Buried Cosmos-Hide and Seek
Title: Buried Cosmos
Author: tiaordona
Fandom: Harvest Moon, AWL, which I am in no way affiliated with.
Prompt: Hide and Seek
Rating: T for sexual themes at the beginning of the chapter.
I
had lost hope.
The wistful fantasies of true love had woven a variegated pattern on my heart. In an emotional of whirlwind of hide and seek, I had gained and lost. Destroyed and created. Rendered myself and weak and grew stronger. But as the seasons wore away my vitality, I opted to move to a land where deep passion could be eternal, made immunized.
Then I met Marlin, and deep red dominated.
Even in my marriage, hide and seek still exists. We can never indelibly seek something that is forever hidden. And yet, as a nuptial team, Marlin and I proved that we can continue to seek what is hidden. So long as I walk down the blazing, winding trail, his fingers will always be laced within my own.
As I lay under the dewy warmth of his arm, snaked around my bare waist, I shoo away my doubts one last time and try to digest the events of last night.
The sun peeks over the mountain, pouring its light upon the cooling earth and blooming rosy colors across my rustic floorboards. The warmth dances across my shoulder, trickling goose bumps down my arm.
He shifts his arm slightly, sighing in content and pressing his muscular back against my shoulder blades. I can feel his cool breath against my sticky neck, and it elicits a small shiver of pleasure from me, driving a plethora of memories into me.
He was gentle, yet so powerful. I clung on for dear life as fire roared around us, as the stars were close enough to grasp, as he gave me more love than I can ever ask for. I gave him myself, and he gave me himself. Forgiveness. All my doubts were eradicated with the deep words he had uttered, the sensations that tore through me.
It’s over, and a new dawn breaks across the still horizon.
Light floods the house, awakening its two lovers to a refreshing day of bliss. Marlin slides his arm off of my hips as he rises and stretches, along, contented yawn escaping his throat. He tilts his head to gaze upon me, and tingling heat stings across my cheeks as I clench the blankets closer to my chest. There is nothing left to hide, yet modesty had accumulated upon my shoulders, bowing me with weight. Marlin chuckles and extends a hand, pink also adorning his cheeks as I pull myself next to him and rest in the crook of hi arms.
A thoughtful silence, glazed with adoration, follows. Marlin’s fingertips brush my hip, and then he speaks the only thing that can possibly be spoken after a moment like this.
“Good morning.”
I place my hand atop of his, basking in the faint heat that radiates from it. “It is,” I agree softly, my emotions pouring all onto me at once as he kisses my temple once more, running his hand from my shoulder, all the way down to my hip, making circles on the descent. I shiver again and catch a sight of myself in the mirror. The transformation from last night is amazing.
Where there was an angry woman whose eyes were livid with anger, is now a woman whose eyes are twinkling with a sort of tranquility, a
peace offering to the world that had caused her such suffering. This sanctuary of a house was once a wistful memorial of the things that were once promised, once were. Now it is back to its splendor, a new shrine to marvel at the pleasant past and future.
Where there was once bitterness and yearning, there is now new life. Hide and seek is over.
---
The rows of summer crops, ready to harvest, form a boldly-colored quilt across my sprawling fields. The thin dash of red is a row of plump tomatoes; the thick, lush green is a row of juicy watermelons; the straight row of melons forms a beige stripe; and the row of leafy green is a row of milky-colored turnips, eager to burst forth from their nest in the warm earth.
It is the final day of summer, and the heat is dying, each second making the air more frigid and cool. The sky is a magnificent hue of turquoise, the leaves on the trees quivering in the northern winds. The refreshing scent of the mountains is a perfume that mingles with the alluring scent that wafts from my basket of pride and joy, my crops. The sweat dries, sticky and thick, upon my face, yet the feeling of accomplishment is well worth it.
Marlin lopes to me, his basket overflowing with ripe produce, and my heart swells at the sight. He approaches me and wraps an arm around my waist, kissing me delicately once more. I kiss back, tasting the sweetness of his soft lips. He quickly moves his hand to my head, smoothing my tangled brunette tresses that are swept into a ponytail out of laziness. I sigh out of contentment, the emotions finally dying as serenity overtakes them, a fervent nirvana that the two of us will share.
He breaks away for air, looking at me and smoothing my sticky bangs away from my face, a coy smirk of amusement dawning upon his face as the stick to his hand. I try to look defiant, but I am positive that my eyes are too softened to succeed.
“What? Harvesting is hard work!” I shoot at him playfully, slapping him lightly on the arm.
“Oh, it wasn’t that bad. I did it all the time for Vesta, anyway,” he counterattacks, fixing my hair so it lay across my head in a more presentable fashion.
I shrug, unable to fight back. How can I fight back to the one I love with all my heart, the one I just got back for a reality that I thought would never happen?
He chuckles, knowing he has won, and shifts the basket so it lies more firmly on his hip, scrutinizing the crops with an expert eye of a lifelong farmer. “Good harvest this year, I reckon.” He grasps a tomato, feeling the innards with his thumb, probing it with a harmless hand.
He is pleased with the texture, the consistency.
I smile. Everything right now is perfect. With a good harvest, excellent health, the changing seasons, and the one I love who will always be by my side, life is finally beginning to take a turn for the better. The earthy scent of the leaves and upturned soil is a perfume, combining with the alluring fragrance of the fruits of our labor. The sun is setting, painting the world a magnificent shade of gold. The blue feather is tucked safely into his shirt pocket, and once it again, it finds its glitter, strong and determined in the light of dusk.
Hide and seek really is over, and the two lovers have emerged triumphant.