The Sixth Sense

Sight. Hearing. Taste. Smelling. Touch. Abilities most of us are born with. However, what most of us don’t know is that only a selected few actually get to use these senses. To really use them. I know that I’d never truly experienced them before. Until I met you, that is. 


The first time I ever saw you, it was as if some sort of screen had been removed from in front of my eyes, the world turning from a murky grey to a sudden explosion of vibrant color. I remember how the setting sun cast a warm orange glow over your skin, and how tiny drops of water fell from your hair. You held a pair of green flippers in one hand, a snorkel in the other. I remember thinking your eyes were the most magnificent sight I’d ever witnessed, your smile the brightest. 


I’d always had an adoration for music. But shelves crammed full of CDs meant nothing after the night marking the last day of summer vacation, when you dragged me to the karaoke bar. Our friends clapped and cheered as you walked up to the microphone and pulled a folded piece of paper out of your back pocket. My face turned red as you announced this was a song you’d written for me. It was horribly off-key, and the lyrics made no sense whatsoever. Since then, I have yet to hear another song that has come even close to being as incredible as the one you sang that night. 


I was surprised when you offered to help make brownies for the fall bake sale; I didn’t think you’d ever baked in your life. As it turned out, you didn’t even know how to turn on the oven, and the desert came turned out to be one of the worst thing my taste buds had ever encountered. Naturally, we ate the whole pan. 


A friend had told you that the best present you could get a girl for her birthday was a bottle of perfume. We were sitting in your car when you handed me the box containing my gift, a light snow falling outside. With gloved fingers, I eased the lid off of the box, and a sickening smell filled the car; so strong I almost gagged. As it turned out, you’d gone to the drug-store, but couldn’t decide on which scent. So you took a sample of every single one they sold and combined them to make the ultimate gift. I’ll never forget the look on your face when I told you I didn’t even wear perfume, and the way we laughed about it afterwards. 


It was like an electric shock the first time your skin touched mine. A brush of your hand; that was all it took. It felt like the air around us was on fire, even though a hard rain was coming down, and we were standing in puddles that went halfway up our rubber boots. When you kissed me, my whole body tingled. It was a feeling unlike no other. 


I don’t know exactly when it was that I discovered I was in love with you. Maybe it was when our eyes first met on that warm summer day. Or maybe it was when your soft lips connected with mine, the rain falling around us. Forget psychics, forget ESP. If there ever was a sixth sense, it would be the sensation of love.