Living a Nightmare

JANE WILLIAMS - MARKUS

The kind woman who served James and me on my first day in Llandrindod Wells, turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to me.

Her name was Jane Williams and she was 21 years old at the time. We met again a few days later in a small pub. James had just gone to the toilet when Jane came in through the front door. Her beautiful long black hair swayed as she came in. She was wearing a black dress with little pink roses on it and some black high heeled shoes. When she walked in, it was as if time itself stopped. I held my breath...

Then she started walking towards the table where I was sitting. But it could not be, could it? I mean, what would such a lovely woman like her want with a random German bloke like me? She smiled and it seemed as if she was smiling at me.

"Jane, how lovely to see you here," I heard a familiar voice behind me. It was James, coming back from the toilets.

"James. It's been a while," she greeted him, giving him a big hug.

I just sat there rooted to the spot. The other day, when James and I were having our breakfast in the café, neither James nor Jane showed even the slightest sign of knowing each other, and now they were hugging each other as if they were friends. How could this be?

"Oh Jane, I want you to meet Markus. He is a friend from back in the day, when the war was going on in Germany and I was stationed there," James introduced me.

"I see, so you are from Germany then?" Jane now turned to me, still rooted to the spot.

I immediately snapped out of it and stood up to greet her properly.

"Yes, hello. My name is Markus Christopher Krause," I replied, smiling warmly at her.

Then we all sat down together, and Jane and I got to know each other better. We had a really lovely night.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next day James had to go off to work, something about an incident or something of the sort. So, I decided to spend the day exploring Llandrindod Wells and the surrounding area. James had told me that the Llandegley Rocks were not far from where he lived and that they were wonderful. So, I decided to see if he was right.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I walked up to Llandegley Rocks. There was a cairn at the top and you could see for miles from up there. When I got up there, the view was more than I had expected. From there, I was able to see Llandrindod Wells, Radnor Forest and much more. James had not been wrong, it was a breathtaking view from up there.

But I was not the only one, who had chosen to take in the beautiful view from the top of Llandegley Rocks that day. Jane had also decided to go up to Llandegley Rocks that day to paint the landscape from above. She also lived just round the corner, so it was only a short walk.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jane Williams, as I had mentioned earlier, was 21 years old, when we met. She had grown up in Llandrindod Wells and was still living there when I met her. She was very good friends with James, as they had been at school together. But then again, it was not surprising that they knew each other as Llandrindod Wells was quite small and everyone seemed to know everyone here.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I went up to her and admired her painting and her beauty, for she was the most beautiful woman I had ever met. When she saw me looking at her painting, she smiled at me.

"Hello again, Markus."

I greeted her in return and we sat and talked for a while, both admiring the view.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two weeks later, it was time for me to go back to Germany as I was starting an internship at a police station to become a detective, something I had wanted to do after the war when I helped all those poor families find their loved ones that had gone missing back in Germany. I realised then that helping people was what I wanted to do, and I discovered then that I was really good at searching for clues, which helped me find most of the missing people.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Leaving Jane was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I was also sad to leave James, of course, because he had been such a kind host and a truly trustworthy and wonderful friend to me. And it was thanks to him that I got to see such an amazing place as Llandrindod Wells and it was also thanks to him that I met the girl of my dreams, Jane Williams.