The Maldivian Night Sky.

Spot the clouds!

I remember when I was a boy of about twelve and my brother was about fourteen, we took a family trip up to Penang, my father's hometown. We stayed in The Palm Beach Hotel, a 3-star hotel on Penang Island, a short drive away from the tourist traps and the beach.

I remember we were playing billiards till we got bored one night in the hotel, and my brother and I decided that we would walk on the beach. 

It was an amazing walk on the beach that night - the night was cloudless and the moon was in its full glory. The beach was bathed in this eerie pale blue light, and we spoke in hushed whispers as if we were on hallowed ground. The vast swallowing darkness of the ocean lay just ten metres to our left as the shells crunched beneath our slippered feet. It was a moment of mystery, and magic - and looking to my brother, I thought to myself - 'Dammit, why did I have to share this moment with you?!'

I was twelve, and already I wanted a girl to share these moments with. 

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I write this because I know that my mind is feeble, and I will surely forget. I will return to Melbourne and to work, and my mind will imagine it differently as it gets cluttered with other noises. 

I was walking back to my room to pick up something one night here in the Maldives, and above me the hazy half moon cast its eerie glow on the world beneath it. You could make out the outlines of the low-lying clouds beneath, slow-moving gentle giants moving halfway between the waters and the stars. 

My slippers slap the wooden walkway leading to our villa, and the ocean echoes underneath. There is a gentle warm breeze caressing my skin, and it causes the coconut trees in the distance to slow sway and the crystal clear waters beneath me to dance in the moonlight. 

I have heard the term 'haunted by its beauty' before. I now understand it.