Two Hands Touching in the Darkness

by [pens&feathers]

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I bet you can’t, but I remember the first time our hands intertwined in the darkness, of, predictably, a movie theater. It hadn’t started as something romantic. There was a bumping of elbows as we both competed for use of the arm rest.

But as the friendly struggle came to an end, your long, lean fingers intertwined with my short ones. And for two hours after that, I sat, afraid to breathe.

Afraid you would let go.

And even as our hands were secretly woven together as one for the short sancitity that was the duration of the movie, I thought about all the ways in which you were careful to not touch me. The way you carefully avoid hugging me or helping me up or even laying a comforting hand on my shoulder.

The night you held my hand, you broke some sort of personal barrier. Or at least that’s the way I tend to look at it.

As we exited the theater, the letting-go was reluctant.

On cold nights, I find myself following memories, always back to those two hands touching in the darkness.

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Comments

Average Reader Rating: 5.0 stars out of 5

  1. Two Hands Touching in the Darkness

    John Perkins' Buddy Icon John Perkins

    Posted 2 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Cool. Nice moment here. Very well told and, excuse the pun, touching.
    Two hours of holding hands? I think my fingers would go numb. Although, young love makes you invulnerable to things like that sometimes. I remember sleeping with my wife on a twin bed, back before we were married. We were incredibly squished, and my arm would always fall asleep, killing me the next morning. But I barely noticed back then.

  2. Two Hands Touching in the Darkness

    Krulltar's Buddy Icon Krulltar

    Posted 2 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    I really like this story, but the first sentence “I bet you can’t” just seems out of place. The narrator explains how her “date” was hesitant to touch her before, and how reluctant they were reluctant to let go after. I feel the story would be improved if the first part of the sentence was removed, or change to “Do you remember?”

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