“We brought the moon…”
This was it. Their last chance to make it work together. They’d tried the getting-counseling-together route. The nudist camp/group massage route. The living apart-for-awhile-and-trying-to-meet-somewhere-in-between route. The pretend-you-don’t-know-me-and-pick-me-up-at-the-bar route. But the distance between them was growing. The silence was screaming. The loneliness together even greater. So this was it. They’d booked a weekend at Joshua Tree Oasis—touted as the most beautiful desert vacation retreat on the planet. There would be no distractions other than the wild wonder of the desert landscape —the rocky mountain beyond, the amazing resort itself designed for luxury and infinite peace . And the moon.
It was as if they’d brought the huge globe of a full moon to light their own darkness. For it filled every vista; every breathtaking room within Joshua Tree Oasis was alive with the glow of celestial light. The stars were vivid sparkles of light against the ebony backdrop. The brilliant moon cast shadows across carpets of dandelions, swaying cactus and majestic pine trees outside the adjacent retreat of Sonriso Da Terra.
They opened a bottle of wine and poured each other a glass while they slipped into the steamy hot tub. Little-by-little they let the bubbles from millions of jets break-down their disquietude of sadness and longing. They looked into the eyes of a curious bobcat lounging on a towering crevasse nearby and watched a tiny lizard dance across the wall of shimmering bottles. And they began to smile. And whisper new words hinting of gentleness and possibility and most of all love. Joshua Tree Oasis had worked its magic and the two started falling in love. Was it love all over again, or for the very first time? It didn’t matter. They kissed beneath the moonlight and their one last chance became a new chance to make it work at last. How perfect it was that they brought the moon…
Cara Wilson-Granat
