The next chapter

Wow, it's been a while since I last wrote something on here. I had to actually go request my password to enter my own blog, but I havent been inspired enough to write much.

I mean, life happens. And we get so caught up in the day-to-day... and as someone recently reminded me, we sometimes become like pigeons and forget to look up...

Sometimes we even lose sight of the real world and find ourselves in places without knowing how we got there.


That's where i've just been.

I ended up in a place not quite sure how I got there.
That's why the last two months of my life sort of warrants a story.

This story was unplanned. It happened as it happened. No questions. No answers. And no explanations.

Just a story of two hopeless romantics and terrible, terrible timing.


I'm currently sitting in a restaurant at Cape Town International Airport, about to board a flight back to Johannesburg.



The past 5 days in Cape Town was originally planned to be a very different story.

What was meant to be 5 days of quality time getting to know someone, turned out to be 5 days of a lot of me-time.


Me-time to reflect on such a short period of time spent with someone, but time that had the most profound impact on me.


The last four years of my life has been good. Finding Leo became Leo Found.

I knew what was important to me, I knew where I was heading in life, and I knew that one day I will fall in love again.


And then, you happened.


I remember that very moment. A warm Summers day. You caught my eye like we had met before. A previous life. A different time. To quote a corny movie, you "had me at hello".

It was only two years later that we both recalled that first encounter.

From the details of the clothes you were wearing, to the wine I was drinking.

And if only I knew then already that I would one day need to quit you.


Life happened in between. You slipped in-and-out of my consciousness. I knew you were there in the background. Around. Sometimes within touching distance.

And then, one day, the universe conspired. Stars aligned. And it seemed like time was on our side.

For now, at least.

You jumped.

I hesitantly moved forward.

Then you asked me to jump with everything i had in me.

I jumped. Giving it my all.

We both rocketed into the sky like fireworks exploding across a bay on a happy New Years eve.

It was the most beautiful display of fireworks. Bright colours, loud explosions, different shapes, sizes. Some big. Some small. Some loud. Some soft pops. Some whistling sounds.

But magical!

Colourful!

And adored by everyone who watched this roaring blaze of glowing light.




Sadly, when firework displays are over, the colours disappear. The sounds stop. The light turns back to dark.

And although fireworks are spent, at least they were once fireworks.

You were my firework display.

It was beautiful. Colourful. Intense.

While I was hoping the colourful display would continue, the fire was lacking oxygen. Oxygen that was being used on a different life-support system. Your own life-support.

Then,  just like that...

We ended mid-sentence.

The fire was dead. There wasn't enough oxygen for us and the fire. The time had run out.

But what really matters though, is that the stars of that night remain shining.

So now, tonight at 19h30 I'm getting back onto the plane that brought me here. I didnt see you. We didnt speak. We didnt spend time together. We didnt We.

But what we did do, is remind me that I still had the ability to fall in love.

To quote David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas: "Books don't offer real escape, but they can stop a mind scratching itself raw.

That's how I feel about writing this now.

I'm done scratching myself raw.

The ability to actually fall in love is an amazing thing. This invisible super-power that everyone has in them.

And that, for now, is all i can take from this.

The ability to fall in love again.

To the next chapter.