On this midsummer’s night, the universe exists only for us.

We stand, holding each other, waist-deep in the calm and comfortably warm sea, sand between our toes, phosphorescent emeralds swirling in the water around our bodies. The air is warm and still, and the sky clear and moonless and filled with a diamond dust of stars. This is all that exists tonight: it is all that needs to exist.

I cannot clearly see your face, but the starlight glints from the water in your hair and on your skin, but especially from your eyes. On this night, I wonder whether the universe is a pale reflection of you.

We swim out into deeper water and we dive again and again. I see you but only as shadow within emerald fire. We return to shallower water, and stand on the sand once more, embracing.

The morning star rises above the eastern horizon and, shortly after, the very first light of the coming day begins to show. As diamonds and emeralds fade, we leave the water and resume the lives that neither of us prefers.