Ignis Fatuus

ig·nis fat·u·us : Something that misleads or deludes; an illusion.

And so it was, that after the months of seeing her standing by the docks waiting, she vanished from sight for a fortnight. The terrible storm that had dashed the handsome ship The Star Fall onto the rocks, taking with it all her hopes and dreams had come and gone and left behind it a trail of tears.

She did not appear when the recovered men were laid to rest at the edge of town in the sailor's graveyard.

She did not appear when a candlelight vigil was held to pray for their souls.

During the driving rains that followed, only the blind fish merchant heard the soft footsteps on the cobbled streets night after night making their way to the edge of town. Only that old man, whose sight had been replaced by a keen sense of smell and hearing knew the truth.

He did not speak a word as he overheard the whispers and the hushed tones of the villagers as they pondered why it seemed that beasts had begun to disturb the graveyard. Was it an omen? Was it a portent of evil? They questioned over and over.

The villagers were sure that she had lost her tenuous hold on the world when they finally saw her, in a dress of black lace, striding purposefully to the shore carrying something in her arms.

"It truly doesn't matter what they think!" she was heard to exclaim as she tenderly, lovingly held aloft what looked to all the world like a human skull.

"You and I know the truth, the ocean's price has been paid and she shall never take from us again!"

The old blind fish merchant shuffled past, echoes of the dead mingling with the murmurs of the living.

"Never again!" came a reply, from a voice soft and far away, a voice that had been stilled by the ravaging waves.

Was it an omen? Was it a portent of evil?

No, thought the old man to himself, deep inside his heart. It is love.
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With loving thanks to:

~flordelys-stock | ~Dreamer-n-me | ~slyfoxxy