Sizzling Summer Serenade: A Sun-Kissed Oral Ode to the Heat

Lexis Star

Coke Kain

The sun was a molten gold coin pressed against the vast, blue dome of the sky, its heat a physical weight upon my skin. I had chosen the smallest of bikinis, wanting its strings to leave only the faintest memory upon my sun-hungry body. After tending to my thirsty plants, their leaves a vibrant green against the terracotta pots, a different kind of duty called me back to the warm, wooden deck. I sank to my knees, the grainy texture of the planks a familiar sensation against my bare skin. The air itself was thick and sweet, humming with the lazy drone of a bumblebee among the blossoms. My fingers, still damp from the watering can, traced patterns in the condensation on a cool glass of lemonade. A single bead of sweat traced a slow, deliberate path down my spine, a tiny messenger of the day’s intensity. This was a different kind of labor, a quiet, meditative worship of the simmering afternoon. My heart beat a slow, syncopated rhythm against my ribs, a drum answering the sun’s relentless serenade. In that suspended moment, I felt utterly consumed by the heat, a willing participant in its beautiful, exhausting embrace.