The Swamp Guide – Part 2: Golden Hour on the Water

On the last evening, Tasha took her to the hidden lagoon.

The channel was narrow and dark, closed over with moss and branches. The boat slid through a green tunnel. Light fell in ragged gold shafts through the leaves. Frogs sang. The water rippled behind the pole.

Then the trees opened, and they came out into a wide still lagoon. The sky above was apricot and violet. The water reflected it perfectly, so the boat seemed to float in the middle of a sunset. White egrets drifted across the surface in silhouettes. The air was warm and fragrant.

"Put the camera away," said Tasha.

"I want—"

"Trust me."

Renée lowered it. Tasha stopped poling. The boat drifted in the silence. As the last light faded, the first firefly rose from the water's edge, a tiny pale-green spark. Then another. Then a hundred, then a thousand, rising through the dusk like slow golden rain, reflected in the water so that the whole lagoon seemed lit from below.

"Oh," whispered Renée, again.

"Yes."

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"It's not a photograph."

"No." Her voice trembled. "It isn't."

They sat close together in the middle of the boat, shoulders touching, watching the fireflies drift. The warm night breathed. A fish splashed. Renée felt Tasha's hand find hers on the warm wood.

"Can I ask you something?" said Renée.

"Yes."

"I fly home on Friday."

"I know."

"May I kiss you before I do?"

"Yes," said Tasha, quietly. "And if you say stop, you must come back when the lilies bloom."

"I'll be here."

Renée kissed her, soft and shy, a damp hand rising to Tasha's cheek. Tasha kissed her back with a slow, warm sweetness, tasting of bayou air and sweet tea. Fireflies drifted round them like small lamps. The lagoon shimmered, deep and wide.

When they parted, both of them were smiling.

"Green?" asked Tasha.

"Green," said Renée. "Very green."

She came back for the lilies. The best photograph in her book of the bayou is of a boat, a pole and a woman's laughing face. It has no caption.

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