Digital image for the day is made according to my own imagination and thoughts (your writing story competition(109) - Promised to die

It was a beautiful sunny morning, which made him seriously question the weather girl's prediction that it would rain. Luckily, she didn't let such a statement dent her plans, which she had been working on for longer than she could remember, although she only hinted that the idea had occurred to her two days before.

She took the time she needed to tidy herself up in front of the mirror; she had always been a woman with parsimony when it came to arranging everything. Her appearance was no exception. After combing her hair and checking that every strand was in place, she put on her sunglasses and picked up the handbag she had left on the bed.

Just as she checked her hair, she went over the plan she had drawn up months ago, every day. No loose end had to be left out as she went along, no strand of hair out of place. Such a comparison would have been worthy of a smile, but she did not smile. The situation was serious, it was serious, and, although she was willing to do something big, she felt no pleasure or joy. Nor any pangs of conscience, but that was another matter.

She went downstairs and checked that everything in the house was in order, and minutes later, when she was satisfied, she opened the front door and went out. As she came down the steps, a small car parked on the road. She listened as the sound of the latches being released and opened the hatch. Jack greeted her with a smile and a steady gaze, which he contemplated.

-Ready? -he asked, amused, as if expecting her to get cold feet at the last minute. Although he knew it wouldn't be like that. Sara was very meticulous. If she had made a mistake, she had already corrected the error.

She crossed her arms, pretending to be angry, but a smile escaped her mouth. Jack pulled her to him and gave her a light kiss, apologizing for laughing at her habits.

-Let's go now, you know I'm really excited about this outing.

-I know," Jack said and turned on the radio. And boy, did he know it. Sara was laughing and relaxed, more than he had seen her in a long time. The well-deserved vacation came at a very opportune time. He put on his own sunglasses and decided he needed a few days off too.

The rest of the trip went smoothly, even with some fun as they sang along to Queen songs. After the playlist ended the car was silent, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. They were absorbed in their thoughts, and glanced over the edge of the road occasionally, which was located on top of a mountain.

Below the cliff was the sea, vast and blue, and on the horizon the clean indigo sky, so vast that it took one's breath away and fed the gaze and the imagination.

Sometimes the sea could not be seen, because the view was interrupted by the hills and the houses on the side of the road. They reached a point where they could.

-Can you slow down? -asked Sara, without taking her eyes off a distant point. John agreed, not very convinced. They were on a dangerous curve, although on this road everything was dangerous. They were even exposed to landslides coming from the red hills that bordered the road. But he understood what Sara wanted, and who wouldn't have wanted the same? It was in that exact spot where one of the most beautiful places on the road was located.

All along the hill that made up the slope there were distributed a group of houses that had their years, but that had not abandoned their modern air or their magic. They were arranged in no apparent order, some up, some down, without following any straight line, but had been adapted to the shape that the hill allowed them.

The site had no shore, but seemed to begin and end with the sea, like a large pool built very close to the houses. The waters were a different shade of blue, closer to a deep green, and were surrounded by vegetation. Small boats were anchored in the few docks that had that magical place, which seemed out of a fairy tale. And exclusive, very exclusive. It could only be admired by travelers and tourists, or people passing by. However, not penetrated.

Sara sighed, and as the car left the place behind, she looked straight ahead again, and sometimes at Jack's window, which was where you could see the fun part of the road.

-Really nice, isn't it? -said Jack, not looking for an answer, which Sara didn't offer. He agreed it was kind of pretty, but it was something more than pretty. Something that simple word could not encompass.

The car stopped a few minutes later, at the license plate of a house that served as a parking lot. They took the things out of the car and walked down the narrow staircase, feeling the smell and the sound coming from the sea. Sara's insides buzzed with excitement, something that was shared by her partner.

After opening the house, Sara left the things arranged in any place and looked out onto the dock. It was a rustic construction of tires and cement, but she understood that before there were several docks arranged in various houses, that side of the sea had no shore either. If there was one thing that characterized those waters, it was the depth that hid beneath them. They commanded fear, and they commanded reverential respect.

