Under the Tuscan Sun

A Short Story

Bella lay lazily in a hammock on the balcony that overlooked the vineyards. They seemed to roll along the hills for miles, only stopping at the horizon that glimmered from the setting sun. She wondered how much further the tiny trees stretched past her point of view; if they continued on forever, or stopped somewhere she couldn’t see.

The Tuscan sun beat down on her browning skin, but its rays weren’t as harsh as the ones at home. They toasted her arms like the heat of a toaster browning a slice of bread, preparing them for a second application of sunscreen like the bread anticipated the cool spread of butter. Their torridity painted her cheeks with rosy hues, rather than scorching her skin with sunburns that flared up in the salty sea. The sun seemed to be kinder to her here, and she wished she could pack up its warmth and bring it home along with the souvenirs she had stuffed into her suitcase.

As the evening hours crept by, Bella pondered the plan for the following day. She had no decisive plan; in fact, she had no plans for the days that had passed, and the days that were coming. The entirety of her trip seemed to be spent curled up in her hammock, watching the sun set as quickly as it had risen. There was one exception to her routine: she had travelled out of the countryside early one morning, only so far as to stop at a vendor who sold her candied oranges. She bought them to preserve the orange colour the sun turned in the early hours of the evening. For she wanted so desperately to capture the Tuscan sun in some form; to have it, to hold it, to feel its warmth when she wanted in case she never returned.

One more day awaited her exploration, but the allure of an exotic land known to seduce foreigners didn’t excite her the same way. She had no zeal for the animated streets of the city, and the sentient conversations of the Italian natives. Rather, she insisted on pursuing the tedious love affair with the striped hammock that began the afternoon she arrived, and would end the morning she left. It was quickly decided that the following morning would be spent packing the few things she had unpacked, and the afternoon would be passed by basking under the Tuscan sun, and in the peace it gave her.

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