ADAM AND EVE

Adam turned onto a gravel side road.

"Where are you going?

" "You'll see."

He took the next exit from the gravel onto a wide, grassy path.

He drove carefully along an uneven dirt track. The car bounced around on the grassy ruts. From time to time, she glanced at him, slightly startled and surprised. He tried not to look at her. He pretended he had to be very careful driving over these bumps.

"What are you doing?

" "Ewa, have I ever deliberately hurt you?

" "No, but could you at least tell me what that means?"

"Please, trust me for a moment longer."

The road climbed uphill, away from the few buildings in the area. He stopped the car at the top of a small, flat rise. They were in the middle of nowhere. All around, as far as the eye could see, stretched small patches of ripening grain, interspersed with variously sized patches of wasteland. They were standing in front of one of the many weed-covered patches in this area. He turned off the engine.

"We're here.

" "Why did you bring me here?

" "Oh, for many reasons. I'll start with the perhaps most selfish one. I haven't been to a place like this in twenty-something years, and I've got a terrible craving for it. Secondly, I want to be with you, even if only for a moment, truly alone. And finally, I thought you'd like it here. Just look around.

The sun, slowly sinking in the western sky, illuminated the few clouds that stood almost motionless above the forest looming on the horizon. In the opposite direction, a wide view stretched out over the jagged buildings of the small town they'd come from. A few taller buildings in the center gleamed with the setting sun reflected in their windows.

He got out of the car and walked a dozen or so steps. He sat down on a grassy verge in the tall grass. She followed him and sat down beside him.

"You can be a charming lunatic sometimes."

"I know, and I'm trying hard to live up to that reputation. Especially with you."

He lay on his back, placing both hands under his head.

"Just look at that cool little cloud above us. What does it remind you of?"

She tilted her head.

"A dragon. Look, those darker billows are huge eyes, and below them are narrow jaws bristling with sharp fangs and two nostrils from which smoke shoots. Then there's a body with spikes and a powerful, long tail with a sharp, poisonous spike.

" "Pretty cool. Although that tail is probably something else entirely, because it's the mark of a plane. Oh, you see that silver dot at the end. That spike of yours can really be venomous. It's a fighter jet. It must be flying really high and going really fast.

" "That's why I said it's poisonous.

" "Aha."

To see the sky better, she rested her head on his chest and slightly turned her face toward the setting sun.

"Look at the enormous sun today. It's beautiful."

He reached one hand out from under her head and threaded his fingers through her hair.

"Yes, you're right, it's beautiful, it's just as I wanted it to be. It's just a shame it can so rarely be so beautiful." He closed his eyes. He gently caressed her hair. She pressed her head closer to his chest.

"Why are you complaining? We're here together after all.

" "Oh, just out of habit. They say that complaining makes you feel better."

The meadow, warmed by the sun on a hot day, smelled of herbs. They lay still, only his fingers gently wandering through her hair.

Adam's voice was silky soft, perfectly suited to the delicate silence of the surrounding nature.

"Listen to the meadow. Breathe in the blue sky. Taste the sweetness of the silence around you.

" "You speak a strange language. These sentences are illogical."

"Quiet," he whispered. "Abandon logic. Don't say anything. Just try to do what I'm suggesting. Don't think about the logic of sentences. Savor the words I've spoken. Close your eyes and touch the scent of the air. Observe the shapes of the clouds and look into yourself. Your dragon materialized for me only when you named it. It didn't exist before, it was just a shapeless mass of steam driven by the wind. Your word created it in my mind. Let my words, in the same way, create a new meaning for your experiences. Forget the logic of sentences for a moment, shake off the conventions of meaning. Enter another world. A world created by my words. The world you know remained in the city, scattered across the asphalt of the road we came from, its remnants shaken by this dirt road, and by slamming the car door, you severed the last thread that connected you to it. Try to do what I'm asking."

She closed her eyes, his fingers gently combing the silky hair that flowed down his chest and onto the grass.

She turned her head toward his face. She gently brushed her lips against his.

"It really works," she whispered.

He held her head, prolonging the gentle kiss just a little. He looked into her eyes. He saw what the words couldn't. There was another world out there. A world they both felt without naming it. He was happy to spend these few brief moments with her.

Both deeply rooted in their daily lives, with families and children, deeply connected to their everyday worlds, bonds too strong and too complex to risk breaking, they rarely had the opportunity to break away and spend a few unique moments together. Moments in which they could be alone with each other, in which they understood each other subconsciously and instinctively. A mere glance, a gentle touch, or a few words were enough for them to feel the same way in such moments. Yet they never had the courage to definitively break away from their tiny universes. Perhaps they were too timid, perhaps too responsible. Perhaps they were afraid of too definitive solutions, or perhaps they didn't want to harm anyone close to them. Perhaps they were afraid of the risk of starting all over again, or perhaps they sacrificed their feelings and desires for the peace of the people with whom they had long-standing bonds.

The dragon's silhouette slowly faded across the sky, only the sharp, brilliant spark of the fighter shining in the reflected sun high above their heads.