Eros visits Sfakia

“Oh my god, I am in love. I cannot sleep. I am not hungry. My stomach, how do you say, goes up and down. “ He takes a deep breath and grins widely, giggling at the same time, but struggling for breath. And then he tells the story.

“She is blonde, blue eyes. You never saw such blue eyes. Look at the sea in front of you. Her eyes are bluer that that. Ah , shit. I would not lie to you. I swear on the Holy Virgin. This goddess, she is from the States.. Works at Google. High class.. Second time here. She meets me once. We just talk. She comes back. We meet here. She likes me. Can you believe that? Oh my god, I wish I could eat.”

“I never met anyone like her. She is here now. Second time. This time I surprise her. I pay for her room. She goes to pay for it, man says, sorry, your room is already paid for. She says who pays for it? He says your friend from Sfakia. She says,” Oh my god.”

“She tells me, you do not have to do this. I say I do this for you. . She says oh my god. You would not believe how beautiful she is. I can hardly breathe when I tell you about her. Yesterday was our day. All day. We start at 9 am in the morning and go far into the night, no the morning hours. I cannot tell you everything. Really it would not be right. But I tell you some.”

“I plan many surprises for her. I take her to Loutro on the boat and just before we arrive I tell her close your eyes. When we get close to Loutro, I tell her to open them. She says Oh my god. I look at her so happy and shining and I say for sure she is a goddess. She makes my eyes not see. Do you know what I mean? Sometimes when I look at her, how do you say, a fog goes over my eyes and I cannot see. And I feel dizzy. Sometimes I feel weak. I am a strong man. Only 18 , but almost 19, and I am strong. Look at me. Don’t I look strong? I work hard all day. I carry three some times four tubs of ice up stairs to put in case for the fish. Myself I carry these. At night I take down the heavy umbrellas and carry them downstairs. By myself.”

“We have lunch, I tell her I will order. I order sardines, octopus, red mullet, prawns, and she say sweetheart, we cannot eat all of that. She does not know I order little pieces of everything. She says she has never eaten like that. I watch her eat. I watch her take the fork and put the fish into her mouth and I swallow hard, watching the fork go into her mouth. I take a few bites. I am not hungry. My mouth is dry. I look again at her blue eyes and I look at the sea and I say oh my god.”

After lunch I tell her we must go back to Sfakia, but I do not tell her why. Another surprise. She say why. I tell her trust me, you will like it. We get back and get into another boat. I tell her close your eyes until I put something into the boat. She does and I tell her okay now you can open them, but I hide what I put into the boat. We go far out and she says how beautiful the sea is. I look at her long hair like gold, blowing in the wind. I touch her to see if she is real. Ah shit, I am in love.”

“We get to where I want to be and I say now close your eyes again and she does and I say now open them and she does and I give her the snorkel mask I had hidden. She says she never gone snorkeling before and I say I teach you. We go into the water and we see, I cannot describe it, we see what lives in the sea. Everything that swims and grows we see. We see colors we never see on land. We come up and get into the boat and I ask her how she liked that and she says “oh my god.”

“We go by the shore and I say we are going up that small hill and she says she has only sandals—she points to my feet and says that I have no shoes. I say no problem and I surprise her and take off her sandals then—listen to this---then I pick her up and carry her up over the rocks in my bare feet. And she says oh my god you will cut your feet and oh my god you are so strong. But I laugh all the way to the top, holding her tight.”

So we rest up there and then, this is the part of the story I want you to hear, she kisses me!!! Holy Mother of God!!! Now look at me. Tell me my color. You will say, with kindness, my friend, you are a dark-skinned man. I take no offense. But after she kisses me she looks as me and she says, sweetheart you are pale. I tell her no, but I do feel the blood drain from me and I say Oh, shit.”

We take the boat back to Sfakia and we have drinks at her hotel near the sea and then, when I can stand it no longer, we go to her room. I said I cannot tell you everything . It would not be right. But I can tell you her lips are like rose petals and her skin as soft as a cloud. When she kisses me I feel as though I am drowning. And all night long she keeps saying oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Ah shit, I think I am in love.”

TELOS