Sunrise will begin at 6:36 AM. I’ve always had a secret love affair with the moon, so it only makes sense I should court the breathless sunrise once in a while.
The moment my bare feet touch the damp sand, and I smell the salty ocean, I pull together the vision of what I cannot yet see. I hear the hypnotic sound of the waves, even in the darkest hour, they let you know how alive they are. It’s captivating how the waves seduce you and the night sky holds on so longingly. It’s during these dark hours that you begin to believe the ocean, the moon, and the stars only exist for you. The warm, sudsy waves creep up playfully to stroke my ankles. The larger ones dance around me, and I feel myself sink deeper. As I stood at the edge of the great waters, the sultry sea breeze caressing my bare shoulders, I was mesmerized. The temperature is perfect, an ideal scene for an unrivaled affair. I knew I had made the right decision.
I’m nervous and excited about whether the photo shoot by the sea will seal the deal I imagined. I didn’t think much about the cover photo as I stitched together the chapters of my book. I didn’t even visualize it for a minute. It wasn’t until it went for its final edit that I began to panic just a bit. I searched for an artist because I figured someone’s imagination was a good outcome to a problem I couldn’t solve. I browsed endless bookshelves, flipped through hours of book covers, and got nowhere. In the midst of rejecting one draft after another, I was presented with the idea of a silhouette. It was then that I realized I wanted myself on the cover of my first book. I had spent endless hours compiling the pages. So, why not package it neatly with the substance of my affair? The idea behind this book was all about my journey. This cover had to show me in my element; it had to show how it all began.
In the distance, all I see is the faint line of the horizon. All I see is how, in a short moment, my world will illuminate, and the dusky sky will welcome daybreak. In a short while, my secret love affair will end here, right at this moment, in between dusk and dawn. In a short time, I will have chosen my photo. In the distance, the colors of fire slowly begin to radiate, overlapping the romantic night shades. I witnessed the kiss of life take place. There’s just something magnificent about the rising of the sun that makes you want to worship the universe for giving you another chance at life.
And so as the climactic rays swept over my world, I caught a glimpse of how life gives birth each morning. We rarely get to admire the beauty of a new beginning, undeserving are we, and I, too, felt selfish turning my back on something that gave me so much. This morning gifted me a perfect silhouette caught amidst the moon, sun, and the magnificent ocean. I walked away with a heavy heart, like a lover losing the only love I knew. I dismissed myself and headed to choose the final exposure that would seal the dream of my first published book, and reveal the evidence of my secret love affair.
