Double Drabble: Waiting

[honorat]

by Honorat Selonnet

Rating: G

A double drabble for the "Aches" challenge at Black Pearl Sails.

A cameo appearance by Will's mother. I couldn't resist the literal
meaning of the name Marguerite.

Exactly 200 words--"aches" appears in each half so it really could be
two drabbles, right?



She never knows when she will hear his steps on the threshold. Never knows when she will come home into the crush of his arms. When she will hear the broken murmur of his prayer lost in the tangle of her hair: Oh God! Marguerite! My Pearl! Forgive!

She always forgives. For a breath of time she knows happiness so deep it aches. In that moment, her body resurrects the memory of what it means to be this man’s wife. Reminds her why she waits for him, watering the parchment of his rare letters with rainy eyes until they are limp and soft as silk.

But he has another Pearl, who hangs over her joy like a sword. She knows that he will always leave her—will fly to his other darker lady out on the midnight sea. All her days, she knows grief so deep it aches.

As she stands on the dock with their small son’s hand clutching hers, she does not let him see the tears she will shed when the sails have gone down the horizon. The love and the hate lie side by side in her heart with the blade of a sword between.

Comments

[hereswith.livejournal.com]

This is very good, I really like the imagery and it's a poignant theme. Being a sailor's wife, so often left behind, must be difficult. My favorite phrases: In that moment, her body resurrects the memory of what it means to be this man’s wife. Reminds her why she waits for him, watering the parchment of his rare letters with rainy eyes until they are limp and soft as silk.

All her days, she knows grief so deep it aches.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you for letting me know which things you liked. Will's family seems such a sad one. The separation and loss and loneliness of all concerned really wrings the heart. All these things go into making Will that reserved cautious conscientious young man that he is when the movie starts. I'm glad you liked my picture of Will's mother.

[jenthegypsy.livejournal.com]

She never knows when she will hear his steps on the threshold. Never knows when she will come home into the crush of his arms.

So telling of one who loves a man whose mistress is the sea. A lovely, though rightfully sad, look at the broken heart of Mrs. Turner.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

She is a fascinating absent character in the movie. The fact that Will has so much respect for his father who has, for all he knows, abandoned his family, says a lot about the kind of woman his mother must have been. She was certainly given one of the hard lots in life.