The sound of the splash caused Trinket to turn and look out over side of
the boat. The water was calmly splashing
the side of the boat as it sat offshore.
The waves soothingly, making their way to the beach before returning out
to sea. There was nothing to be
seen. If ever there was a place for
peace, this was it.
Rubbing her arms she made her way back to
her chair and pulled her light shawl back around her shoulders. The night air
blowing off the water was definitely getting cooler. It wouldn’t be long and she would have to
make her way back in. Relaxing back in
her reclining chair, she closed her eyes and breathed in the cool air.
She had been coming out here for the past
month. The only time she didn’t feel
like screaming her head off was when she was on the water. Away from all the well-meaning people. She could only take so many of their pitiful
looks. Could only choke down so many
casseroles. She was afraid if she didn’t
stay away; someone would be wearing one of the numerous green bean or chicken pans.
Why
did it happen to me? Why did it happen at all?
Pulling her legs up in the chair, she
wrapped her arms around her knees and rocked herself. The silent tears ran down
her face as she watched the sun finish making its way down to meet the waters’
edge. The sky had no right to have such
beautiful colors streaking across it, while she was full of dark insignia,
clear through to her soul.
There it was again, the splash that always
seemed to signal it was time to go in.
Time to return to the lonely cottage.
The little cottage where the start of a wonderful life had been. Where there was supposed to be bonfires in
the summer and Christmas lights in the winter.
Where the sound of laughter was so frequent it was embedded in the
walls. Walls, where pictures of the
beautiful little family hung.
It was not such a cheery place to go to
now. She dreaded walking up the path
now. Opening the door of the cool dark
home. The silence was unbearable at
times. There was no one there to greet
her, no one for her to tuck into bed at night and give a little kiss too before
singing to sleep. No one for her to curl
up to in front of a roaring fire.
Making her way over the side of the boat,
she clamored down and waded to the sand covered beach. As always, she turned back to look one last
time out across the water. Her mind had
stopped seeing, the little hand popping out of the water for her, but she
couldn’t stop herself from looking.
She stood there for what seemed like
forever before finishing the walk that would take her back to her
suffering. Back into what once was the
home of her dreams.
After pulling on her warm flannel pajamas,
and drinking a cup of tea she climbed onto her side of the queen size bed,
tucking the pillows from the other side against her, she lay back and
waited. Waited for the endless night to
pass and prayed for a dreamless night.
*****
Laughter
filled the air as the little girl ran down the beach to meet her father. Her long blonde hair flowing out in the wind
behind her. Her cheeks pink from
spending the morning outside waiting and watching the sky. She knew Daddy was coming home today and she
wanted to be the first one to see him.
Strolling behind
her, the beautiful young woman laughed with her. She had long ago given up trying to keep up
with her daughter, once she set eyes on the little two seater plane that was
bringing Daddy home. It seemed like from
the time she could walk she was always running for her daddy.
He always made it
look easy, landing the plane on the water and coasting it to the beach. Jumping out of the cockpit he reached in and
grabbed his overnight bag, then with the other arm pulled the apple of his eye
up and carried her to meet the love of his life.
Her heart always
jumped in her throat whenever she saw him.
His masculine good looks and boyish charm had claimed her love five
years ago. She could hear his laughter
mixing with their daughters, as she tried to con him into telling her what
present he had brought home for her this time.
As always before
they made it to the door of their home Mandy was playing with her new
toys. Her parents, smiling at her as she
ran off to her room to show her new treasures to her dolls.
“If I didn’t know
better I would think that you brought that home for her to bribe her into
leaving us alone for five minutes.” She giggled as he pulled her towards him.
Enveloping her with his arms.
“And sometimes I
would think You, were right.” He smiled as his mouth closed in on hers. Claiming her lips in a breathtaking kiss that
made the pit of her stomach tighten.
Turning them, he pressed her up against the wall. Imprinting her body with his. Making his way down her neck nibbling as he
went .
Suddenly the sound
of little giggles was breaking them apart as two little arms pried her way in
between them.
“Daddy why do you
always have to kiss mommy for so long?” Grabbing each of their hands she pulled
them into the living room and pushed them down on the couch. Climbing up onto his lap she snuggled her
head into his chest. “ You are going to stay a long time now. Right?”
“I’m going to stay
as long as I can. What kind of plans do
we have for tonight?” Avoiding her
questions seemed to be getting harder and harder as she got older. Rubbing her hair he looked over her head and
gave a half-hearted smile to the woman he loved.
