The sound prompt this week was very 'ethnic/new age travaller' for my taste, but on a second listening a story appeared. I looked for the dark turn but none came, and I came out with something far more romantic than I would usually produce...but I like it!
The prompt was a song:
“Tinta” by Faun
Ruth pushed open the cabin door, inhaling the scent of the
thick foliage and fresh wood that surrounded it. It had been too long.
She walked in and found it untouched. Her heart sank.
She traced her finger along the rough wooden kitchen table
and thought about the last time they had used it. She climbed the ladder up to
the eves where their bed lay. She looked at it, still pristine, not a crease in
it. He hadn’t been here.
She sighed, but made her way back down the ladder and
brought in her bag, putting it on the table and unpacked its tiny contents into
the single kitchen cupboard. It wouldn’t be long before she could use them.
Ruth busied herself with preparing the hearth and a fire for
the evening. Dusk wouldn’t be long, and then she could get to work. She only
allowed the questions to surface at the edge of her thoughts, not letting them
in fully. There were a millions reasons why he might not be back, and he could
be on his way. She refused to acknowledge any of her nagging doubts. She would
help him soon enough.
She also refused to chide herself for not having returned
sooner. Things had to be arranged. She wanted this to go right; she wouldn’t
risk him being taken again.
Dusk fell and she took a stool outside so she could listen.
It took a while, but soon she heard it, and smiled to herself. She went inside
to fetch her tools.
As she brought out the array of objects she could feel it
coming closer, and the sound increase. Her heart was light and totally open, as
it should be.
Then more solid sounds were audible, in particular
footfalls, or were they hoof falls? She wasn’t quite sure, but it didn’t
matter.
The crashing and breaking of foliage moved closer until an
outline appeared in the dark.
She was right, she had heard both. He stepped out into the
clearing, leading his horse.
He stopped when he saw her, and then swept the helmet off
his head as though it blocked his view.
“My lady, you have returned!”
Ruth smiled, wanting to step forward, but knew better of it.
“I have.”
“And you reached me.”
“I did.”
He bowed low. She curtsied in response.
“I will come.” When he stood there was a new light in his
eyes.
“Please.”
“Can you wait?”
“For eternity.”
He smiled. “It won’t be that long I promise.”
“Are you far?”
He looked back over his shoulder, seeing what she could not.
“No, my lady, not in distance.”
“I will aid you.”
He remained silent, but his eyes told her all she needed to
know. Again she resisted the urge to run to him, knowing he wasn’t really
there.
He faltered as he spoke. “I must go.”
“I know.”
He started to turn, heading back into the woods. She watched
him go. He glanced at her one last time, his eyes bright and smiling. It
wouldn’t be long, they could both feel it.
Ruth remained outside picking up each object and delivering
its incantation, until the chill bit into her. Then she moved in by the fire
and continued until the embers burned so low she could barely see. Eventually
she climbed the steps up to the bed and fell into a dreamless sleep, exhausted
by her efforts.
She didn’t hear the creak of the cabin door, or the soft
footsteps on the ladder. But she knew the arm that fell across her as a body
shuffled up against her, and the scent that made her smile in her dream. They
were well met at long last; there would be no more interference.
This one had so much underlying passion...and we should always wait for that kind of love!
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