The soothing lullaby of the waves, the soft icy wrap of the breeze that seems to penetrate through every cell in your being yet it was gladly welcomed, the vast blue sky that seemed to go on forever, the sand that slips through your skin, the sweet soft caress.

The beach that you grew up with still hits you with its nostalgia and beauty; never disappointing you with its beauty

Such a calm afternoon it was and a perfect timing to sit down in the white sand and bask in the silent and comforting feeling it parades.

It was not a question of why and how does one perceive paradise when a certain place is viewed as one; it was the feeling that the place possess that translate into the viewing of one’s paradise and frankly the beach in which was near my little humble cottage stood just a couple meters away along the peaceful village and community in which I belong to.

In this village I grew up so far as I can say is tightly knitted, the folks here knew everybody and I was no exception as my mother was the resident florist and my father was local provider of daily catches in this village of ours, and our economic status is in the middle class I might say as they were able to fund me the basic human needs I was in righteous of, if it had not been obvious, I am a single child in the family 

Sad to say there was never someone close to my age that was born in our village, a lonely fact I overcome ages ago since the pros of it was that I was spoiled by the village folks as most adult here are in their retirement age who prefer simple living and their children migrating into the city thus having a small fraction of children population in the area in which lead me to being doted by the people.

It was also safe to say that it was a major factor contributing to my characteristic as quiet and kept my thoughts more to myself and preferred on being alone as solace was a heaven I loved to delve in and therefore my habit of going on afternoons and sitting at the edge of the sand where the water and sand meets as my feet would always rest in there, the cold water never bothered me rather it oddly relaxes me as I breathe in the air, let the sun rays hit my bare skin exposed to the gentle heat and the tinkling sounds of the waves dangling in my ears.  With those perfect combos it was very nice to hit the books or let my mind dwell in its creative juices with exploring and enhancing my passion of writing as I found no single artistic bone in my body, I'm referring to paintings, drawings and such. 

But now that I had come to the ripened age of twenty, I was beginning to question the sense of my single status, yet I can’t complain since people of my age rarely visit this part of the country as it was labeled as the ‘home of the aged’ as people who reside here are in their retirement ages. Those city dwellers were too much into the fast paced technological era that seemed too drastic for them to escape for once, but I am a hypocrite in a sense as I find no desire in me to leave this place, my sanctuary plus I am now the owner of the floral shop I inherited from my mother, as I beg them to retire and enjoy and booze in freedom as I shouldered the weight of financial matters, though I haven’t faced hardships yet and being a business major gave me enough confidence. 

I knew in myself that there are bigger and more dire importance in my life that I had to delegate my thoughts upon on, yet it was the yearning inside of me that’s getting the curiosity and impatience that rattles me up. You couldn’t blame me as I grew up with couples who have paced and loved through the times and it didn’t help on my questioning, yet I bear in mind that I am just in the prime of my youth and I strongly believe in faith, so time will tell and he will come.

Pushing the petty thoughts, yes I do call them petty as I couldn’t help but feel silly by stressing myself out in that matter that is totally out of my control yet I’m only human, bound to be stupid and make mistakes at times.

Though I was always admitted to myself that I am a hopeless romanticist as romance novel was by my side as I indulge in my afternoon visits in the beach

Now it explains why I am sitting at the spot I have sat on for the past thirteen years, the same old routine but the thing that changed is that I have amused myself in writing out my thoughts on an aged notebook I found in the vintage store owned upon Choi ahjussi and I absolutely adore writing out my thoughts, feelings and experiences in it.

So as I drown on this longing and desire of mine to meet the one whom would start as a mere stranger in my life to someone whom I would dearly hold and adore onto, I let my pen glide through the pages of the notebook writing him a letter,

To the stranger I've yet to meet,

Hello! You may pass me by or I might get a glimpse of you from a crowded street and bump into you and from then on your gaze would fall upon me then we would exchange awkward apologies and smile then walk off feeling strange.

 You may seem insignificant yet to my life but from then on I wish for faith to immediately pull on the magical threads that would link us together so that I can finally have the pleasure of knowing your name and be bestowed with the opportunity to have feeble chance of sparking your curiosity.