“Mandy, why don’t
you show your father the new birds’ nest we found. I’ll get some supper together.” Trinket new by the look on his face; he
wasn’t going to be staying long and she wanted to be able to enjoy every second
of it. She watched out the window as the
two people, she loved more than life itself, stood admiring the three unhatched
birds’ eggs.
After preparing a
quick supper of sandwiches and chips with sweet tea to wash it down, they all
sat down together.
Holding hands around the table while Mandy said
grace, Trinket knew her life could never get any better than it was at this
moment. She watched as Mandy yawned from
the tiring day. Trinket had intended on
an early night, and had made sure that Mandy had stayed busy so when night
came, it would be easy getting her to sleep.
After tucking
Mandy into bed for the second time they cuddled together on the couch. Each knowing how the other felt and each
knowing that this was to be a short visit.
But soon they would be able to spend all their time together.
Sam curled his
fingers through hers, “You know this is not going to be forever. Right? It won’t be much longer and these trips will
be finished. Brett is going to be taking
them back on as soon as his leg heals.”
“I know. I just don’t understand why it had to be
you. There are two other pilots.” She
knew she was being unreasonable. One of
the pilots’ wife was fixing to have a baby and the others mother was very ill.
Brett normally took this route but he had an accident and broke his leg.
Leaning over her,
he placed a hand on either side of her head.
“I think I can make you feel better. How about if I give you something
to remember me by?” Moving his mouth
over hers softly, he knew just what she needed and he would see to it she got
it.
Closing her eyes
as she felt his lips against her lashes she gasped. He could always make her feel better. And she was sure she would remember this
night in the days to come. Giggling and
grabbing his hand she pulled him off the couch and they ran down the hall
together. Falling into their bed.
*****
Trinket woke with a start. Rubbing her head from yet another migraine
she had a tendency to get when she dreamed of what used to be. Standing she made her way to the bathroom,
reaching for the bottle of Fiorcet the doctor had given her. After downing a pill, she wet a wash
cloth. She returned to her bed and lay
the wash cloth over her eyes. Knowing
that when the medicine kicked in, she would be out.
*****
“Noooooo! Help them you have to help them. You have to keep looking for them. You haven’t found them. They are out there
waiting for you to come get them. Maybe
they are floating around on some driftwood wondering why no one is looking for
them.” She turned screaming looking from
one set of saddened eyes to the next. “You can’t just give up! You have to find them, you have too.”
Collapsing to the floor Trinket continued sobbing and pounding her fist into
the floor.
*****
Suddenly she sat up in the bed, drenched
with her own sweat and her eyes swollen from crying. Brushing her tousled hair from her eyes she
looked around. As always he wasn’t
there. She was alone. The only sound was from the cuckoo clock Sam
had bought her on their honeymoon. So
long ago. She grabbed his pillow and
curled up in the bed to spend the rest of the night reliving the most horrible
night of her life.
Mandy begged and begged Sam to take her
for a ride before he had to leave. Of course
he gave in. He was the best pilot
around. The weather was good. What would be the harm?
Fastening her seatbelt around her, Trinket
could remember those big beautiful blue eyes smiling up at her. So full of life and excitement. Kissing her daughter on the head she backed
away from the plane.
Sam powered up the plane and they coasted
out till they were far enough that he took off. Slowly at first. He knew there would be hell to pay if Trinket
thought he was being irresponsible with her pride and joy on board. They circled around a few times waving at Trinket
when they got close enough. Then with a
big smile on his face he pointed up and took off. Trinket stood there holding her breath. “I’m
gonna kill him as soon as he lands that plane safely.” She smiled because she knew they were
laughing at her. They were so much
alike.
Suddenly she heard it. The loud roar of the plane as it began its
decent way to fast. She knew something
was wrong. She froze as she stared out
across the water. Watching silently as
her whole life ended right in front of her.
Then it was over. In a flash. The coast
guard had searched for days. Friends and
family was with her through it all. But
she really just wanted them to go away.
To leave her alone. To leave her with her memories.
Now
she spent her days out on the water.
Hoping that somehow she would find them.
Deep down she knew that was never going to happen but she couldn’t give
up hope. It was all she had left and no
one could take it from her.
As soon as the clock struck Six a.m. she
was out of bed. She made the bed, turned
on the coffee and jumped in the shower. By six thirty she was walking down the
path with a thermos of coffee in one hand and a good book to read in the other.
