It was very early in the morning the first time I saw her. I had gotten off from work at the newspaper, a story had run late about some drunk grandmother in her underwear on a building rooftop. The cops thought she was trying to commit suicide- in reality she was watching for UFO's. What can you expect in a small, Central Florida town of eighty thousand people of which ninety-five percent were past retirement heading for a hole in the ground?Sunrise
I couldn't get her off of my mind. I began stopping
in the restaurant to see if she was in. To drive through the
parking lot. Waiting for hours in hopes to see her again.
Twice I saw her. But it was never 'appropriate' to introduce myself.
Always afterwards, I bitterly kicked myself for my cowardice.
Then one night I was sitting- gloomily staring at the
menu- when a shadow fell across my table. I looked up to tell
the waitress I would be a few, to look into the eyes of the one.
She stood before me in all splendor, her green eyes piercing my soul.
"Hello,' She said. 'I've seen you here a few times.
I thought, perhaps, we might meet. I really do hate eating
alone..."
From there it went from a few hours that we met to many. We began meeting more often always late at night or very early in the morning. We walked in the park in the dark, holding hands. Late movies where we were often the only ones. She and I shared and held hands and spoke of dreams. We kissed but never any more. She seemed to have a reluctance to our relationship. I was careful. Never pushed. Finally, after many months, she invited me to her home.
It was in the older part of the town. Where the very wealthy or ones who's family lines went back to the beginning of the town, all lived. Her house was an old, victorian, two-story house with gabled roofs and a widows peak. The perfect setting for a scary movie. She told me the house had been hers for generations. That she had 'old money' but that she was lonely because she didn't trust many people because of her wealth. I held her hands, not speaking. Hoping she realized I had fallen in love despite or inspite of her money or lack.
I whispered my love to her. She looked at me and smiled, then led me to her bedroom.
We undressed in the half-light of a candle. Rolled
into the large bed together. Sharing each other. Feeling all
we had to give.
I felt her tremble against me and heard an hiss escape from her lips.
She asked if I wanted to be with her.
I answered for eternity. She smiled, but something had changed in her eyes. Almost like tears. Joy or sadness?
She was on top of me. Her hips pressing down on mine. Her long hair flowing over my face. She pressed her face into my neck. I felt a sharp sting as her tiny pointed teeth punctured my skin. Felt a warmth filling me. A darkness over-shadowing my mind.
She and I have been together for forty years now.
We have an eternity. Our love grows stronger with each night.
We share and we hunt together. Acting as partners.
After a long night, we sit, arm-in-arm together to watch the colors come
into the morning sky. Before the sun gets too high that it
will destroy us and what we share.
Before Sunrise.