Upon Reflection
by Ian Curtress
She rubbed the sleep from
her smiling eyes and lazily propped pillows into
a sitting position
No cause to rush this morning, an easy weekend
ahead.
That was no ordinary dream, remarkable, but a
little disturbing. Every detail was quite vivid
and caused her to become a little disoriented .
Firstly the cottage. A perfect calendar picture,
isolated and yet surrounded by friendliness.
No other occupants but others were “there”.
Not seen but “there”
She, did not cook the delicious breakfast placed
ready on the spotless chequered tablecloth.
Did not think it strange at the time nor was she
surprised when answering the tap on the door and
a soft reliable voice said, we will do the caves
today.
She could still hear that voice but could put no
picture from whence it came.
The path to the sands was narrow and a little
difficult in parts but she felt strong hands
giving security.
It was a tiny cove and the sand seemed very fine
and warm. She sat on a smooth rock to enjoy a sea
more blue than she had ever seen. No thoughts
about her unseen guide.
It all seemed natural enough.
Details vivid, squeezing the sand between her
toes, picking up an unusual shell.
It was like a large cockle shell, pristine and
when opened it had the most radiant Mother of
Pearl lining. She put it safely in the large
fancy pockets of her sunshine yellow dress.
She felt a reassuring hand take her arm and walk
her to the end of the cove where the sea was
shallow.
Why did she not see to whom that hand belonged?
All seemed so natural.
The water was indeed shallow and they strolled in
its welcome warmth for a very short distance to
the hidden entrance to a cave.
She now realised she was alone but not concerned,
the cave seemed a happy place with the wind
making music as it squeezed through the ageless
cracks in the rock.
She made her way to the end of the cave where it
became strewn with boulders, stopping to move
some of the smaller ones.
It was while doing this she saw what looked like
a large piece of driftwood.
Upon closer examination it appeared to be the
remains of a box or chest.
After tugging at the edge excitedly it crumbled
into lumps of now rotted wood which exposed an
old cracked mirror.
Carefully lifting it out she was surprised to see
except for the crack it was in reasonable
condition.
She wiped the surface with the corner of her
dress and held it up peering expectantly.
There was no reflection! She moved it around but
was unable to see her reflection
Suddenly she felt uncomfortable noticing she
could clearly see the cave walls behind her, but
could not see herself.
Her pillows moved and feeling a little
apprehensive she gathered her thoughts and
started to get dressed.
Her lovely yellow dress was hanging behind the
door, that dirty mark on her dress could have
happened anywhere she told herself, I’ll
wash it and all will be forgotten.
As she shook the dress putting it in the linen
basket something dropped to the floor.
A lovely large cockle shaped shell.
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