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it’s Mrs McAuley, not Miss.”
“My husband has been dead for twelve years.”
I will surely die here, but not before I’m ready.”
The rest of the day passed much as it had every day of the twelve years since Billy’s passing.
“Young people have to leave the past behind if they ever wish to grow up,”
Since Billy’s death, Muriel had made a habit of talking to herself.
“Whereas old farts like ourselves have nothing but the past.”
He built a grand home for them,
her home it would be forevermore. In a way, it was as if he was still with her.
felt like his warm embrace.
“He would have thought the same thing,”
“That’s where Billy proposed to me,”
We walked along the shore hand-in-hand. There was no road back then. No cars, no pollution. You could really see the stars.”
It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. It was so romantic. He got down on one knee, and… and he…” But she couldn’t finish.
“Life has a way of catching up to you, doesn’t it?”
Billy. It seemed everything did these days.
Was he up there? Was he watching?
didn’t mind if she never woke up.
The haar, that freezing sea fog,
What lay beyond that mysterious haar?
The haar always came to her,
“Eighty-four years, and still you surprise me,”
“Life goes on,”
“For better or worse, life goes on.”
There was nothing for her here, not anymore.
As she so often did, Muriel spent the journey reflecting on happier times.
…Muriel…
Ahead, something sparkled within the haar.
It was beautiful, a kaleidoscope of shimmering colours that seemed to draw her onwards.
…help me…
The creature.
It was unlike anything she had ever seen, a strange, amorphous blob that pulsated like a beating heart. At first, she could have sworn the membranous skin was purple, but it quickly changed to the deepest cerulean blue, then to a green as vibrant as the early leaves of spring.
She withdrew her hand, and a reedy tentacle formed from the creature’s blob-like body. It lashed out and wrapped around her finger.
The warm sensation travelled further through her body, the dull ache in her leg washed away by the curious pulses.
She just stood straight up like she was twenty years old again.
It took her a moment to realise she no longer needed it.
The whole way back, Muriel marvelled at the queer beauty of the creature, and the extraordinary way it had made her feel. It had made the pain go away.
She hadn’t run in years, and the tingle of the wind against her face made her smile. Hell, it made her laugh.
“Come on, I’ll get you home,”
All of God’s creatures deserved that much.
The eye opened again, opened wide. It looked longingly at Muriel for several seconds, before closing.
A new creature. What extraordinary luck!
I love you,
the familiar sensation flowed through her.
“Avalon,”
The creature detached itself from the side of the tub and moved silently towards her. It wrapped itself around her hand.
…Avalon…
At Avalon’s touch, the welcome serenity flowed through her once more. Her body relaxed, Avalon coiling himself — yes, she was sure it was a he — around her.
Avalon drifted over. His body puckered, making delicate slurping noises as he greedily lapped up the blood.
Why can’t it be both?
