Sheridan stood with her back leaning against the door jam waiting for the sun to rise up out of the sea as it did every morning. But no other morning was like this particular morning. No other morning held the promise of this particular morning and she greeted it with great anticipation. She wore a azure blue silk gown and matching robe. The robe fell open the tie in disuse. She stood there in bare feet drinking a mug of fresh brewed coffee as she waited. The sky now far off at the horizon holding just the slightest hint of brightness. The night before had been stormy but the day seemed to hold a promise of clear and sunny weather.
Before he touched her or spoke she knew he was there. They had shared this connection for who knew how long. It was there as long as she could remember....even when she didn't want to acknowledge it, it was there. Now what was once scorned was accepted, welcomed, savored, treasured, loved. He came up behind her and slipped his arm around her waist, reveling in the feel of the silk, the feel of her. He nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck taking a deep inhalation of her scent. She leaned back into his hard body.
" Morning Sweetheart", he mumbled into her neck his breath causing shivers to traverse down her spine. She dragged her eyes from the horizon and turned abruptly in his arm and kissed him full on the mouth, her lips parted in anticipation.
" Careful! I've got hot stuff here," he warned referring to the mug of steaming coffee he held in his left hand.
" I know", she cooed in his ear as she retreated from the kiss.
" I meant the coffee," he volunteered.
" I wasn't referring to the coffee", she gave a demure smile," but that will have to wait until later. Right now I want to watch the sunrise with my wonderful husband."
" And I want to watch the sunrise with my beautiful wife," he said gently turning her and snuggling her back into his body once again.
The sky was now painted with shades of crimson and rose, orange and gold.
It was a spectacular sight. They stood in silence a few minutes as the light became brighter allowing them to see the blanket of fog hanging just above the docile heads of the wildflowers in the nearby field. This was a gift for her from him. She had come home from shopping to find him on the the old green tractor tilling up the field. She had asked him what he was planting but he would not tell. It was a surprise he'd said. She would have to be patient...something that was extremely hard for her, and see what came up.
And come up they did! Lupine, and daisy, black-eyed susan and cornflower, poppies and Queen Anne's lace the field was a riot of color. The fog reflected the golden glow from the sky. The view to the north was breathtaking.
The sea down below them was tranquil, the breaking waves making nary a sound. In the distant wood an owl called. The peeps of the crickets setting the rhythm for the new day. As they gazed east over the sea the bright aureole grew, alluding to the magnificent orb yet to come The rays streaked across the sky touching the few small puffy clouds with a pink blush.
He looked lovingly down at her, her glowing face reflecting the color back to the sky. His breath caught in his throat as he thought he'd never seen her look more beautiful then she did standing there barefoot, sans makeup, blonde curls tousled. He tightened his grip around her waist in appreciation and a soft moan , and then a sigh escaped her lips as her back pressed against his body. For all intents and purposes they were one............ body.... mind...... and soul.
The sun continued it's ascent and when it was fully visible above the sea he kissed her ear whispering, " Coming in?"
" Not quite yet," her answer.
He laughed quietly as if to himself knowing she wouldn't be ready to abandon her perch just yet. " Would you like some more coffee?" he queried, slipping his arm from her waist and placing a kiss in her hair.
" Nnnnn", she hummed her hand reaching for his as he moved into the foyer of the house. Their hands touched an instant and then he was fully in the house sending an air kiss as he moved toward the kitchen. She continued to gaze out to sea watching a dot on the horizon that would much later prove to be a ship.
She heard the click, click click of Buddy's nails on the polished hardwood floor and knew he was following Luis to the kitchen for his breakfast, and then the two would be off for their run a mile down the drive to the mailbox to fetch the morning paper. Somehow Buddy had a sixth sense knowing when Luis had a day off and they could go for their run to the highway and back. The ritual did not end there. Once back at the house the pair would head straight to the bedroom where both would spread out on the bed. Luis to peruse his paper and sip coffee, Buddy to doze.
