The Enchantress of the sea

CHAPTER 3

The following morning I woke up before the whole family, when the golden blush of the sky that opened its infinity to the doors of a new day, forced me to open my eyes, entering with all its strength from the living room window.

The room had cooled down after the fireplace was turned off, where there were only fragments of wood left in the ash, but the warm color brought by the awakening of nature made me happy.

I took the last white sheet that I had left and after tearing off a piece, I wrote a phase all for her, with the hope that she would like it.

Your fairy eyes

illuminate a day obscured by the storm,

enchanted sea in which it is sweet to shipwreck.

I put it in my pants pocket and at that moment Russine got up and, with a cheerful "good morning", accompanied me to the bathroom and immediately afterwards went to prepare my breakfast.

Her husband also deigned to ask me how I was and I greatly appreciated his interest.

Russine prepared me a hearty breakfast with eggs, sliced bacon and toasted bread, which I devoured in a few minutes.

I had just finished eating when Ari got up, greeting me cheerfully.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked, with a sweet smile.

"Yes thanks, and you?"

"Me too."

I noticed that she had a history book in her hand. She placed it on the table to take the empty tray and take it to the kitchen. I took the opportunity to put the ticket inside the book. It was a book with a cover without illustrations, half white and the other half blue. The title was Recent History. Without leafing through it, I quickly opened it on a random page and put the ticket down. I made it just in time for Melody to join the family after kissing me on the cheek.

The two sisters got ready and went out together, wishing me a good day.

Only Russine remained at home, who devoted herself to cleaning, completely overturning the house: all morning she moved tables and rugs, polishing the floors. The vacuum cleaner tortured my eardrums for a good hour, during which I could not concentrate on anything.

When she was done, she warned me that she would go out for a while and so I was alone again in the silence of the house. I turned on the TV to hear the latest news and was shocked by what a journalist said, this time in her forties. The face was framed by a smooth coppery helmet and the expression on the face suited the type of news he was announcing.

"Three fishermen fell into the water while out on their fishing boat off Dingle Bay." I turned up the volume to understand better.

"The causes of the incident are still unknown, as there are no disturbances that could have stirred the sea and, consequently, caused such a tragedy." She cleared her throat.

“Only two were found on the beach, brought back by the current. Their identity is still being investigated, as their face is not very recognizable due to the advanced state of decomposition, but, obviously, we will keep you updated. " With a smile he then launched the weather forecast.

I could not help hearing the words of the journalist in my ears, bringing back the usual ghosts that had gone away only for a few hours.

When Russine came home, I gave her the news of what had happened. The woman raised her hand to her mouth, sincerely sorry.

"Oh my God," he exclaimed. "is it supposed to know who they were?"

"Not yet, because they struggle to recognize them, but the strange thing is the abnormal dynamic, as it is not clear how it happened." I explained them.

"Maybe they were inexperienced and careless." She thought and, changing the subject, told me that she had gone to buy crutches, so I could get up as I wanted. He opened the door and took them inside to show them to me.

"They are non-slip, made of light aluminum and resistant material." "I don't know what to say: thank you." I said, moved. They were perfect: axillary and anatomically shaped handle.

"No problem at all, I certainly could not always leave you on that sofa, you risk going crazy ..." She asserted, smiling. "At least so you can move around for small things and sit at the table."

It did not seem true to me that I could finally get up to my liking, after leaving the mold of my ass on that sofa that was starting to become a prison.

I immediately tried them, resting them in my armpits and started taking steps. I had to admit that it was much better: the weight was all on the tips and I was able, in small, hops, to go on.

Next to the sideboard there was an oval mirror framed by golden swirls, wavy and twisted like snakes. When I passed by, I saw my reflected image, I stopped to look at it. It had not happened to me for a few days and what I saw reflected in it was the face of a man with a blond beard that was still short. A man who had escaped the black lady with the scythe and who I still could not detest. I noticed that I had rebel tufts raised on the sides and behind, I tried to lower them, but failing to do so, I left alone.

I caught up with Russine in the kitchen, happy to finally be able to see somewhere else in the house.

The kitchen was not very large, approximately three meters long. I looked at the walls covered with beads, while the floor had rectangular and gray tiles.

In the center there was an oval oak table with four chairs. To the west was a steel sink embedded in a cherry wood sideboard that had three doors above and three below. The refrigerator was on the opposite side, silvered and separated from the rest of the kitchen.

"You have a beautiful home." I asserted, pleased.

"Oh well, my husband designed it and, in fact, I love it." Said the woman, grinning.

It was the photographs hanging on the refrigerator that attracted my attention. The first one was hung with a dolphin-shaped magnet and depicted Russine and Yagor sitting on a meadow, cross-legged and close enough to touch and in the middle, on their legs, they held the little Pearl, recognizable by its unique eyes. In that photo, the little girl must have been about a year old and had a broad smile. In the next photo, under the first and held by a ladybug magnet, Russine was holding Ari, who I must have been around four or five years old. The little girl already had flowing hair and the rebellious curls caressed her face, while she clutched her mother around her neck.

Beauty grew with her, while parents seemed to have not changed over the years. With the edge under this last photo and held by the same magnet, there was another one by Ari and Melody sitting on the sofa. Ari was at the beginning of his adolescence, as he allowed to glimpse the increasingly slender body and the first forms, while his sister, a few years younger, rested her head on his shoulder.

"And yours is truly a wonderful family."

"Yes, it is and we are above all very proud of our girls."

I glanced sideways at the square and black clock hanging above the door: it was ten o'clock and smiled at the idea that at that hour Ari must have found my ticket.

