A Matter of Heart [BACKPOST]

Posted on 28 Jul 2016 @ 1:11pm by Ensign James Langley

739 words; about a 4 minute read

Matilda. Magical Matilda. She was the most wonderful person that James had ever met, the best part of ever having attempted to crack that puzzle that had taken so much of his time. He thought back fondly on how they met and the experiences they had had together up to this point. There were already so many memories.

It all started when he had to learn braille. He quickly went in search for someone knowledged in the somewhat outdated method of communication. In these times with artificial eyes and aides of all sorts it was rare if ever that one met a person still bereft of sight at an age older than infancy.

But then there she was. A lovely women gifted with an insight almost nobody had. Born blind to parents who would have no part in changing just how their beautiful daughter had been born, they had set in motion there the sculpting of a most unique and wondrous person.

Matilda. Gifted and whimsical Matilda. She seemed brighter than all the stars combined and it left little wonder in James' mind as to just why she had fallen in love with the sky. Though she had never seen it Matilda had always told him that she could feel the moon's embrace and sense the stars above. That by merely being in their presence she just knew what they were and how they were meant to appear to her.

It was a shame she never put those thoughts into painting. James had tried from her imaginative descriptions but what she saw defied description. It must have been something else entirely. But what she could not put onto canvas she had no problem putting into words. She was a poet and a gifted one at that.

Beautiful Matilda. The woman that James had quickly and madly fallen in love with. She was perfect in every way. Especially those eyes. There was something about them, the way that when open they seemed to stare through everything and into somewhere entirely different. Places only she could see. Looking into her eyes you could almost get a sense of the infinity that she saw.

And that was where he found himself looking now. The two of them had found a cozy spot at the summit of Mauna Kea where for the past thirty minutes they had stared into the vastness of space together. After a time, though, he just had to take a glimpse into that other endless view.

Matilda could sense his presence the moment he moved over her to look into her eyes. “May my aim be true,” she spoke with a quiet giggle as she guided herself up and gave him a heartfelt kiss on the lips, “and my heart be truer.”

“It always is,” he replied with a smile that she could feel.

He then laid back down beside Matilda and she rolled on her side to move in close to him, nestling her head on his shoulder and resting a hand upon his heart. “And may your heart always speak the truth,” she continued as she pressed a finger firmly onto his shirt and traced a line over his heart, the dimples of subdermal braille easily read through the clothing with just a little extra pressure. No matter how many times she read it it always made her heart flutter. I love you. But as her fingers trailed off near the end something felt different. There was more. Ma was all she got at first, but that was only the beginning.

“What is this,” she questioned him with curious anticipation.

James said nothing but when he gently took her hand and placed its index finger down upon the beginning of those fateful words once more his heart began to speak volumes. Thumping eagerly in anticipation it almost felt like tactile Morse code than braille. She knew there was only one way to get the answer she sought and so she slowly traced a finger over the words once more, completing the path to its new destination.

I love you – Marry me?

Timid Matilda. She just smiled in her usual way. Quiet and unassuming. But James knew. As the two embraced he looked into her eyes and could see what she could see. That both their hearts were true and that even before the question was asked the answer was determined.

“Yes.”

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