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Daily Doodle #55: Wishes and Hugs

Two kindred souls look out over the close of one year and the dawn of the next, reminiscing, acknowledging, creating, and cuddling.

Or perhaps this is Day and Night- two gentle souls who meet for a snuggle every dawn and dusk to share their different lives, and the tales of their watch.

In either case, this New Year's Eve, I hope you rub souls with loved ones, and find humor and grace in being together. I hope you wish for your wildest most cherished dreams, and hug the life you've got!

From the Doodle-Song Sommelier:

I picture this couple being on some tropical island like Hawaii. So I need a happy, wistful song that reminds me of such a place. That's why I'm going with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole for this one. 

From the Scribbler:

It was a tradition. Every year for the last fifty years, Mary and Charlie had spent the last day of the old year watching the sun sink below the surface of the bay.

They had done it the first year they were married - giddy on life and love. They had taken a bottle of cheap champagne with them - the only kind of champagne they could afford in those years - and two paper cups. They had toasted the end of the year they had married and watched as the final rays of sun had vanished below the waves of the bay. It had been glorious, watching the colors of the sunset reflected in the waters of the bay. They had held on to each other as they watched the final light fade from the day. And they had kissed long after dark had settled in.

These days, there was less celebration in those minutes spent in the dark, and more silence, more cherishing of each other. It had been fifty years since that first New Year’s Eve sunset, and they had been here for every New Year’s Eve sunset since. Some years they had almost missed it. But they always found a way. A couple of times they brought their children along when a babysitter couldn’t be found. Sometimes they would be in the middle of a spat, but they would set aside their dispute - and many times find that whatever differences they’d had would be gone after sunset.

This annual date meant something to both of them. That they had been able to do this every year that they had been married was almost more important than their actual anniversary. Almost.

This year they headed out to their spot on the bay. It was partially secluded, and had remained almost unchanged in all those years. The driftwood still piled along the shore. There was little beach here to attract tourists, although some did wander through. Charles and Mary would find charred remains of driftwood on occasion. This year, as always, they sat on a large driftwood log. It had long since been out of reach of normal tides, so was dry. Mary and Charles wrapped themselves up in the blankets they had brought. Old age brought an uneasy relationship with cold. Charles pulled out the bottle of champagne - another tradition they had kept since that first year. Mary held the paper cups while Charlie poured. She looked lovingly into the eyes of her husband. The wrinkles and droops around his eyes threatened to hide their light, but to her, the light shone just as bright as it always had. Charlie looked up from pouring to see the love shining from her face. He loved the way her hair and skin caught the winter light as it faded from this day. He always had.

The two lovebirds pulled the blankets tight around them as they nuzzled in close to each other. They held their paper cups high and toasted to the end of another year together, to love, and to each other. They watched as the violet, pink, and orange light sank on the horizon, its colors echoed in the water.