Who knows if she will have liked it and who knows if she will talk about it when I see her again.

It was the first time that a poem came spontaneously to me and since the evening before I could not help thinking about her splendid face and freshness.

I didn't know how those sentences came out; I just wrote an emotion straight away, as you usually do when you write certain things, aroused by something or someone special. Until then I had never explored the word "love" to the end and I didn't know how far I was, but I felt that his absence, after that magnificent evening, created a void inside me.

"And now what do you think you will do as soon as you are healed and you can leave?" Russine asked me, as she took the bag brought home with the crutches, from which she took out a bag of fresh prawns which she began to wash and shell.

"Well, I don't know what I will do with my life, nor where I will go or when, but certainly what happened has changed my point of view on many things ..." I explained, "First of all the priorities that must be in life and then, however, there will remain a wound that will never heal ... ".

"Ari mentioned me about your friend and I'm sorry for what you have witnessed, but life goes on and you just have to give your best, always and in any case ..." He said frowning and chin in a compassionate expression.

"You know, I find much of my mother's character in you."

She tightened her lips, moved. "Address me informally please, and then ..." She said wiping her hands with a cloth. "Do I really look like your mother?"

"Yes, the same sweetness and thoughtfulness".

"And where is your mother now?" With patience and meticulousness, he removed all the pieces of transparent shell that covered the pink pulp.

"Ah, she got sick a few years ago and died ...".

"Honey, I'm sorry ..." She added softly. "Life didn't give you much, huh?"

"I would say no, since my father doesn't care much about me either." I realized that I was feeling sorry for myself and so, I immediately reacted to abandon that melancholy.

"In any case, I will definitely work to achieve myself."

"Well done, you’re right."

"You are so kind, yet your husband doesn’t tolerate my presence here much."

"Yagor?" She asked with a grin. "Do not be fooled by his grumpy character, he is a good man, only overprotective towards what is most dear to him, such as his daughters and his home".

"Does he see me as a threat by chance?"

"Not really a threat, but more like a disturbance." She replied. "Just know him and then you understand how to take it the right way."

Thinking that I had already disturbed her too much, I motioned to her that I wanted to go back to the living room, where I sat down again on the sofa to rest.

It was then that I heard the front door open and immediately afterwards, I saw a ray of sunshine enter, accompanied by its precious gems.

"Hi Ari!" I greeted her with a mischievous smile.

"Hi!" She exclaimed, but I noticed a different mood than the morning, more serious. When he designed the crutches, he simply said a little unfriendly: "Well, now you can get up!"

"Yeah, your mom was very kind."

To my disappointment, she made no mention of the poem she found, but merely picked up the crutches and looked at them.

"Are you all right at school?"

"Yes, apart from the history assignment, two hours of literature and two of mathematics".

I jumped to the kitchen again and sat down with my back to the refrigerator. I continued to observe Ari out of the corner of my eye, who sat in front of me, keeping my eyes down. His mood swings, now friendly, now detached, displaced me. I didn't know how to take it. At that moment she seemed completely different from the girl who had chatted with me the night before: she was no longer talkative, nice and cheerful. Instead I saw her pouting, worried and shy as the first time I spoke to her. There were two things: either she was crazy or I had been too intrusive and had misinterpreted her approach the night before.

Maybe she didn't like my poem. That thought was interrupted by the ringing voice of Melody, who had just arrived.

"Here you are, honey." Her mother welcomed her.

"So you sit down with us today?" She asked me.

"Yes, now with crutches I can get up and take a few steps".

 "Fantastic, so today I want to take you out!"

"Melody, what are you saying?" Russine asked, troubled.

"But mum, he's been locked up here for three days and as long as there is some sunburst it's right that he should enjoy it." Melody pressed.

"But he can't walk much." Her mother pointed out.

As the two argued, I glanced at Ari again and noticed that she too was giving me some fugitive glances, trying to avoid meeting my gaze.

"Ari takes us with her car, she will supervise!" She followed the girl, frowning and bending her lips in an expression of supplication.

"No, sorry, but I have a Shakespeare literature essay to write for tomorrow!" The sister opposed, showing the palms of her hands.

"Come on, you're always on the books!" Melody pointed out to her. "And then we’ll show some Dingle to Bryan, won't we?"

Since I was the person involved, I intervened.

"I would like to take a breath of fresh air and also, Ari, I can give you some tips on the essay."

"Really?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

Russine looked at us puzzled, not knowing what decision to make.

Sigh. "Okay, I'll let you out for a couple of hours, but come back before it gets dark and you two will start doing your homework before dinner."

Melody cheered applauding, like a little girl who is no longer in the skin with contentment.

"And please, don't be foolish, ok?" She recommended herself in a peremptory tone.  She prepared a salad for lunch with the fish he bought and we ate in silence. Yagor, however, did not return home.

After lunch, I was finally able to get out of that house and enjoy the outdoors a little. Ari went to pick up her car in the garage next door and arrived aboard a bright red Rover, which was burning in the light of day. Happy with that unscheduled afternoon, I sat on the back seats, dragging my legs and crutches inside.

As soon as Melody sat down in front of her, Ari took a throttle and left.

"So, do you have an idea where to go?" Ari asked. "In the center?"

 "No, to the beach." Melody replied, chuckling. "It’s much more beautiful".

Ari turned abruptly towards her, almost glaring at her. That sort of silent reproach did not escape me.

"Look, we're just going to sit on the beach and nothing else."

The sister sighed and entered the lane, while the questions that arose inside me made my head spin.