Sleepless In London



Summer arrived today, spread her fingers through the skies, tossed her smile across the city’s dust-filled streets. Bare shouldered, I cycled along the river, secretly hoping for a breeze, some small relief from the heat. I navigated slowly, eased my way through the pedestrian sea of board shorts and flip-flops, sun frocks and designer tank tops. On the grassy verges of the old stone path, couples lay sprawled at all angles, red-faced picnickers converged, and all around me, excited laughter ebbed and flowed. “If only, all days could be like this,” I thought.
When night fell, I lay quietly in my room, on a bed without sheets. I peered into the darkness. Would I sleep tonight? Quiet. Be still. Be quiet. Sleep will come. I waited and listened; listened and waited. Outside, the familiar hum of traffic in the distance, a muffled lullaby of sirens and car alarms. 
A peculiar smell rose through the open window. “If that’s not the smell of a dead bull lying at the bottom of a waterfall, then I don’t know what it is,” I muttered to myself. And then my thoughts drifted to a time of school summer camps. Memories. I grasped at a handful of childhood dreams. Snapshots of heady days spent chasing waves, salt and sea whipping over sun-kissed skin. Ice cream and sticky watermelon fingers.
And somewhere in the street below, a car door slammed, and I rolled over onto my back. “What happened to cicadas?” I wondered. “What happened to that?”
A/N:  Hi Lovelies, I hope you are all well! I posted this piece earlier today over here on Medium, but wanted to share here too.  London has been blessed with some lovely blue skies recently, alas at night, it all gets a little sultry.  Have a fab week where ever you are on this beautiful planet! - T xo 

Comments

Danette said…
I got the cross post and was just going to check out medium to see what your new home was when I saw on blogspot that you'd posted here too. Hope you're doing well! It's hot here too but nights generally cool off- the good thing about living next to the mountains- a 30 degree cool down at night. Maybe a bit of champers would help you sleep at night ;)
And wasn't Wimbledon exciting! Cheers to Murray!
Talei said…
Wimbledon was wonderful. We are all in LOVE with Andy Murray now -well, I think a few were already. I'm still writing here, don't worry, I shall always keep my blog. Medium is in 'beta' phase and I get the impression people are still feeling out the waters a little. 30 degrees at night, oh boy. You win! Happy summer to you, dear lady. XO
Anonymous said…
I love this little post. It is so beautifully written. Thank you for sharing this with us. Hope things get better.


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Stina said…
Gorgeous writing, Talei. Very poetic. Loved it! :)
Pat Tillett said…
Ah! There you are...
Very good Talei! You have a very nice and lyrical feel to your writing. So nice to see your post, keep on writing!
Talei said…
Thank you for your kind words. I'm fine too. Summer in London has been pretty good thus far.
Talei said…
Thanks, Stina! Very chuffed you enjoyed it!! ;-)
Talei said…
Ah, bless you Pat! Thank you!! I'll keep trying. ;-)
Misha Gerrick said…
Hey! Haven't been by in a while. Hope you're doing well.

With how cold it is in South Africa, you're making me want to fly over to London. ;-)
Talei said…
Hey Misha! Long time but I do see you on twitter! :-) Hope all is well with you too. I had no idea S.A was ever cold? XO

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