I would let destiny do its part as we get on with banal and trivial talks, hesitance still evident in the air yet you would smile and I would have to check myself again if I was breathing because of such a view my eyes lied upon how the upward motion of your lips can send my heart in an erratic beating pattern. You would be concerned while I will be embarrassed and look down, relapsing back to my awkward shell and you would crack a lame joke that would lure a small smile from me and the awkward air around us would vanish in the nick of time.

We'll end up talking and enjoying each other’s company in which I have no hesitance to voice out as bizarre it could be, yet I would end up loving every bit of the unsure athmosphere around us.

 So stranger yet I have to meet, it would be nice to meet you now, to say hello there with a soft smile on my face and adoration glowing off my pores, to be bewitched by your laughter, to oath to one's self to never forget you, to want you, to know you, to be able to tell the world I have found my stranger so call of the search.

So stranger yet I have to meet please hurry up and appear and materialize before my very eyes and help me color in the lines of my life. Stanger whomsoever by the name you go by, I have been patiently waiting, take care!

I'll be waiting!

Sincerely,

Your stranger Sungjee

As I poured out my unarranged and spontaneous thoughts of wanting to meet him I felt a sense of happiness wash over me as I realized that time can only tell and there’s no need to rush and impatiently expect the strings of faith to pull it off immediately, keeping in mind that the good things come to those who wait and I’ll wait as I said.

Feeling refreshed and light as I dusted off the sand in my summer dress I stood up and exhaled loudly before turning abruptly not minding and feeling a presence of a person  that it resulted to me bumping to a hard mass of warmth in what I perceive as a human body.

I looked up to apologize and what luck do I have for the day to come face to face with such an Adonis beauty to feast before my very eyes, tall stature, wide shoulders, a chiseled jaw , pouty pair of lips, big eyes, an intimidating aura wrapped around him yet a tinge of veil of serenity draping over him  yet the awkward part got the best of me resulting into me blushing and being clumsy as I bowed in apology while he muttered off an apology as well before I heard the alarms in my mind to say get out of there and me being a slave to my head I complied completely forgetting my fountain pen and journal left and forgotten in the sands

As I was calming my crazily beating heart and scolding my head that turned into a mind of a hormonal teenage girl I heard a voice call out.

“Hey stranger.” I heard a husky voice resonate around the beach as it seemed barren of humans if you do not include us.

Frozen in my tracks I slowly turned to the being that called my attention before sporting a confused look upon my face yet the stranger before me whose beauty overwhelms me decided to pick up my notebook and look at the page before I could mutter a protest of my right of privacy in my belonging he flashed a soft smile before trudging towards me and giving me back my pen and notebook.

With that he signaled me to accompany him closer to the sea in which I have left moments ago.

Alarm bells ringing in my head was ignored as I felt like in a trance

We sat down in the beach silence covering the atmosphere within the both of us as it looms greatly as the tension between us is almost close to being tangible

“Sorry for looking into your notebook it happened to open up in the page I have read.” The stranger told me as he sat there with his bended limbs tucked and staring off to the space of sea before us

And then the conversation continued on from there well I was mostly just lending him an understanding and unjudging ear as he told me his problems as I figured my hunch was right as he is a city dweller.

Then what turned like minutes passed into hours before it became evident to us the vast sky has turned dark signaling us how much time had passed and it was almost close to dinner

As we both got up and I left the bid hanging in my mouth out

“It was nice talking to you and I hope things go well for you Kris-ssi.” I said as I bowed turning my back from him after collecting my things as I was a good distance away from him I heard his husky voice once again

“Thank you, Sungjee-ssi.” He said in a soft and sincere voice

“You’ll come back tomorrow?” I questioned as I hesitated for a moment and settled in my mind that there is no harm on asking him a harmless question

I heard a soft laughter erupt from him before saying a,

“Yes, I’ll come back here tomorrow so I expect you to do the same Sungjee-ssi.” He wittily replied with a teasing voice.

Strangest thing that I ever did feel, I had to make you smile just to prove it's real

FIN

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