Memories of the in-between

The beach was washed in mist as the sea climbed the shore. The seafoam clung to the sand like a woman's arms to her lover, in the early hours of the sun's reign. The birds were waking to greet the day, their chirps and song filling the air. The sand looked grey in the bland and dim pre-light, but slowly colour washed the world again as the sun climbed higher on the far horizon. The mist melted away dissolving on the rocks and pebbles, revealing the cliffs in the distance.

A young man sauntered along the beach, a forlorn gait to his stride. His pale features reflected this sadness as he picked up a pebble, and after inspecting it threw it into the retreating surf. His long hair hung limply as it fell past his jaw, shadowing his movements, swaying too and froe. He looked out to sea to watch a boat sailing smoothly by, covering his eyes with his hand in the brighter sunshine. A glint of hope and excitement flared within him at the sighting. The waves cause the sun as they peaked and troughed like lovers beneath the sheets. The man watched with a diminishing hope as the ship sailed out of sight, not to dock today.

He sat on a boulder embedded in the shore, a reminder that the cliffs used to sit closer to the shoreline many years before, time and tide wearing away at the stone. He watched the birds feeding on the receding, water-logged sand, picking and digging to catch the critters the sea had left behind in the last wave. He sat watching and waiting, wondering.

In the last lingering mist, a figure walked, unseen at first, towards him. As the figure neared the man noticed and stood. The waiting hadn't been in vain. The figure glided towards him as smoothly as the boat had across the horizon. There was something magical in the sway of her hips, something not entirely human. The figure neared showing glimpses of hip-long saffron hair. It danced like fire behind her as she neared in her translucent dress. Around her waist, she had a belt of pearls held together with fishing net twine and glass beads. As she neared, his mouth parted in awe of her beauty. She stopped before him and smiled warmly, just as he remembered.

He stepped forward instinctively holding his hands out to her face as if she were a mirage. Her skin felt cool to his touch as she closed her eyes and rolled her cheek into his palm, reminding him of a cat. His other hand strayed to her fiery hair. He held her as he brought his lips down to meet hers. They touched briefly, then again and again. Each touch, tender and soft. Their lips clung to one another for a few moments before finally breaking. She opened her eyes and looked up to him. She smiled but her brown eyes held tears.

"What is wrong? Are you well?" He asked quietly, she studied him, as a tear rolled down her pure pale cheek.

"I have just missed you so much" She smiled. He echoed her and pulled her close, hugging her, breathing her in.

"I have missed you too, I was afraid you would never return to me, that I had been forgotten" She placed a finger to his lips and looked firmly into his pastel blue eyes.

"Never speak of it my love, never would I forget you, I would remember you when the last star shines in the sky" She hugged him again, her reply muffled by his chest. "My memory of you brought a warming to my heart when even time felt frozen." He stroked her hair fondly.

"Such words you say!" He smiled "Now, tell me, what have you seen, what have you done" She stepped back from him slowly, pulling from his arms. She looked at him with a hesitance he wasn't expecting.

"I have a confession, but I fear your reaction, I fear losing you." She looked wary as she studied him again, brow furrowing in suspicion.

"Whatever this secret is, it will never steal me away from you" He smiled reassuringly but she didn't respond.

"We shall see" She began to walk away from him, back the way she had come. She turned back and held her hand out to him. "Come, I have something to show you" He grasped her hand and followed, walking back along the beach, a deep and contemplative silence between them. The sun was finally clear of the horizon and was quietly watching on as the birds soared through the sky.