jenifer's cave

i came out of the sea dripping that morning with so much energy that i set off running along the path that rises round the rocky coast.  even when i saw that the path ahead was blocked by slow-moving people i did not stop and instead veered left along the rocks, ready for some scrambling when i suddenly stopped above a drop overlooking a patio.  there sebastian stood smiling at me.  his unsurprised smile along with my running momentum caused me to scramble down into their patio, which was surrounded by trees and little tended cactus plants.  jenifer walked out of the cave entrance and immediately it was as if we had always known each other.  "do you live here? what a beautiful place!" i said.  jenifer invited me to have a look around the cave which we entered through a wooden doorway in the middle of a wall of piled rocks. inside the cave rock was smooth and had been painted white.  the huge smooth inner curve of the rock provided a natural sofa at the back covered with cushions.  jenifer showed me the floor she had recently made with clay and pieces of cracked pottery.  some of the pieces were very fine and shiny. through the doorway and through the window the blue sea lay glittering behind the cactus plants.  jenifer said that she had been living there for over a year and that once it rained so heavily that water came in from one side and flooded the cave and for hours she sat perched on the raised rocky sofa with all her things while outside the rain fell down in sheets and the waves crashed prodigiously.  "it was very exciting" jenifer said, "and afterwards it felt so good to go outside and dry everything under the sun"
she told me that she gets few visitors, hardly any at the beginning, although in recent times some people have come and wanted to take photos.  "just think," i said "the image of your cave could appear in an arts or lifestyle magazine"  get back to simple living in a cave by the sea on the sunny coast of south tenerife.   the place radiated a deep gently-tended calm.  everything appealed aesthetically.  a pile of little shells shone here, a mobile of feathers twirled over there "i have the feeling" i told jenifer, "that you have a magic touch.   everything you touch turns into beauty"
she told me that she had never really been settled anywhere, had always moved here and there, she spoke about growing up in india, then paraguay, and later living on an island in the north of brazil, .  when i asked how old she was first she lowered her eyes, saying softly, "you don't ask that" before saying, "thirty-five."

if i ever want to call a place home and stay in place for a long time and love a place it will be in a cave like that.  it exuded aesthetic appeal.  outside jenifer showed me bright green cocoons the size of cigars attached to the branches of the trees.  "i watch them everyday.  i am curious to see what will come out"
i felt like alice it felt like i was in wonderland.
"dein Vater kommt" announced sebastian and jenifer's father ambled in smiling bearing grilled steaks and bread and bottles of german beer.   we sat in the sunny patio and consumed them.

after he had gone i said to them, "do you think if parents always pass on their light to their children - and it is easier to hold onto the light than to lose it - then more and more light is spreading among people and humanity is bound to one day become all enlightened?"

they reckoned it was probably true too.