a job!”

“We do!”

She laughs, swinging my arms with glee.

“Think about it for a moment. If you could go anywhere, wouldn’t this be the place?”

The street was lined with small buildings, lights from apartments glowed amongst the stars above. Small family owned shops lined the walls, selling hand made clothes and jewelry. The cobblestone below us placed centuries before. Couples wandered past us hand in hand, just as we were. A slight breeze blew through the alleys bringing a cool oasis to the summer heat. She looked around before returning to my gaze, the love in her eyes palpable.

“Yea this place is pretty much perfect”

“See told you! Let’s move here tomorrow”

She laughed softly, looking away for a moment before weaving her arms in between mine, her head resting on my shoulder.

“Here I want to show you something”

We turn a corner and find ourselves on another small street. As the shops begin to close, the only light comes from the occasional street lamp and one small café. The Café was picturesque to say the least. A canopy sheltered a few couples drinking coffee and eating sandwiches outside on small round tables. A lamp illuminated the small family owned shop, a chef and a barista inside waiting on their customers. A street lamp floods the shop and the surrounding street with a sunset yellow, seeping up the walls of the buildings before getting lost in the night sky. Stars just now appearing in the twilight sky, when the night is a perfect deep blue.

Her hand squeezes mine as we walk into the café. We sit down at a table facing each other. She fits so perfectly into this canvas, I memorize every detail of this moment. Her dark brown hair cascading over her shoulders, the couple next to us entranced in conversation, the moon sleeping peacefully above, not a cloud in the sky. She looked at me as if I was the only thing that mattered. I looked back as if she was the universe.

“How’d you find this place anyways?” she says, resting her head on her hand, her face is at an angle now but her eyes are still locked on mine.

“Funny you mention that. So the other day I was wandering around a museum and I came upon this painting of a café in the night. Well apparently the painting was based off a real place.”

“No way, it’s this café?”

“Yup! Over a hundred years ago, Vincent Van Gogh stood right there and painting this café. The second I saw the painting I knew I wanted to see it with you.”

“You’re insane”

“Maybe a little”

I reach over the table and take her hand in mine, her eyes a deep caramel brown in the light of the lamp above us. I could spend an eternity right here and look back at a full life.