Drabble: Second Honeymoon
For @aussiegirl41 on the occasion of her birthday. In the depths of an Alaska winters, being back on the shores of Green Island, NSW, sounds lovely right now! Let’s head back on my next visit!
TDBM Drabble: 300 Words
April in Paris had always sounded so romantic. For a thin-blooded Australian, it had been bloody uncomfortable. Lucien wrapped her in his embrace, instantly heating her blood. His lips close to her ear: “For our second honeymoon, I’ll take you to Green Island.
When I was demobbed, I was supposed to come to Ballarat. I only made it as far as Cairns. Then turned tail back to Hong Kong."
She’d slipped her arms under his overcoat until she could feel his hitched breathing.
"Green Island was so lovely. Utter peace. Soft waves. Smelled like heaven.”
Rubbing her temple on his beard, she’d breathed in his scent.
“Sunsets so beautiful I could cry for the first time in years.”
Her tears had wet his collar. Someday, they would go to Green Island and walk on the pure sands.
The grains are hot beneath her bare feet and the sun blazes until her sight shimmers. She searches under mangroves, but no cheeky grin flashes from the gloom. She dives into the dim light, finding a thin trail back to the hotel. There’s no sense searching for the maddening, delightful groom she married. He’s gone.
Ahead, a shape in the shadows; glistening light gaze, shy smile, cheek streaked with ragged beard. The mirage disappears when she rapidly blinks her tears away.
“Lucien!” she calls to the empty forest, chasing a dream flitting ahead through the trees.
At the shoreline again. Soft waves, thudding steadily like a heartbeat. Footprints wash away like her hope.
When she finds him hunched down beside a rock, her hands grip his boney shoulders. She welcomes their brittle strength.
“Some second honeymoon,” his broken voice says.
“We’ll just start again,” she whispers as she eases down onto the sand beside him. “A second chance at marriage,” she adds firmly.
~ end
Aaaawwww. Thank you. I will whisper it's Queensland, not New South Wales though. (Because you all want to visit us in Queensland when Corona is over, too cold down south. LOL)
