She loosened the knot holding her hair tight. It fell in thick ringlets all the way to the small of her back. Rays of candle light danced behind her head and sheathed it in a warm halo. Feeling suddenly liberated, she pulled back her shoulders and head in a gentle sweeping movement whilst slowly lifting her arms in the air. He could see her delightful form better than ever, backlit as it was now. A shiver of anticipation raced through him and he knew it would only be moments, delicious, exquisite and perhaps even painful, until his long awaited desire would be answered. 		 
  The wicked fingers of thick incense smoke trailed before him. Closing his eyes, he thought of the beach at midnight in Ko Chang and the warm waves lapping at the shore. There was a circle of people playing music and laughing. The gentle island wind cooled him for a moment and mixed discreetly with other scents, some strange to him, and others that weren't.  
  But the strains of sitar and tablas brought him back to the moment, even if the sweetness of the reverie might find its equal in the present time, with its promise of the rapture swaying just in front of him.
  Straining to focus, he caught sight of her undulations once again. And again, he was transfixed. She was lifting a batik sheet up against the window. Monochrome flowers washed easily across the fabric, which, when the wind blew in the window, embraced her effortlessly. He wished he was the wind. He wished he was the flowers. He dreamed some more.  
  He was in the jungle overlooking the island. Birds coo-cooed as if in wild celebration. Colors oozed before his eyes. Greens shivered. Purples puckered. A small stream gushed creamy white bubbles where it ran over rocks. The sky above him clung to everything and stained it azur.
  She was speaking to him in soft tones and he felt relieved without knowing why. Her voice groaned in places and trilled in others. The rhythm was interesting, but always, he would pause on the sounds emanating from her lips and play back in slow motion the sound waves breaking clear and being jetisonned into the air.  
 
Suddenly, blue light flooded his view and he sat speechless and blinking waiting for his vision to adjust itself. When it did, he saw the tuffs of cumulous clouds below him. He strained to see more, but was held back by the seatbelt set tight around his lap.		  
 

 

"Would You like some sugar with your coffee...?"