Snippets

Back to You

Archer opened his eyes to the soft light of dawn streaming in trough the slats on the windows. He breathed in the freshness and promise a new day brought with it. He turned on his bed and was greeted with a head full of black hair tousled in sleep; hair that he knew was soft to the touch; closed lids framed by long lashes which when opened would catch the sunlight and look like molten gold; led to a lovely straight nose, and beautiful bow shaped lips that were slightly parted in sleep.

'Brailen'

The mere thought of Braelin put a smile on Archer's face. He loved Braelin with everything he had in him. Braelin was everything that was good and kind about the world; and the love they shared was pure. Archer needed only to think the name and he was filled with a happiness and peacefulness he hadn't felt in a long time. He had a sense of satisfaction; he couldn't remember the last time he felt this content.

He could go on and on about how Braelin was the most perfect human being on this planet and how fortunate he was to fall in love with this person. Braelin was his whole life; his sun around which his life revolved. His stomach churned with nervous excitement when he thought about today evening; he was almost sure of his decision; their love had only grown stronger over the years. He remembered the first time they meet; they had escaped and were running, running for their life, racing down narrow alleys sharp turns... what were they running from, he racked his brain a blurry shape emerged in the fog of his memories and an elusive name it started with and 'S'... he tried to cast his memory further back bit it wouldn't catch. Ah well he thought no point thinking about the past that was all behind them they had overcome too many obstacles to count.

He placed a quick kiss on Braelins temple and slipped out of bed noiselessly, making his way to the kitchen. He knew the smell of bacon and fresh tea would lure Braelin out of his deep slumber. Also, Braelin could choose not to go to work today, but Archer couldn't just not open his little bookshop, to add to it Archer still needed to buy flowers for the evening; a small posy of wild geraniums and daisies, Braelins favorite.

By the time Archer had showered and was ready for work there was no sign that Braelin had woken up, so Archer peeped at a still softly snoring Braelin and whispered a soft goodbye and turned to leave for his book shop.

As archer walked down the little cobbled streets that led to his bookshop, he marvelled at how the weather was, the skies were slightly foggy with wispy clouds here and there. A light breeze blowing stirred up leaves and flowers that had fallen in autumn weather, he pulled his jacket tighter as he made his way to the market square.

As he walked Archer felt his stomach knot up in nerves; he just hoped everything went according to plan in the evening, he'd been planning for a long time now; he knew he'd be devastated if Braelin said no so he avoided thinking about it. They'd been together for a long time and marriage was something they both held dear. So, to avoid thinking about it he began making a mental checklist of all the things he had to do today; he needed to get his mind off everything that could go wrong this evening. He had a new order of books coming in today, he also had to place another order for a hardbound copy of ' The life and times of Beatrice Nutter' for old Mrs. Agnes. He'd left a bit early today he had to take his weekly inventory and fix a few of the older books. He had to do something else too something very important, something that lingered at the edges of his mind just out or reach; no matter how much he tried he couldn't remember; he hated it when this happened; his memory about a lot of things was foggy and blurred.

As he walked, he looked around him and saw signs of the small town coming to life in the morning. Shopkeepers were opening for the day, and other were rushing in and out of the coffee shops, workers were cleaning up the sidewalks.