Climbing on board the boat she settled
into her lounge chair, to watch the sun come up. She felt closer to them on the water. Sometimes she thought she could hear their
laughter whenever a plane would fly over.
The occasional splash of water always made
her smile. Maybe it was them saying good
morning to her.
She smiled as she picked up her book. Why did she choose this one? She didn’t really like westerns. That was
more Sam’s style. He used to tease her
about all her romance books. Oh well
maybe it was time to try something new.
Turning the first page she soon found herself engrossed in it.
“Cowboys and
horses? Who would of thought I would get wrapped up in that”
She smiled to herself. Rising from
her chair she realized she had been sitting there so long every bone in her
body was stiff and sore.
It wasn’t long and five chapters later,
she laid the book down giving her eyes a rest.
The light breeze blew against her skin.
It was times like this that she imagined the touch of the wind, was
Sam’s caress. She closed her eyes,
soaking in his imagined touch.
*****
“Trinket,
what are you doing?” Sam’s voice echoed
around her.
“Taking a
nap.” She whispered.
“No, Trinket, what
are you doing?” His voice turned stern.
She opened her
eyes to find Sam standing in front of her.
“Enjoying the warm breeze.”
“Trinket, you were
never good at lying to me. You have to
move on honey. Your killing yourself. Look at you.
You have dark circles under your eyes.”
She felt anger hit
her. “No, I didn’t kill anyone. You killed you and Mandy! You should have taken me with you damn
it. You wanna know why I have dark
circles around my eyes, it’s because I can’t sleep. You want to know why, because you and that
damn plane took my life away from me and left me here to suffer.”
She watched as a
sadness washed over his face. “I didn’t
know. If I had known I wouldn’t have
taken her. I swear.”
“Yeah, well think
about that before you try to tell me what I’m doing to myself.” She felt the tears trying to swell from her
eyes.
“There is nothing
we can do. What is done is done. Now, you need to wipe your face and pull
yourself together. Someone has been
patiently waiting to see you.”
She felt her body
tense. Quickly her hands came to her
eyes, wiping away evidence of her upset.
“Mommy! I missed you.” She looked up to her baby, her Mandy running
towards her. Her feet kissing the top of
the water as she made her way across it.
Trinket stood. She couldn’t
believe her eyes. It had been so
long. Quickly she wrapped her arms around
Mandy, pulling her up and into her chest.
“Oh baby I have
missed you.” She felt the tears falling
uncontrollably now and there was nothing she could do to stop them.
“Why are you
crying Mommy? You are supposed to be
happy. I didn’t mean to make you sad
again.”
“I’m not sad
honey, Mommy is very happy right now.”
Mandy pulled her
head from Trinket’s shoulder. She looked
into her eyes, “Your sad all the time Mommy.
I see you cry always.”
“What do you mean,
you see me cry?”
“Daddy said we
can’t go to our new home until you stop crying.
We watch you sometimes.”
“You’ve been
watching me.”
“Yep. When you come out here to talk to us, we hear
you. We hear you when you lay in bed
to.”
“Mandy, why don’t
you go play for a while, I need to talk to Mommy.”
Mandy crawled down
out of her arms and ran back to shore.
Trinket watched as Mandy ran along, kicking the sand with her toes. The little blue dress she had worn that day,
flapping in the wind.
“You have to move
on Trinket. Sell this place, go
somewhere and be the Trinket that we both know and love.”
She didn’t take
her eyes away from Mandy. “That’s easier
said than done.”
“Ok, do you want
us to keep floating around out here? I
can’t move on, we can’t move on, until we know you are happy.”
“I will never be
happy again.”
“Then Mandy and I
will be stuck here forever.”
“Is that such a
bad thing? At least here we are together
again.”
“Only when you
dream. Do this for me. Do this for us. Let go.”
His voice fell to a whisper. She
watched as Mandy quit playing looking back at her, she smiled. Her little hand began waving goodbye in the
air. Trinket stood quickly, diving into
the water. She swam as fast as she could
back to shore, but slowly Mandy disappeared.
That smiling face was no longer there.
*****
Trinket woke with a start, tumbling over
into the water. She broke the surface
with a gasp. She felt a knot in her
chest. She lay back in the warmth of the
water and began floating. She didn’t
care where to. She didn’t need anything
but her family back.
Her family that was stuck or so he had
said. It was then in that moment, that
she made up her mind.
Wish I had me some Rough Ryder. Wanna meet Ryder? Pick him up at amazon.com! Happy Reading!
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