Sheridan continued to watch the sky and sea marveling at the changing colors. She intermittently sipped her coffee the steam rising from the mug into the crisp air of the early morning. The slamming of the backdoor snapped her out of her reverie like a gunshot. She jumped, then turned and watched Luis clad only in black shorts jog down the drive with Buddy close on his heels. The sight gave her a chill. She took a long sip of her coffee to warm her insides and turned back to the changing sky and sea. It was then she heard it, ever so faintly being carried up the cliff from the beach below on the slight ocean breeze. She lowered the cup from her lips and narrowed her eyes straining to hear, to hear it again. Was it real or imagined, she wondered.
A stone statue would not have been more still than Sheridan was at that moment as she focused all her concentration to hear the sound again. And it did come to her. Her eyes scanned the edge of the cliff ahead of her. Only grasses swaying gently in the breeze met her gaze. Where were they? Where were those sounds coming from? The beach....down below the cliff? She wondered. That had to be the answer. She moved across the porch, placed her cup on the table there by the swing swiftly heading for the few steps to the yard and beyond that the cliff's edge. Once her bare foot touched the brick path leading through the yard from the front door she realized she had no shoes on but she was not deterred.
Now the sounds were becoming louder wafting to her on the wind as it hit the face of the cliff and was driven upward. Reaching the end of the brick pathway she turned left heading north on the dirt path that lead along the top of the cliff to where the up rise gentled and gave way to a slight knoll that when traversed landed one on the beach. Her strides were swift and sure as she headed in the direction of the beach. Her beach...their beach. What were they doing on her beach? Swimming? Who was watching them? Didn't they know it was dangerous? Rip currents! Where did they come from? How did they get there? The water was too cold!
As the questions ran through her mind her feet picked up the pace and she settled in to an easy jog covering the several meters seemingly effortlessly. When she got to the two large boulders placed like sentries eons ago by an angry sea on either side of the path she came to an abrupt halt. Her feet temporarily loosing their grip on the loose sand causing her to reach for one of the stones to steady herself. Her eyes went right directly to the figure on the beach. There stood a figure that could be a copy, of someone who could be herself as a child. The girl looked to be four or so. She had long blonde curls caught up loosely in a too long blue ribbon, the ends of which danced in the breeze.
She wore a long white sheer summer dress, blue forget-me-nots embroidered on the bodice. She carried a basket and seemed to be gathering seashells along the beach and putting them in the basket. The fog still lay in puffs along the base of the cliff and even out onto the calm water in places. Sheridan stood mesmerized and watched as the little girl danced with the waves stooping occasionally to rescue a shell from the gentle waves. But where were the others? She wondered. She had heard laughing and several childlike voices. Where were they? Then out of a wisp of fog they appeared several other children lead by a boy of five or so who could be a copy of Luis as a child.
He skipped over to the little girl and whispered close to her ear. Sheridan straining to hear stepped closer past the boulder and onto the beach. She said nothing, made no noise a look of wonder on her face. The little girl turned to face Sheridan across the beach as did the boy and the other children, their eyes danced with merriment as they stared at Sheridan. In that instant is was as if time had stopped and they were no longer held by earthly bonds. In that place their souls met and instinctively knew one another.
" Sheridan!"
She continued to hold their gaze not wanting to loose the connection. Not wanting to loose them. She had lost too many children. Unborn. Ruptured etopic pregnancy, miscarriages, dashed hopes, unkept promises.
" Sheridan, where are you honey?"
Who was that? She knew that voice. Luis back from his run. He was at the head of the path now coming to her. She could hear his confident strides as he descended the path to the twin boulders. She turned just an instant to greet him with her eyes.
" There on the beach," she put on a breath turning to point lest he miss them in the haze.
In that instant they were gone. He was with her now on the beach. " Did you see them?" she asked her eyes pleading with him to answer in the affirmative. Before he could form an answer on his lips she saw it. Like quicksilver she ran down the beach to where the little girl had stood, there in her stead was a large golden conch shell. She reached down with both hands and retrieved it from the reclamation efforts of the retreating wave. The shell was very large and perfect and glowed golden in the sun. Sheridan instinctively raised the shell to her ear. She intently listened. Unshed tears pooled in her eyes and threatened to overflow, did she hear ...No. It couldn't be!
