THAT LAUGHTER

"Tap tap tap tap tap tap..." Urghhh! Who was it at the door the very moment I'd moved to the much anticipated level 3 of my Video Game???. The persistent tap continued, seemed I was the only one available to answer so I had to go and get rid of the nuisance. It was a young lady; she'd come to buy eggs! Of all things! Such a nuisance wasn't unusual though as my family's poultry was popular in our area. People of all shapes, colours and sizes trooped in from far and near (and just at the wrong moment sometimes!) to buy our farm fresh eggs of premium quality... Yeah...! The first thing that struck me about this face was, "Hmmm, pretty!" Now I know I don't have shabby taste... She had this aura of simple prettiness about her, the way her eyes reflected the day light and the almost perfect shape of her face, the straight nose and pouted lips... Yes, I could take my eyes off her but something kept drawing them back, perhaps to take a better glance, drink in it's wholesomeness... admire it more... Miraculously, a help showed up and took her order so I engaged her in light conversation by the porch while she waited. She gave polite and earnest answers and wasn't coy like the typical undergraduate/fresh graduate in our area. I got to find out she lived not too far down the street with her uncle but had been away for a while, 'finding new horizons', she had explained.

"Oh! I can see you've already met." " Met?" We asked in unison, the question was from my uncle who had just come out to the porch. I had been so engrossed in our conversation, I hadn't heard him come out. "She's the one I have been telling you about, a true daughter of her mother, she'll make a good wife." My uncle chimed, winking at her. Then, she laughed... That sound! It was like the sound of many angels' voices and merry bells mingled with flowing water that sent a delightful tingle through my spine. I felt like I'd been thirsty all my life and just found water! Could that be just laughter? How did she do that? I did not want the sound to stop, I was drowning in it. There was this refreshing quality about it that made me want to just sit and bask in the euphoria it produced. Oh! I had gotten into 'it'! I didn't realize when she stopped laughing, the sound kept echoing joyfully in my head, until my uncle's voice cut through my daze. "Ugo, see the good Lady off to the gate at least." I turned to realize the eggs that had brought her originally were already in her hands and those dainty eyes still danced with that wonderful laughter I had just heard. Did I pass out or what? Hope I had not made a fool of myself cos it seemed I had zoned off completely. Had I been bewitched? No, such things didn't exist anymore. I swiftly made to take the eggs from her, covering up my confusion with a smile. "Don't let me bother you," she declined, still smiling. "Hope to see you some other time!" She said cheerily and turned to go, I was still in a semi shocked state and my legs could hardly move in protest. I only managed a weak, "Okay, bye...", watching her as she walked away in quick easy dancelike steps, seemingly oblivious to whatever spell her laughter, that laughter... had cast on me.

It would keep ringing in my ears. And for the next couple of days, I would wake up and run to the porch every few minutes, thinking I'd heard her laughing there... The sound was drawing me, would I go after it?

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