Sayori's Song

Beer, Bikes, and The Bookstore

Suggested listening music: “Where The Streets Have No Name” by u2

I lie in bed with my eyes closed. It felt like I had been asleep for at least 9 hours. It felt absolutely wonderful. I didn’t even want to open my eyes. As comfortable as the bed felt when I got in it, it feels even better now. In our haste to get to sleep, Sayori and I forgot to turn off the air conditioner and I could feel the cold air blowing across my cheek. I dreaded having to get up and turn it off. Instead I snuggled closer to Sayori. She still hadn’t woken up but instead was lying there under my arm breathing gently and slowly. There really wasn’t any reason to wake her up, I wasn’t in any hurry to go anywhere. This was the best night of sleep I had gotten since the day we got engaged and I didn’t want it to end.

As she slept I stroked her hand gently. We stayed cuddled together like that for several minutes. Then she breathed in deeply and turned her head toward me a bit.

“Kyle… are you awake?”

“Nope.”

“Did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah, the best I've slept in several months. I think I love it here.”

I smiled and reached over to rub her shoulder.

"I do too, there's just something different about this place."

Sayori nodded in agreement and we held each other’s gaze for a few minutes until a funny expression came across Sayori's face.

"What's the matter?"

Sayori looked at the window behind her and then back at me.

Iit feels like we slept for quite a while but the sun hasn't come up."

I glanced at my watch, it was only 6 a.m.

"Huh, you're right, it's still pretty early. I guess we haven't fully adjusted to the new time zone yet."

“You know, we could watch the sunrise. It would be a nice way to start our first full day in Amsterdam."

Sayori looked down at the bed reluctantly with a smile on her face.

"But that would mean getting out of bed."

"Not necessarily, give me a second."

I slipped out of bed and stumbled over to the AC unit and turned it off. My legs and arms felt like they were freezing as soon as I got out from the covers just as I had expected. I ignored the goosebumps on my arms and opened the curtains next to the window. The sun hadn't quite come up yet but I could see a faint orange glow coming from the left side of the window. Then I turned around and jerked the bed slightly to see if it would move. As luck would have it, it wasn't bolted down so I turned it to the left and scooted it closer to the window.

"Weeee" Sayori said as I was moving the bed.

I laughed as I scooted the bed a couple more times.

"Can you see that orange spot over to the left?"

She leaned forward and squinted a bit before grinning at me.

"Yep I can see it!"

I got back under the covers and snuggled up next to her,

"See, you didn't have to get up at all."

She nestled he head against my chest.

“Yeah, yeah, you were right."

We laid there for about ten minutes as the orange expanded and then mellowed out into a purple red stripe across the sky. Finally a bright yellow circle began to appear over the same area where the sky was first turning orange. It was both captivating and picturesque. I was typically annoyed by sunrises because to me they were nothing more than an obstacle that made it hard to see on my way to work but this one was special. I had no places to go, no projects to finish, and no deadlines to meet. The only thing I had to do was enjoy this moment with my wife.