A Requiem for Roots and Wings
The night before I’m set to depart Tokyo and return to Seattle, I find myself sitting in a familiar bar across from an old flame. Her mind always seems to be wandering to far off places, but tonight, lubricated by a few rounds of drinks, we manage to eke out some laughs and momentarily bridge the chasm between us before the inevitable embrace and another temporary farewell. There’s something reassuring about having someone see you off before embarking on a long voyage.
It’s been years since I last set foot in Seattle. Hard to fathom that I once called that city home for half a decade - that I poured myself into building a company, a life, relationships in that damp, caffeinated oasis.
Now it feels foreign, alien. Sure, I still know how to navigate the grid of downtown streets and which dive bars pour the stiffest drinks - there’s no denying the city has transformed, and not entirely for the better. A melancholy hangs in the air, permeating even the sunniest of days.
Like a terminally ill patient, Seattle is but a specter of its former self, an identity crisis manifested in steel and concrete and the faces of its inhabitants.
Reuniting with old friends crystallizes just how much we’ve all evolved, for better or worse, since those halcyon days. They swear I haven’t changed a bit, and I have to physically restrain my tongue from objecting. There’s a comfort in familiarity, real or imagined, so I accept the observation with as much grace as I can muster. In the end, we’re all just stumbling through life, grasping for meaning and constantly reinventing ourselves, aren’t we?
In a blink, it’s my last night in the Emerald City. Passport in hand, crisp new visa affixed inside, the knowledge that Japan will be my address for the foreseeable future. Before I trade one metropolis for another, there’s one more ghost to confront - an old muse, the one who abruptly exorcised herself from my life while I drank in the Mexican sun, blissfully unaware. Water under the bridge and all that, but when she materializes out of the ether with an olive branch in the form of an overdue apology, and I just so happen to be passing through our old stomping grounds, it feels fated that our paths should cross again.
We rendezvous at some soulless bistro, the kind of place that fancies itself refined but possesses all the charm of a suburban strip mall. But it’s the only joint open, so it’ll have to suffice. We grab a window seat, and I nurse a nondescript lager that leaves a bitter film on my tongue. The food is equally underwhelming - a flaccid, under-seasoned disappointment not even worthy of the term “cuisine.” But none of that matters, because as soon as the conversation starts flowing, we’re transported back in time, the years and distance between us dissolving like sugar in hot coffee.
It never ceases to amaze me, the way two people can pick right back up as if no time has passed at all, even when entire epochs have elapsed. The ambiance (or lack thereof) fades into irrelevance when you’re laser-focused on the one person who, despite all odds, can still read you like a well-worn paperback. She knows just what to say, which long-dormant feelings to poke and prod until they rouse from their slumber. Maybe I haven’t changed after all.
As the sun begins its lazy descent, the fading light catches her in a way that seems almost ethereal. She slips off her sweater with an effortless shrug, letting it pool around her elbows. The way the fabric drapes and clings to her curves is a work of art in itself, a testament to the raw, effortless sensuality she exudes.
Her tank top rides up ever so slightly as she moves, revealing a tantalizing sliver of toned, sun-kissed skin. She catches my appreciative gaze and shoots me a playful smirk. “I’ll leave this off then,” she says with a mischievous glint in her eye, her voice low and full of unspoken promises.
The interplay of light and shadow across her body is mesmerizing, highlighting the subtle planes and curves of her figure in a way that sears itself into my memory. It’s a vision I know will linger long after this moment has passed, a mental snapshot I’ll carry with me as I navigate the twists and turns of life.
In this fleeting instant suspended between day and night, she’s the only thing that exists - a perfect blend of siren, muse, and living, breathing temptation. It’s enough to make even the most jaded soul consider throwing caution to the wind and surrendering to the electricity crackling between us.
But real life has a way of impeding on even the most cinematic of moments. So I walk her to her car, place a tender kiss on her cheek, and bid her goodnight. Come morning, I’ll be 30,000 feet over the Pacific, sea and sky bleeding into one another, propelling me back to the bustle of Tokyo. Endings and beginnings, arrivals and departures, hellos and goodbyes - the endless cycle continues. But I carry with me the indelible imprint of someone who cared enough to send me off properly, and that makes all the difference.
