Aperture on the East (35 page)

“
Are you going to leave me
here?” said Vo. He was joking, but sounded desperate at the same
time. It was just too cruel the way Ana teased him.

Ana swam back to the boat. “Are you
coming in?”

“
I don’t think I should.
It won’t be decent,” said Vo, pretending to look away.

“
Fine,” said Ana, and she
swam away again.

Vo watched as Ana glided toward the
moon until she almost blended in with the glistening sea. He
couldn’t resist it anymore. He removed his shirt, and jumped
in.

He caught up with Ana, and they dove
in and out of the silky water like they were in a synchronized
dance. When Ana would pause to take a breath, her radiant
silhouette against the moonlight was more than intoxicating. Vo
looked at the pearl that Ana was wearing. It was shimmering as if
it had come alive, casting a magic spell over him.

“
That pearl,” said Vo,
“why do you wear it all the time? It makes me hope that you still
want me. I can’t let you go as long as you wear it.”

“
Then don’t let me go,”
said Ana. She swam toward Vo, threw her arms around his neck, and
kissed him.

It took them only a moment to rekindle
the passion that they had hidden from each other. Vo held Ana
firmly against him, wanting to touch every inch of her. They
wouldn’t regret it if they were to drown right there and
then.

Ana pushed Vo away gently and said, “I
do still want you. I love you.”

“
Oh, Ana, why do you keep
me waiting in the dark? Why do you torture me so?” Vo pulled Ana
closer again.

Ana would explain it later, but not
right now.

They swam back to the boat and dried
off. Ana threw her tunic back on, and wrapped herself in a blanket
as Vo started the engine.

“
I don’t want to go home
yet,” said Ana.

“
Don’t worry,” said Vo. “I
am taking you to the Pearl Island. We never get to see the sunrise
from there, and now seems a good time to do it.”

When they arrived at the island, the
moon was directly above the hills. They started a fire, and took a
stroll along the beach. It felt like they were at the end of time,
so far removed from all the burdens of the past. They had abandoned
the world, and with it all the pain and suffering that they had to
endure before.

They fell asleep in each other’s arms,
the powdery sand as their bed and the song of the ocean as the
lullaby.

When the moon exited behind the hills,
a streak of orange penetrated through the neon violet at the
junction between earth and sky. The air was getting warmer, and
birds started to chirp.

Vo woke up first, and when he felt Ana
in his arms he pinched himself to make sure that he wasn’t in a
dream. He studied her face, ran his finger through her hair and
traced her eyebrows and her nose. He bent forward, drifting in the
magnetic force that drew him to her.

Ana opened her eyes to see the sky
turning a fierce coral as the sun ascended and the heat began to
rise. She tried to pull Vo toward her, but he got up instead, his
knees planted in the sand.

Ana sat up, too, a little
disappointed.

Vo took a deep breath, and removed an
object from his shirt pocket. It was a ring that he had made by
weaving coconut leaves together while Ana was asleep. His hand was
shaking slightly as he held the ring to Ana. “Will you marry me?”
he asked.

“
A thousand times yes,”
said Ana. She could hardly wait for Vo to slide the ring onto her
finger before she embraced him, locking their lips in a kiss for
eternity. This was their first sunrise on the Pearl Island, and she
wasn’t going to miss it.

Th
ank you for taking the time to read this novel.

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Cover Photo and Design by Meris
Lee

Sunrise seen from the beach in Nha
Trang