He exhaled sharply and opened his arms, letting himself be overwhelmed by the warmth of the day. Then he returned to the house, to finish setting everything up. There was still time for one of the things he had come to do, the final thing. In the meantime, to enjoy time with her husband.

The days passed in harmony, in the mornings Sara woke up disoriented, but then she smiled when she realized that she was at the beach house, on vacation. It was nice to wake up and immediately see the sea, waking up. Later Jack would follow her, hug her back and sometimes they would watch the sunrise together.

Sometimes the sheets stuck to them, because sometimes they stayed up late into the night, talking, laughing, playing, making love or simply keeping silent, rocking in the hammock while watching the stars.

In a short time their countenances had acquired not only a pleasant tan, but they had other aspects. Happier and more rested, as if the days at the beach house had lifted burdens they didn't know they were carrying. On one occasion they watched the dolphins pass in the distance, leaping in a perfect line, a sight that left them impressed.

Sometimes they would go into the cold water and swim far out until they were exhausted. Then they would return hungry to devour the food they had left ready, anticipating the events. In the afternoons the boats passed very close to the houses, leaving white trails in the water. They offered cheap rides and unmissable promotions. Sara wanted to explore, although it was Jack who encouraged her to hire one of these tanned men for a ride the next day. After all, she was afraid to get on a boat.

She gladly accepted; whenever something scared her, she always faced it, especially if there was an experience behind the challenge that was worth the effort. Anyway, the boat ride was just and necessary, something that could not be postponed.

That evening they made passionate love, and fell asleep with no worries of what time it might be, or what commitments they might have. Jack was the first to close his eyes. Soon his breathing became regular and deep, showing that sleep had overtaken him.

At that moment Sara watched him, silent and thoughtful. He was a handsome man, with a profiled nose, beard and bushy eyebrows. Young and affectionate. Funny, attentive, loving. She really loved him, and she doubted she ever loved another man like him. It was a pity...

She reached out a hand and with her forefinger ran her index finger across his face, starting from the center of his forehead, down his nose, pausing for a moment at his lips and then his chin. She clutched his side and hugged him, sinking her face into him before closing her eyes and falling asleep. Seconds before she did so she thought again that it was a pity. A pity that he had to die.

She awoke startled, a hand resting on her shoulder. Jack looked at her, worried but calm.

-You were having a nightmare. What were you saying?

Sara looked at him, puzzled and confused.

-You were talking to someone," Jack said and smiled a little. The only coherent thing I could hear was you saying, "Why? The rest was just words.

Sara shook her head, to tell Jack she didn't remember. Her mouth was too dry to speak, a bitter feeling settling in her throat. She rolled over and closed her eyes again, though she very much doubted she could go back to sleep.

Jack didn't insist and got out of bed, before leaving he told her he'd fix breakfast and go for a swim. And one other thing. "Are the dark circles under your eyes the result of nightmares, or night walks? I hadn't noticed until now, but yes I can help you..... Is something bothering you?"

Sara looked at him in a daze, hiding her bewilderment as best she could. He shook his head.

"Insomnia. Nothing serious, I hope. Sometimes I wake up in the wee hours of the morning and can't get back to sleep, that's all. I'm sorry to wake you, you look so cute snoring." That's what Sara had told him before she got a smile out of him, and then assured him, honey, that it was nothing. And she thanked him for his willingness to help her.

But now that she was lying in bed, she was thinking about what Jack had told her. And not only that, she saw fragments that would otherwise remain hidden. She saw the darkness of the night and the moon shining on certain spots, scattering the shadows and crowding them into corners.

He saw his own feet, walking on the concrete floor, on top of the small grains of sand. And he felt. The cold night air, the smell of the sea, the call that made his walk end at the water's edge, when he stopped and stared into nothingness. Except he wasn't staring at nothing, the voices rising from the water belonged to his own world.

