Shades of sunset in a cup

Nostalgia hits me – the enigmatic notes of Chopin playing in the background, the creek that ran through the garden somehow resounding them while keeping with the time, the last song of the black bird as it was heading home – the music was all around in perfect harmonious symphony. All you had to do was tune in, listen.

There I was, perched on the window seat, lost deep in thought, with that steaming heavenly cup of coffee that did positively up my spirits on that quiet spring evening, as were the last few that did follow.

Life, as I had known it, wouldn’t be the same again. The time had come and I was heading out, away from home, out into that enthralling enchanted land beyond as I had always pictured it, anxious and excited, all at once, in search of greener pastures for sustenance. Why was home disregarded? Weren’t our folks happy enough? – I couldn’t conceive why. Oblivious to all, I have been – a picture that was charmingly picturesque; that is all that I had seen, or been shown rather. Reality was not something I had come across. It had probably dawned on someone to say, “Let go!” And so, there I was, going – leaving behind the only world I knew, the only people I loved. Right or wrong, for good or for bad – I didn’t know then as I do now.

To say goodbye, I couldn’t. The assurance that I would return was not good enough to refrain from the exercise. It was tearful but the drive to discover, to traverse paths untrodden held me through. With time and distance, I’ve finally moved on.

Even now, I’m here, perched on the window seat enjoying my cup of coffee, though in a setting much different, seeing things in a different light; change it seems has come. I shall, however, never hope to be anybody but me. Change for the better, maybe. Home is where the heart lies. The sights and sounds, the laughter and love that then seemed transient, and yet still remain etched in my memory, truly remind me of the shades of sunset captured in a cup.