Tuesday, 20 August 2013

Haunted

A short story


Haunted

There was a light on the headland, its glow stood out from the darkness of the night’s storm. A figure stood alone her long dark hair whipping around her head as she waited out there. The night was cold; Catherine had wandered blindly along the path with only the dim light of her lantern to guide her until she reached the lookout and there she waited watching the sea all evening. The wind had been as unforgiving as the rain which ran down her face and the sea below churned like the emotions within her.

Numb to the harsh cold lashing of the storm she stood defiant, determined it could not take anything else that belonged to her. Her heavy skirts were soaked; she drew her tattered shawl over her shoulders and buried her hands within.  The weight of her wedding band tugged at her cold hand as the as dark hollow night felt as her heavy heart. Yet she clung to the hope the lantern gave maybe someone would come and take her away, someone would save her. Maybe he’d come back to her.

 Her dark eyes chased the swirling white foam as the sea consumed the craggy shore below. It was not long before the memory crept back in, the news that had come to her and the confusion and emptiness that followed.

A thousand questions echoed in her mind; Why? Who? They played over and over taunting her. She felt her world end as the illusions of her life fell apart like the shards of a broken mirror. Her hopes and dreams shattered. The situation played out in her mind over and over. As the night drew towards day Catherine found herself drawn to the edge. She’d come this far without conscious choice, acting her part out like a performer.

She had wandered broken hearted, just as she had done in every storm since that night and waited until she could bear the burden no longer. Catherine had reached the conclusion of the situation by dawn; she wiped away the tears and looked back as the sky began to brighten only to find she was still alone. She bowed her head and took the step forward from the cliffs edge, disappearing into the maelstrom just as the suns first rays kissed the stormy ocean calming its tempestuousness, only to find she has to repeat this act once more the next evening and every evening to come until she changes her mind.

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