Moonlight Sonata

His arms wrap around her tightly as he promises her the moon. The moon and the stars, he says. I promise you the moon and the stars. He nuzzles his nose in her soft auburn hair and then takes a few strands in his palm, twirling them in his fingers before letting them fall to her back. She loves his touch- the way his hand brushes her cheek and carries down the nape of her neck to her shoulders. It is as gentle as a pianist approaches the keys, as he takes precaution to slide his fingers to the correct position. She loves the way he pulls her closer to him as the cold breeze sweeps in, sending chills up and down her spine.  Their lips mesh together and she tastes his breath and it tastes like nicotine. She feels as though her skin is the only thing that’s keeping her together.

I don’t need the moon and the stars; she says when they pull apart.  His hand slips behind her head he brings her forward so their foreheads touch.  This is all I need, she says. He presses his left thumb against her lips, tracing her mouth as though trying to make sure he remembers what they’re like. His finger then travels around her chin, traces her cheekbones and finally travels up to her eyes, as though he is painting a picture in his mind so that he remembers what she looks like.  She closes her eyes and lets a single tear trickle down her cheek, but she does not cry. She promised him she wouldn’t.

But there are a lot of empty promises being made this night, she thinks. She nestles into his camouflage uniform. 

You will be beautiful, he says. They will love you.  I will be back before you know it, he says. I promise.  I’ll bring back the moon and the stars. 



She remembers this night as she plays. Her fingers slide across the white ivory keys of the baby grand piano, with Silence as the audience while she pours her heart into the sonata.  She has memorized it to the point where she plays with her eyes close, and she pictures him, promising her the moon. But she wishes she had traced his face the way he had with hers. Because she is starting to forget what he looks like. And she’s afraid that if she stops playing, she’ll forget forever.