299.Quickening the heart

As the evening air settles over the swaying park, red lamps flicker into life down to the illuminated fountain in its early spring dust of fine golden pollen. A gentle rhumba rhythm unwinds its spell from the quintet in the rotunda on the grassy verge.

A couple perch solemnly on the lip of the fountain, feeling the beat of the music. The young man, stands with his back erect, slowly clasping his palms together to capture the music’s allure. He turns to the woman and extends a proud arm toward her. With knees together, and heels already patting the marble tiles, she arches her supple back and cocks her head in the direction of the beat.

They whirl like dervishes , dangling from the strings of sounds filling the crisp evening. The folds of her scarlet skirt devour his pinstriped buttocks as their bodies come together.

Finally, they are one.