She listened to them intently, as she had so many times before, only more clearly than ever. The voices that had haunted her for so long, that had led her to this day. The ones that vanished from her mind once the day came, but lurked inside her, giving her orders, guiding her like a mother guiding a child. Normally she didn't question them, but hadn't Jack said that in his dialogues he repeated two words that served to formulate a question? "Why."

Why?

Sara was down that morning, although she tried hard to shake off that mood. However, she did not feel the smiles, and left them half-heartedly. In the afternoon the boat arrived to pick them up, and although she did not want to go on board, Jack's enthusiasm convinced her. Or maybe it was something else...

Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest, but above all she felt a great oppression that almost prevented her from breathing and enjoying the waters.

He thought of all the nights he got out of bed to prepare for the ritual, even without being aware of it. Of the atrocity he had to do, which he had never questioned, which he had gone along with without guilt or remorse because that had been the deal all along. He thought about the real reason for the trip, which was just a few meters away: the archipelago where everything was to take place.

Why?

Why does Jack have to die?

Why?

She held her husband's hand too tightly, and Jack was surprised by the contact, but more surprised by Sara's frightened face.

-Sir, please, can you turn around? -she said, her voice trailing off. The tanned man looked at her blankly.

-What's wrong? -he asked.

But Sara could not speak, she had begun to stammer and the words that came out of her lips were slurred. Her eyes were flooded with tears, and the only thing that could be heard between her sobs were her words of apology and regret.

Jack asked the man to take them back, frightened at the hissy fit that overpowered Sara. He hugged her tightly, her small body trembling uncontrollably under his arms.

Beyond the rise of the overgrown ground, the sky began to turn a yellow color, from which flashes of lightning streaked the sky like streaks of light. The weather, which had seemed so peaceful and harmonious, had changed in a matter of seconds.

Gray clouds took over the sky, and the waters of the sea began to churn. The man in the boat, frightened, increased speed. Jack looked at Sara, and wondered if deep in his bones he had had an inkling that something like this would happen.

The waves churned up the boat, and the rain had begun to fall in thick, cold drops, which drenched the crewmen swiftly. The pair were held tightly in a bond that seemed unbreakable, until they were dislodged by a leap from the launch and fell to the floor of the boat. Before they could cling again, Sara shot through the air and fell into the sea.

It was only a millisecond, but she could see Jack's terrified face. She wanted to smile at him, to tell him not to worry, that she had done the right thing and that she loved him, but the smile didn't even reach her lips. The sea engulfed her like a giant throat and took her to the bottom. She tried to swim, but it was useless. She had known it all along, but she had wanted to make the slightest effort to get out of the water prison.

But she knew they would not let her leave, not after she had reneged on the pact. Though truth be told, the forces of the waters had used her. How little it was to give a few days to the sun in exchange for Jack's life. What was the point of living if Jack ceased to exist, what did it matter anymore what the waters could offer her if she didn't have with her the only thing she loved? The only thing he loved.

It was all right the way things had ended, he thought, as he sank into the sea. Let death be the cause of the end of a great love, for she could not be. She was glad she had changed her mind. That she had not been able to carry out the task she had been given.

She closed her eyes, ready not to open them any more, and, surprised, she noticed that the pressure of that invisible hand released her. Her body rose gently through the water, and when she reached the surface all at once, she sucked the air in desperately, as she had never done before.

Jack was in the boat, watching Sara emerge from the water, with no idea whether he would make it from that point or have to dive for her at another. The despair was evident on his face, the terror of foreboding, the anguish and frustration of not being able to do anything for his loved one. He had been seized by a terrible certainty, and it was that he would never find her, that death had taken her away from him.

He put her in the boat and kissed her a thousand times, while they both cried and tried to calm down. That day one of them would have to die, Jack in the first instance, and Sara in case he did not keep his promise.

However, the love they felt had been able to break, with a devastating and unstoppable force, the golden threads of the cursed promise, the one that had no choice but to withdraw, knowing that it was the wisest thing to do if it was a matter of the heart.