“Do you love me?”

     An awkward silence filled the air for a second. He was taken by surprise. I could tell because his eyelids flew open, revealing startled eyes. But only for a second, because he loved me.

     “You know the answer to that, angel,” he replied.

     “I’m asking and I want to hear it.”

     “Yes.”

     I turned on my side so that I would be facing him, who was staring at the late afternoon sky. Dragonflies with crystal eyes and wings hovered above us, darting to and fro, but stopping every so often to catch their breath, I think. Do dragonflies catch their breath?

     “Just say it, Jay,” I said, trying my best not to sound too petulant. I felt my mouth pout unintentionally.

     He turned towards me with an amused half-smile on his mouth. There was a watermelon-colored stain on his left cheek from the kiss I had pressed against it earlier. “I love you, Bianca,” he said. His cheeks flushed while he said it, but his eyes twinkled.

     I smiled, satisfied. “Okay.”

     A silence stretched out between us. Not awkward this time. Just nice and warm and comfortable.

     His hand found mine. I tried to pull my hand away because it was sweaty, but he just held on tighter. I smiled and he smiled and we both lay there holding hands and smiling. We both watched the plane slowly making its way in the sky. It fit in between my thumb and my pointer when I held the two close enough to each other to make a small slit.

     I knew that summer would soon be over and that the bright, almost-neon green grass in the field we lay on would turn into a dead shade of brown. I knew that the flowers and the fruits and the dragonflies would also be gone. The world was full of impermanence and temporary beauty, but our clasped hands, his sweet reluctance, and our shared smiles and silence.. They all assured me that what we had would not fade like the dying sun setting in the distance.

     The sun sent out the last of its rays and immersed the field with its almost-neon green grass, the dragonflies with crystal eyes and wings, and the two kindred spirits lying on the grass with their fingers intertwined, in its warm glow.

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