7DSJ: Downtempo

by Shinzakura


August 14, AM: August Day Song

There are times when someone shouldn’t be doing something that is distracting when you need your absolute concentration. Like eating really cold ice cream while working on calculus, for example. Or trying to do a report of the impact of Benjor on Latin jazz while listening to Dr. Demento’s radio show.

Or in my current case, trying to concentrate on driving while the love of my life is sitting right next to me. Sunset Shimmer, my dearest love – probably my first real love. That’s not to say I haven’t loved anyone before. But Sunny’s the first person I know, without a doubt, that I could bear all (hrrm, that’s an idea for later….) without being hurt.

I’ve already felt the hurt before – a thousandfold, and I never want to feel it again, since it haunts me already as is. I try not to think about it, but that’s already a luxury I don’t have.

And yet the pain lessens – never goes away, mind, but lessens – when I’m around Sunny. She is my sun, she’s my all. And even though I’m just sixteen, I have to wonder if I’m just in a momentary phase, or if this is going to be the person I’ll love for the rest of my life. And sure, I’ve daydreamed that before – and paid for it. And yes, given that I’m not even an adult yet you could argue that it’s just teenage moonbeam syndrome. But I’m not a normal teen and the girl I’m in love with isn’t exactly normal, either.

But I’m digressing. As it is, I’m starting to regret having asked Sunny to put the others to sleep via spell, because in a sense, it leaves me alone with her. And right now, I’m kinda having a hard time keeping my hands on the steering wheel and off Sunny. Is that bad?

I look at her, and those gorgeous cyan eyes, that perfect face, those luscious lips….

Yeah, it’s bad.

Get a hold of yourself, Pinkie! Be the Pinkie you were meant to be, not the Pinkie you shouldn’t be! Or something like that.

I close my eyes just for the briefest of seconds – I’d be crazy to do it longer, I am driving, after all! – and reach within for a song that my big sister Maud shared with me. It’s her favorite song, and it’s up there with mine, too.

Before I know it, I’m in the groove and singing, even though there’s nothing playing on the radio, because, well, we’re in an area between stations at the moment:

“Tentei contar,
Tentei cantar,
Tentei just la la la ia

“Tentei tocar,
Também dançar,
Assim, só para deixar

“Só quero te dar
Se te falar
Se te just la la la ia

“Só quero estar,
Com seu cantar,
Com seu just la la la ia….

“Just like this rainstorm,
This August day song,
I dream of places far beyond….”

I get so into the song that I don’t see Sunny looking at me in appreciation. “Wow, Pinkie,” she tells me, “I didn’t know you knew Portuguese.”

I smile. “Maud studied it in high school on a lark,” I explain, “and she teaches me some stuff here and there whenever she’s in town. She’s big into Latin jazz and bossa nova. The song I’m singing is ‘August Day Song’ by Tanto Tiempo. I’ve got it on my phone, if you want to hear it.”

I pass her my phone and she uses a spell to port the music through the speakers even though the van has no Bluetooth. That’s gotta be really handy! Wish I could learn that trick – it’d be a blast at parties.

Sitting back in her seat and enjoying the song, I see a smile come on Sunny’s face. I immediately want to kiss it (Bad Pinkie! Bad! Concentrate on driving!) and I wait until she speaks. “I like it. Going to have to get the song.”

“The song’s special to me,” I tell her.

“Because Maud introduced you to it?”

“Well, yeah, sure, but it also has a deeper meaning to me: it was the song that made me realize I was in love with you.” And it’s true, so very true. It’s the main reason why I keep this song on my phone even when I tend to swap out music so much that I’ve worn out an SD card or two.

Sunny smiles – and it’s like water to a parched woman to me. “I’m guessing there’s a story behind that?” she asks.

I give her a coquettish smile – Rares made me practice that one. “Of course! There’s always a story behind anything special, silly! And this story’s a doozy! Full of suspense, intrigue, betrayal, desire, you name it!”

She cocks a brow, and I know I have her hooked. “Really?”

“Yeah! Or…maybe I’m thinking of the latest Treadstone film. Either way, it’s a story worth hearing, right?”

“Lay it on me, then,” she tells me.

Please don’t tempt me, Sunny!