Describe the perfect afternoon for you. Where would it be? What would you be doing? Tell us the details that would make it perfect!
A perfect afternoon for me is quiet. I don’t mean in loneliness but there’s this peaceful kind that even when people are there, your mind still focuses and wanders to wherever it wants.
Ideally, I’d be at home, stretched out either in bed or comfortably reclined on a chair on the back porch. In my hands would be a thriller novel, one of those types that makes me pause mid-sentence because I’m probably hyperventilating. I love books that has me gasping a little, and muttering no way under my breath because the author decided to pull something outrageous.
Beside me, on a small table within easy reach, would be a cup of coffee, cream filled coffee, slowly cooling. The story has me hooked enough to make me sip it every now and then so the cup would perhaps still be full.
Every once in a while, I’d look up from the book. Not for long though just enough to let the last sentence I read settle in my mind. To think about it, question it and try to predict what might happen next. And right at that moment, the wind would gently pass by, like a paid actor hitting their cue perfectly. The air would brush against my skin while I glance at the trees, the sky, or whatever piece of nature sits in front of me.
Another version of this perfect afternoon could be somewhere near a stream bordered by lush vegetation. I’d be sitting close enough to hear the water moving, wearing a sun hat that’s doing its best to protect me from the afternoon sun. The book would still be in my hands, of course, because what is peace without a story to disappear into? The breeze would move lightly through the air, the sound of water would hum softly in the background, and for a few hours the world would simply pause around me. There’s no noise or rush, just me and a book that refuses to let me breathe properly, a cup of coffee, and the gentle tug of reality concerning the fact that sometimes the simplest moments are the most perfect ones.