Low tide: it is as if the world, the ocean, had wanted to withdraw, to retire, at the other end, on the other side, perhaps to another galaxy.
The written words cannot be erased, nor the broken promises forgotten.
The heroes have gone, their shadows melted…
faraway, in an unknown land,
only remains the sound of small waves, lashing the rocks.
Vale of Tears,
Time has come –
Truth will be known,
to our Hearts’ content!
Hack this, you fools…
We stand on the platform, both silent.
You’re taller than me now, and I would have difficulty in carrying that heavy rucksack, you’re stronger too…
Yet, you are still fragile, I know, and I wish I could communicate, no, better, transfer to you my inner strength.
You smile, we kiss, you stand tall, a young woman walks past, looking at you, your train arrives, we shake hands: farewell my son.
There is no tears as those of a soldier.
Inspired by Wednesday Writing Prompt, courtesy Amanda L. Webster (@missmandy76)
The Greatest Longing
He was away for a few days, the first time in nearly a year that they were apart for more than a few hours. On the morning he left she drove him to the airport: “I’ll be back in a sec…” he said to her, holding her high in his arms, his eyes locked into hers. Then he was gone, she got back to their place, suddenly silent.
In their study her pictures were everywhere, they had been editing the book they wanted to publish, soon. He was adamant they should do it, immortalise those precious forms, their intimacy. Her eyes were damp. She walked upstairs to their room, looking at the large bed, still undone, his books left open on the rug, a shirt of his on their chair, and… yes… his collar and hers on the little table. Slowly she showered, without him, on her own, the first time in months. Then she dressed, soberly, jeans, a black T-shirt, her hair in a bun.
Downstairs she got on with cleaning the kitchen, then the lounge. On the terrace she watered their “garden”. She made coffee, and nearly choked in her mug, as she started crying, finally giving in. How will she cope tonight? Who would he meet at that conference? Will he call her? She thought of timezones, Japan was so far away…
In the evening she knew she would stay awake, waiting for his call. She got a text: turn on the Mac and the camera. He was calling her from his hotel room, on a video link. His face appeared on the large screen, smiling to her, incredibly clear: “First the good news”, he said charmingly, “I am back tomorrow, and expect you there on the dot!” She was now wet with tears and a little aroused. “And now for the very bad news: look at what I found in Tokyo!” He was showing her a little dildo, marvellously chiselled, in a beautiful wooden box covered with Kanji characters. Then his face came closer, his lips so clear, and she embraced the screen, her face flooded with tears of joy.
The summer was coming to an end, and she dreaded the return to her “normal” life: how could she give up what mattered to her more than anything in the world?
Yet she knew the secret to keep him, to continue to be the one he had wanted her to be, she must obey by the rules, respect his freedom, be there for him when he wanted her, ready, the creature he had made of her, the whole of her, her past, her present, their present, just for him.
She packed slowly, her old clothes, and the new ones, what he had got for her, the lingerie, her collar, the high heels shoes in beautiful leather, and the bits of their shared life she had kept in secret: the bottle they had drank from, there, at the top, on the cliff where she had become his, for ever.
She could hear his steps in the now empty house, he was coming to her, to say good-bye, she started crying, silent tears running down her face.
She had closed her eyes, waiting for the blow, for his departure, but he was still there, next to her, a hand on her shoulder: “I have changed my mind” he said in his calm voice, “I am taking you with me, and, by the way, I will not ever let you go far away from me”, and he kissed her, full mouth, ignoring her tears, lifting her from the ground, a tall young god.
