A Frozen Moment
By: Juliette Marquis

The street was quiet today, aside from the occasional car going past my front door. I sat on my stoop and lazily watched as the sun echoed against the building windows, whose freshly squeaky cleaned surface gleamed with iridescent piquancy. The pavement, as if splashed with glitter, sparkled competitively in a diamond figure-dance with the heat of the sun. A reflection of a market door unsealing caught the corner of my eye on the opposite side of the street. It was cracked discreetly open and in an instant a pair of frazzled large blue eyes peeked out. Dark bushy eyebrows, one with a shiny silver piercing, framed his face, which had hollow cheekbones and a square jaw, now dripping with perspiration. His body was tall and lanky. The corner of his bottom lip was tightly held between his teeth. Darting across the perimeter of the entranceway and onto the sidewalk, he seemed to prolong this moment of exhilarated anxiety with comedically exaggerated movement, walking into the middle of the empty street with a large paper bag rolled up in his hand. He casually threw a glance over his shoulder, as if expecting someone to be right behind him but upon discovering himself alone became bewildered and appeared almost frightened. Dropping his composure, he darted back into the entranceway from which he came. With his entire body-weight he pulled at the burdensome door and swinging it open, took a step back into the shop. The door bounced against the brick wall and slammed back into him, catching him off guard, almost knocking him over. Rubbing the back of his spine, he carefully backed out of the doorway and this time held it open for a pair of long, thin, sun tanned legs to gracefully walk out in turn. Barely hidden underneath a small, summer dress floated out a bottle shaped torso. Her hair flowed to her waist in golden yellow and blue streaks. She giggled as she allowed him to court her out the entrance and onto the sidewalk.
His eyes transformed as soon as he gazed upon her. From the wary, guardedness of expected assault, to a starry gaze; drinking in her catlike movements. An enormous yellow flower pinned behind her right ear radiated the streaks in her hair like rays from the sun. Upon reaching the curb, she turned to face him, only to find her body slammed against his. He threw himself into her, reaching for her face and cupping it with both his hands. He looked into her…looking for something in her eyes…and pressed his mouth tightly against her. In a moment of bubbling passion they seemed to forget the entire world around them. An elderly man walking his dog stopped and stared at the couple in longing. With a nostalgic smile he broke his stare and walked on. The two lovers continued attempting to squeeze inside one another, devouring and relishing each second. Then suddenly he broke their kiss and once again looked deep into her eyes. In a moment of silence he seemed to wait with held breath for her response. She nodded gently in reply and he nodded back in turn. They clasped hands and as sounds of yelling began to come from inside the shop, they took off down the street in perfect unison and disappeared around the corner.
The door once again flung open. This time by a little, bald, greasy clerk. His stained T-shirt tightly clung to his chest; half hiding his bulging belly that rolling onto his jeans. In his left hand he gripped a baseball bat and waving his right fist into the air he continued screaming at the now empty street. “Thieves!” He cried. “Thieves!!!” But the street remained motionless. The clerk caught sight of me, preparing to yell out something; he caught himself in mid breath, and in exasperation abruptly changed his mind, spun on his heels and marched back inside his shop.
All became still again, and to my surprise, I found a tear rolling down my cheek. The sun like before glistened against the pavement.