Night visions (Five minutes freewrite)

marie-jay (61)in #freewrite • 6 years ago (edited)

At first, he thought it was just a weird dream. He simply couldn't take his eyes off her. Especially her eyes, so sad, yet so full of promise and maddening desire. His poor bewildered brain was sending out desperate signals - this cannot be, who is this woman, why is she here, where did she come from? He couldn't make himself ask any of these questions, not while she was singing that sorrowful tune he'd never heard before. He couldn't make out the words, yet the longing in them bore into his heart.
As he was getting out of bed he must have made a sudden move, for she was startled and vanished. All that was left was a faint smell of roses.
I'm imagining things, he told himself. Maybe he'd had too much to drink the night before, maybe the loneliness was getting to him. He'd heard rumors about this place, but he was not the one to listen to old wives tales. The guy that had given him this job did mention the previous 'estate manager' had had a unfortunate accident while shooting wild ducks. He did not elaborate on the circumstances, but insisted upon the fact that although the contract was for one year he was free to leave at any point, without penalties or hard feelings. The motor boat would take him to shore in less than an hour.

She came early the following night and took a seat right in front of him. She gave him a small apologetic smile, as if trying to excuse herself for her sudden departure. He was very careful with his moves, barely daring to reach out and light a cigarette. They sat in silence, talking about love and loss, he was still not over his wife leaving him, but her unspoken words gave him a strange comfort. All will be well again!
One night she wanted to go out for a walk and they made their way to the beach. When she got close to the water, she gave out a little cry of excitement. Her footsteps made no ripple in the calm waves and the water would not part where she walked. He tried to catch her by the hand, but she gave him an angry look and left him alone on the beach. She did not return for seven dull days and seven tormented nights. He'd wait for hours as still as can, fresh flowers on the table, windows wide open. At one point he thought about leaving the damned place, before he went totally mad, but he told himself it was just a test and she'll come back to him. Which she did. He'd learned his lesson. He never tried to touch her again. Sometimes she sang to him, sometimes he would read to her - she seemed to take pleasure in the small stash of novels he'd brought to the island. He took to telling her all about his days and she looked amused.
As months went by, he understood there was no way he was going to leave her. He'll sign up for another year. He kept it his secret. The guy emailed back he was welcome to stay as long as he wanted and promised he'll come by to see him in a couple of weeks.
He wanted their one year anniversary to be special, so he put flowers everywhere and a single red rose on the seat that had become hers. He set out two glasses of wine so they could toast to their love, for now he was sure it was love. She gave him a sad smile when he told her the news and her song that night was heartbreaking. When she left at dawn he could swear he saw tears in her eyes.
She never came back. Her year with him was up.