She looked out to the shinning sun and glistening sea for reassurance and raised the shell to her ear once again. There it was again. Not the ocean, but the children's voices " Mommy". She couldn't tear the shell from her ear the voices in the shell hypnotized her. As she stood there the wisps of cloud played in the slight wind and before she knew it she was engulfed in the fog. Where had Luis gone? She wanted to share this her prized magical shell with him. He was here a moment ago, wasn't he? The fog, she was disoriented. There are the sentry rocks now she could see the path. Stealing one last look behind her to the deserted beach she climbed the path to the house retracing her earlier route at a
much more leisurely pace.
The front door stood open as she had left it ages ago so it seemed. The house was quiet. She walked to the bedroom and spied there on their bed Luis sound asleep with the newspaper covering his bare chest haphazardly, at his feet Buddy lay curled in a tight circle Their chests rose and fell in a syncopated rhythm of their own making. The two, man and dog looked so peaceful lying there she decided not to disturb them.
She quietly stole to her side of the bed and reclined placing her head on the pillow and the shell on her abdomen for lack of a better place to keep her prize safe. She never allowed her hand to loose contact with her prize. Once her head touched the pillow and she was confident her prize was safe she drifted off into a refreshing, restful slumber,
Ugh! What was that bright light. The sunlight kissed her eyelids open as Luis kissed her cheek.
" Hey sleepy head.
I thought I was the only one that liked to go back to sleep after watching the sun rise." He leaned in and kissed her again, this time on the forehead, " I've made us brunch........while you were sleeping," he added as he moved off the bed and out the door.
He was gone on his way to the kitchen. She lay there willing herself to come fully awake and her mind to focus on the events of earlier that morning. Her hands started moving around the bedcovers blindly searching. Searching for the shell. Her shell. Her prize. Her connection to them. The children. Her children. Now she was awake. Where did it go? Not here. She knelt on the floor and raised the pristine white bedskirt searching. Still it was not found. One more thorough search of the bed and its coverings. Nothing.
" Luis," she was on the move toward the hall on the verge of becoming frantic. Her eyes searching every conceivable hiding place as she moved through the house. Nothing. Where was it? "Luis?" she approached him in the livingroom. He turned to face her with his back to the mantel above which hung the most extraordinary portrait of Katherine Crane , Sheridan's mother. The painting was a self portrait done just before Sheridan was born. Katherine was sitting on the front steps of this very house, for indeed it had served as her studio The pleasant looking woman in a simple blue dress wore a Mona Lisa smile as her eyes gazed out to the distant horizon. But that was not the extraordinary part, that was the eyes.
For if one looked closely into the beautiful blue eyes you could see her daughter reflected there, a beautiful blonde child.
"Luis?" Sheridan said just as her eyes spied something on the mantel over his shoulder. He looked at her questioningly as she stepped around him and went directly to the mantel. " Here it is! " she said. " I have been looking all over the place for this!"she splayed her fingers across the bulb of the large shell.
"OH! I put it there a few days ago after I found it on our beach, " he said matter of factly. She turned to face him, her look incredulous. Gesturing toward the picture he added, " After all it looks like that exact shell in the painting with your mother." She spun around to face the picture, her look never changing. How could she have missed that? She'd looked at this painting hundreds of times. There sitting on her mother's lap in the folds of the blue material of her dress was a shimmering golden conch shell. Was it the same shell? Did she find it on the beach? Did Sheridan find it on the beach....or did Luis find it? The questions flashed through her mind, but the one she asked was, "Did you listen to it?"
He gave her one of his beautiful though somewhat crooked smiles , " Yeah" he whispered.
" And?" she prodded.
" That was funny, " he laughed to himself stepping to the mantelpiece, picking up the shell and placing it to his ear as if to reaffirm for himself what he heard. " I've never heard a shell that sounds like children's voices saying daddy before. I thought you always heard the sea in a shell, as a reminder of where the shell came from?"
Sheridan's mouth was agape, after several unsuccessful attempts to speak she closed it, her eyes remaining wide with wonder. Luis set the shell back on the mantle below the picture. Turning he grasped her hand firmly in his and lead her to the kitchen for their brunch.
Eventually Sheridan did regain her voice and told of her exploits of that morning. Was it a dream? Was it a reality? Well the shell certainly was and is, as it sits on the mantel to this day under the portrait of her mother. And both of them love to tell the story of the shell that foretold of their arrival to their children, and now to their grandchildren.
The End