Tonight..

          James tossed and turned in his bed. He lifted a moon-bathed hand to smooth out his tousled hair while gazing at the ceiling.

          The last few nights his thought had been only of Jessie. Restless nights were enforced by his constant obsession with her image.  He was truly in love with her, now more then ever, and could only think of her during those sleepless nights.

          Although it was normally casual for him to not sleep lately, tonight was particularly frustrating for reasons James couldn’t understand. Why was it that his emotions were so unbalanced this certain night?

          James drew his eyes towards the sleeping figure of his love, Jessie. James had to smile faintly, his lips drawing slightly upward.

          I have held you in my heart dearly so long, and yet you fail to realize it, He thought.  The pale light danced in his eyes as he looked fondly towards the slumbering red head.

Jessie had made him grow wiser with his love for her, and inspired him to begin an unofficial quest for knowledge.  While he only partially realized it, Jessie was making him a better person without even knowing it.

James hadn’t hoped Jessie shared his love for her, not even a little. He pushed away the thought and ignored it.  It was too surreal to be marked as even fantasy.

In a flash, James was reminded of this particular song he loved dearly. Every time he heard that enchanting melody he thought of no one but Jessie, his reason for living. 

It was a beautiful song, but with ugly, dirty lyrics reflecting on the joys of cheating on your wife. James simply ignored the words and dreamed of someday dancing to the tune with Jessie.  Perhaps under a beautiful moon, like the one on this night, with a shimmering lake dazzling the background. 

          He sighed. It was always too good to be true, and James always regarded fantasies as a waste of time. And yet he couldn’t help but squirm in his sleeping bag with excitement at the thought.

          Now he realized just why he was thinking of this song. He could actually hear it, softly from far away.

          It was being sung by a woman, whose voice was so beautiful he felt deeper into a trance as the music grew louder.  A man normally sang it, but the solid melody kept clinging to the higher notes and was suitable for a feminine voice.

          James lifted himself out of the sleeping bag and pressed a bare foot onto the cottage floor. He walked lightly to the door and opened it, the song growing louder by the minute.

            He felt the grass wet with dew beneath his feet and followed the beautiful song.  Growing closer and closer to the source, James spotted the singer of the song. It was none other then Jessie.

          James held out his arms and embraced her, and she surprisingly hugged back. Even though she stopped singing, the music continued.

          How good it felt to feel the warmth of her in his arms. James closed his eyes as she whispered something in his ear.

          “I love you James,” She said with her sweet voice, “I always will.”

          Tears of joy poured from his eyes and he pulled her closer.

          “Let’s dance James,” She said, “Over the water.”

          And they did. James pulled her onto the shore and stepped onto the water like it was a beautiful glass plain.

          The world began to dim and he heard Jessie whisper once again into his ear, “I love you James. I always will.”

        To Be Continued….