L'Etoile Rose

Chapter 5

In the morning, it was huge buttered toast, cut in heavy country side bread, and the smell of the café au lait filled the entire inn. Everyone was talking a little, and if I said as little as possible, I smiled as usual, to compensate. Before my eyes, day after day, a yellowish wave, foaming with rage, struck to death a sailboat with torn sails and broken mast, struggling not to capsize. The stormy sky blackened with heavy clouds only allowed a single ray of light to illuminate the dramatic scene and the painting. Little by little, in spite of myself, I perceived this painting as a sign, hung there for me, a warning. The fact that I was seated every day in the face of this shipwreck, with in the back the ceaseless ticking of the old clock could not be indifferent.

And then, every morning, cycling between the water and the fields, I went forward on the small road where the always present sun that summer made the scenery sparkle. Everything felt easy, I pressed on the pedals without effort, wearing a simple T-shirt and shorts over the swimsuit, hair in the wind, happy to feel its caress, and that easiness itself, that beauty that surrounded me, shouted something to me, something essential and serious, but which I had difficulty identifying.

But one of these mornings, while I was pedalling towards the beach, with Chantal and Delphine who were ten meters ahead of me, we had heard a strange chant, a heartbreaking and incomprehensible chant, halfway between the cry of a wolf and a mortuary prayer, something scary.

Then we came across a woman walking barefoot in the grass on the side of the road, dressed like a gypsy and carrying in her arms a sleeping child, who lay, head and arms dangling. It was from her that came that cry of the heart, this sadness. Frightened, I quickly turned around before reaching her, and rushed in the opposite direction! I found again Serge and Sophie who had stopped at my sight: there was a weird woman, she sang like one cries, and she carried a child, perhaps dead. It was my turn to have teary eyes and look ridiculous... But Serge had been nice and helpful as always, he had proposed that we stay, the girls, a moment in the neighbouring field, in the shade of a large chestnut, while he went to check it out.

While we waited for him, we had exchanged a few words, of him, Serge, and Sophie had confided to me how much Lucie had made fun of him, the poor fellow, and how much he deserved better. I listened without paying too much attention to her words, more sensitive to her face, the skin, her lips and eyes made up, and to her gestures, which were constantly accompanied by the clatter of her bracelets.

Serge had returned after ten minutes, with a smile on his face, he had seen the woman from afar heading in between the trees of an orchard, on her way towards the farm, perhaps she worked there, in any case, the path was now clear...

A little later, we boarded all three on a small sailboat, and the weather was dazzling. The blue of the sky, the brightness of the water, and the burning sun had made me forget the gypsy's evil song.

Serge at the Tiller, we sailed lazily, the breeze that blew that day was barely enough to inflate our sail. Sophie had taken her bottle of Monoi oil out of her big canvas bag and had generously applied it for a long time, under Serge's understanding eye, then she had offered me a little. I had removed my lifejacket to better experience the pleasure of smearing my arms with the fragrant oil and make myself believe, even if for a moment, how its like to be Sophie, dressed, with makeup on, to be an adult. 

She and Serge continued to engage in an intense dialogue, where the unsaid and the looks weighed heavier than the words exchanged, and which I paid little attention to.

I ended up lying on my stomach on a section of the boat's deck, wearing my shorts and my T-shirt, without putting back on my lifejacket. My face turned to the open sea, I remained with my eyes closed, my hand in the cool water that was spinning in-between my fingers, when Serge playfully began splashing water to wake me up, provoking screams from my side and laughter from Sophie's, who took advantage of the opportunity, and pushed me off into the water.

Freshness, lightness, deep water! A second ago, my body was heavy, crushed by the sun. Now it had been revived in the sea. I smiled, waving my hand in farewell to Serge, although he had now lowered the sail to slow down the boat and to offer me a helping hand. As I also now ignored Sophie's calls who claimed to want to help me back on the sailing boat, I remained a moment floating on my back while looking at the blue sky, savouring the pleasure of feeling, between sky and sea, as though an element of the universe ...

Then I started to swim towards the beach at a good pace, putting an extra effort in my crawl. There was about two hundred meters up to the shore, on a calm and rising sea, I was at the height of happiness. No more foreboding, no more malediction ... I had raised my head at one point to check that I was not on the path of a sailboat or a windsurfer, and seeing that the way was free, and the beach very close, I took back to swimming, this time giving it my maximum, in sprint, just for the fun.

I had stopped only because there wasn't enough water to swim in, and getting up, I had discovered that several people had gathered there, standing in the foam of the seaside, to watch me, amazed.

"What a mermaid you are!" Laurent had said.
" A real turbo!" Julien replied.

"Incredible Betty!" Anne added, handing me a towel ...

 "I had the wind in my back" I said, unleashing their laughter. But the furious tone of Dominique stopped their exclamations: I was crazy, where was my lifejacket, where was my boat, I could have been hit, the bathing was limited to the supervised area ... he was furious at my attitude and the admiring gaze of the others further exasperated his anger.

After a while, he was gone again, still furious, to his motorboat to go inspect the sails of the boats of the trainees, while Anne led me to the showers. "Don't worry, he's just jealous, I think."

In the evening, I constantly turned in my bed, vainly seeking sleep ... "I had the wind in my back." "Incredible Betty." "He's just jealous, I think" ... when Dominique appeared at the foot of my bed, whispering, "Betty, are you not sleeping? Sorry for earlier, I spoke to you badly, I was afraid for you ... An accident could have happened ... Don't ever take off your lifejacket again outside the swimming area, even if you're a real mermaid! "... I smiled without answering. "I'm going to get you something that will make you sleep, something from my grandmother, wait!" He came back a few minutes later and handed me a cherry. "Here, it's soothing, apparently, take a bite!" In the dark, I had chewed the ripe and juicy fruit, and he had waited to recover the seed. "Good night!" And the second that followed, I slept, as if by magic.

.....

Guyyss!! Ive always secretly wanted to be a mermaid hahaha! It made it rather easy to imagine what its like :P 

Thoughts on the Dominique-Betty relationship?