Post by catrily on Jul 30, 2006 23:42:50 GMT -5
The dune slipped easily beneath his leatherclad feet, causing his features to buckle under the stress of keeping himself balanced. Unusually chilly for a summer eve, he deftly pulled the loosely wrapped blanket tighter around Catrily's thin form. It'd been years that he'd watched her steady decline, not a single word spoken between the two of the inevitable. But tonight, in barely a whisper, Catrily asked if she could see the ocean; and he couldn't turn her down.
The moon peered down at the pair, their trail marked in glittering sand as they came closer to the edge of the water. Rythmic laps of water breathed against the shore, smoothing the sand and taking it a little at a time. Catrily's eyes shined for probably the first time in a few years, ragged breathing misting in front of her face as she took in the sounds of the ocean.
"You know, I think I could live on the shore. I'd wanted to. At least thought I did. Never got around to making that happen."
He was silent; the only sign of his attention was the soothing hand running the length of her boney back. She almost looked beautiful in this light. Almost. He noted how hollow the pale light made her cheeks; how shadowed her sunken eyes were; how nearly green her thinning skin had become. But tonight, tonight she looked nearly beautiful.
"When I was young I'd come out here and count the waves. Like I could imagine just how often the land is fed to the ocean. Tiny deaths taken of the shore to fuse with the sea. How long until it was completely gone?"
Catrily's breath caught suddenly and he helped ease her down to the edge of the waves, her feet dipping into the water with each caress of the sea. She smiled then, taking short breaths as her frail body finally came to lean to his.
"You know I love you."
And he did. The only other truth within his mind was the hard realization that this was the end. And still...he couldn't bring himself to say a word. Skeletal fingers found his, tangling up lazily as she peered across the horizon. And without another word she slipped her eyes shut, a soft cough easing out her thin lips. By morning he was gone as he couldn't see her go; the last lap of the ocean pulled her body out to sea.
Love is watching someone die.
The moon peered down at the pair, their trail marked in glittering sand as they came closer to the edge of the water. Rythmic laps of water breathed against the shore, smoothing the sand and taking it a little at a time. Catrily's eyes shined for probably the first time in a few years, ragged breathing misting in front of her face as she took in the sounds of the ocean.
"You know, I think I could live on the shore. I'd wanted to. At least thought I did. Never got around to making that happen."
He was silent; the only sign of his attention was the soothing hand running the length of her boney back. She almost looked beautiful in this light. Almost. He noted how hollow the pale light made her cheeks; how shadowed her sunken eyes were; how nearly green her thinning skin had become. But tonight, tonight she looked nearly beautiful.
"When I was young I'd come out here and count the waves. Like I could imagine just how often the land is fed to the ocean. Tiny deaths taken of the shore to fuse with the sea. How long until it was completely gone?"
Catrily's breath caught suddenly and he helped ease her down to the edge of the waves, her feet dipping into the water with each caress of the sea. She smiled then, taking short breaths as her frail body finally came to lean to his.
"You know I love you."
And he did. The only other truth within his mind was the hard realization that this was the end. And still...he couldn't bring himself to say a word. Skeletal fingers found his, tangling up lazily as she peered across the horizon. And without another word she slipped her eyes shut, a soft cough easing out her thin lips. By morning he was gone as he couldn't see her go; the last lap of the ocean pulled her body out to sea.
Love is watching someone die.
