Some scents simply never fade from memory. The salt of the sea, the sunscreen, the light deodorant… and the scent of your shampoo.
You must remember that afternoon by the sea. I was lost in thought; you, stunningly beautiful. You were sucking on a strawberry candy — and even today, just the memory of it stirs something in me.
When I touched your hand, every part of me wanted to hold you in that moment. To wrap you in my arms and taste your lips.
But I hesitated. Fear, time, the whole world seemed to hold my wrist back. And even so, you smiled. As if you knew. As if you were saying, without words: "I want it too."
The wind played with your hair, and the sun slowly hid behind the horizon. Everything in that moment called for silence, but my chest screamed for you.
And when our eyes met again, in that brief second, I understood that some encounters transcend time — and some desires not even the sea, with all its might, can wash away.
You walked away slowly, barefoot in the wet sand, and I stayed there, watching your footprints being erased one by one — as if the universe insisted on reminding me that certain moments are unique and never repeat.
We never spoke of that day again. We pretended it was just another afternoon, like so many others. But in silence, I carried that memory with me, like a secret tattooed beneath the skin.
Years passed, tides changed, and still, every time I smell the sea, it brings me back to you. As if your laughter echoed through the waves. As if your absence still had shape, taste, and color.
Today, two decades later, I returned to the same beach. The same sky, the same sound of the waves… but without you.
And then, in the salty breeze, I swear I smelled that same sweet perfume — strawberry and longing.