LJ Idol Week 11: The Blue Hour

[flipflop_diva]

Her eyes flew open.

It took her a moment to realize where she was.

The house was quiet. The room was quiet. The spot in the bed next to her empty and undisturbed. The pillows she wasn’t using were as wrinkle-free as they had been when she had crawled in beside them just hours ago.

She couldn’t tell what time it was. Somewhere between night and day, she supposed. Much too early to be awake, but yet she was.

She swung her bare legs out of bed, shivered when her toes touched the ice of the wood flooring. Out the window, she caught a glimpse of the small lake, the trees swaying in the wind.

It seemed to call to her.

She slipped on jeans, a pair of shoes, made her way out the front door and down the narrow, rocky path with the pebbles that were just made to be tripped on.

The moon was still out, but the sun had not yet started to rise. Everything around her was covered with a faint blue tint — the sky, the lake, the grass, the trees, her hand holding the small flashlight out in front of her.

Her favorite spot was waiting for her, damp from the fog around her and the mist blowing off the water.

The well-worn wood of the little dock was a familiar comfort below her as she settled down on to it, dangling her legs over the side. If she stretched her foot just so, and pointed her toes in just the right way, she could touch the water, could let it flow all over her shoes as she watched.

Instead, she leaned back on her elbows, tipped her face upward, looked up at the stars, watching them before they disappeared for the day.

She didn’t hear him approach, didn’t hear the tread of his shoes, but she felt him as he took a seat beside her, the boards of the little dock creaking and dipping just so as he settled in, his arm brushing hers.

They were both quiet for a long time, just taking in the lake and the shadows beyond that were just beginning to form shapes as the dark of night faded into blue and then faded even more.

“You know how much I love you,” he finally said. His voice was low and hoarse in the morning air. “How much you mean to me.”

She didn’t turn her head to look at him, kept staring outward, but she felt him turn his face toward her, felt his eyes taking her in.

“The time with you has been the best of my life,” he said. “I want you to know that.”

She turned her head then, saw the sincerity in his eyes, the earnest expression across his face.

His hand came up, touched her cheek, slid down it into the messy curls cascading out of her ponytail. And then he leaned in. Kissed her.

It was one of those kisses you feel throughout your entire body. Deep and intense and filled with so much emotion.

He kept kissing her, hard but loving, as if he didn’t want to stop. His one arm wrapped around her, pulled her close to him. She let her hands slide up his back, feeling the chiseled muscles beneath his shirt. She wrapped them behind his neck and hung on until the kiss ended with a breathless sigh from both of them. He leaned his forhead against hers, then tilted his head up just a hair to kiss her on the temple.

She felt more than saw his hand fumble in his pocket. For a moment she looked up toward her own hands, the pale fingers of her left hand untouched by jewelry, and something inside her jumped in anticipation.

“I love you,” he whispered again, before he untangled himself from her arms, stood back up and disappeared into the dark almost as quickly as he had come.

She put a finger to her lips, felt his kiss still there, lingering in his absence.

She thought about his words, about whether they were a hello. Or maybe a goodbye.

She closed her eyes and laid back on the dock, listening as the woods around her came to life.

When she opened them again, an eternity later perhaps, the sun was just peeking over the horizon, the golds and oranges and reds mixing with the blues to light the sky.

She turned her head, finally, to see what he had left.

Beside her lay a single faded old key.

She picked it up, twirled it in her fingers before standing, slipping it into her pocket.

At least she had her answer now.


My first foray into fiction this round. Thank you for reading! This was written for Week 11 of therealljidol. Voting will be up later. If you would like to read any of the other entries for this week's topic, you can find them here.

Comments

[d0gs.livejournal.com]

i really enjoyed this take. so beautifully written!

[bleodswean.livejournal.com]

You really captured a sense of "mystery" here and it was captivating to read through this piece!

[rayaso.livejournal.com]

Such excellent descriptions, and you built the anticipation very well. Did she want a ring? Would that have been too much? Was she disappoint or happy with the key? You did a great job leaving these questions unanswered. I loved the line "the pebbles that were just made to be tripped on" -- I know too many of those pebbles.

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

This sounds as if it was a goodbye after all, a bittersweet surprise after what came before. All of his words laid the possibility, but you could hope-- as she did-- that it was the step into 'more' instead of the step into 'leaving.'

[eternal-ot.livejournal.com]

I loved the twist. And now I want to know more...

[murielle.livejournal.com]

Is he giving her his key, or returning hers? This story is so beautiful. The scene, the descriptions, the emotions, the long comfort of the lovers. Brava! Well done.