le bonheur de vivre

10

Dora had believed it completely. Alexander was an excellent liar ( a rather excessive one as well ). The two of them had reassured Eliot when he had woken up at 8am and when Alexander explained to him what had happened he had believed it as well.

After that Alexander had driven him home, and whilst he was gone the rest of the family had woken up and begun breakfast. When he returned he hadn't come to breakfast. He parked the car and proceeded to run down to the beach along the main road and then back up to the top of the mountain. Elodie had watched him do this for 45 minutes now, as she perched comfortable upon a sun chair on the grass lawn.

he was relentless, climbing at a steady rate and then descending with a sprint, as if he were some type of wild cat with unwavering stamina. he would leave her sight just before he reached the beach but it was seconds before he turned back and she could watch him take on the steep road. he repeated this again and again. he didn't stop to have breakfast, or to check on Dora.

She didn't question it. Her mind wasn't willing to provide an explanation, so why bother? She would stop watching him soon. he seemed as relentless as the sun. and who would watch the sun?

with his route tickling the back of her consciousness she decided to go to the beach. she left the house just as he passed it on the way up, and skipped downwards at a speed so that he would see her reach the end of her walk. it seemed as if her mentality of not caring was slowly rotting away into a state of mind that was contaminated and corrupted. she was becoming aware. she was becoming enlightened in the cruelest of ways. the prospering of her thoughts had caused a self realisation.

the concrete of the road was excruciatingly painful to walk on if it wasn't in the shade. she wondered how he did it barefoot. she wore only a swimsuit. she skipped, her plaits slapping her back every time she landed a step. she reached the end of the road and the shade of the canopy  dissolved into harsh sunlight. nevertheless, she continued.

she began to hear what she presumed to be him. he panted, like a dog, but the increasing volume of his 'thumps' made her picture him as a horse.

"Elodie," he called out from behind her. She hadn't talked to him since the night earlier, only watched.

She turned. He had come to a halt, hands on knees, hunched over as he refilled his lungs. he was wet, the sweat clinging onto his skin, glistening, like honey, under the sun. for some reason he hadn't taken off his shirt, and so it stuck to him, revealing veins that bulged in his upper arms.

"Yes?"

It seemed to much of an effort at that very moment to be sinister towards him, despite his previous violence.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked as he smiled at her, standing up straight now.

What harm could it do to talk to him?

"Yes. Where would you like to talk? "

"Are the rocks okay?" he asked her, seemingly interested in her opinion. "I think it would suite the conversation."

He pushed his damp hair out of his eyes.

"Will your feet be okay?" she asked back.

He looked down as if they could answer the question for him.

"Yes, I believe so."

He jogged up to her side and walked next to her, saying nothing until she dispersed the silence.

"Why were you running?"

He chuckled quietly under his breath.

"Just exercise."