The softness

His voice is so gentle, like feathers on my skin. As if the idea of pain and bruising is not possible. As if everything has shifted for just a moment; a hiccup in the rotation of the earth. No reason for ever looking back. Only forward. From this moment.

So many words shared, but unspoken. So many feelings merging into one. It is so easy to get lost in the softness of the moment. Like the fuzzy stomach of a kitten, like the velvety ears of a newborn lamb, like a down-filled pillow at the end of the day.

I had almost forgotten about the yearning. I had almost forgotten how it feels when the world stops turning. Ever so quietly.

“I missed you,” he whispered into my ear. And life became softer still.