here and now

the room is bathed in the gold of the afternoon sun. the ceiling fan whirrs on, stirring life into te humid air of the day. a peanutty beef curry simmers on the stove. paper scraps and crayon shavings litter the art area.

em sits on a low stool carefully tracing an intricate design onto a blank sheet. her hair, the colour of molasses, curls around her face. sensing me looking at her, she looks up at me and smiles. that smile that had me hooked from the first time she smiled at me, ten years ago.

hero is pasting scraps of torn newspaper onto a paper cup, something he is hoping would eventually turn into a spaceship once he is done with it. he had been humming, and all of a sudden, he starts singing, losing himself in the song, making up words without caring if they were right or wrong. he was enjoying it, and that was all that mattered.

i grab my camera and start capturing this in the here and now. i want to hang on to these moments, grasping them to me before time marches across my path and snatches them away.

i see tomorrow hurtling towards me at full speed, but i long to slow it down. i want to savour these days, and not let them blend into the background of time.