The Blurring

by Angela Peach

  In this way, we could both work from home, and not have to stray any further than a couple of hundred yards from each other at any one time.

  As the years passed, we got a reputation for being the happiest, most content couple the town had ever come across, and everyone always asked us what our secret was! We never argued, were always smiling and happy, and seemed to know exactly what the other was thinking or feeling or about to say! Our answer was always the same:

  That we were soulmates who’d been lucky enough to find each other and could spend the rest of our lives together. Who wouldn’t be perfectly happy with that??

  When Sophie and Ellie left school, they both attended decent Universities and left with respectable degrees before returning home to Blirristope. Ellie became a vet at the local veterinarians in town, while Sophie got a job at the local school teaching mathematics and English.

  At twenty two, Ellie married a lad named Tom who was a musician in a band. Three and a half years later, Sophie married a French teacher she worked with who was named, to my delight, Alice.

  It seemed to come as no surprise that when Sophie and Alice became pregnant on their second try at IVF, Ellie and Tom also announced they had a baby on the way! Our grandsons, Robbie and Lukas, were born on the same day-again, this was not a big shock!

  Spencer and I watched our family grow up with an enormous sense of pride as the years flew by. They all had good hearts and kind eyes, attracting people with their compassion and love.

  Robbie showed a strong desire to help Spencer out with her therapies, and when the time came for her to retire, he took over the business. He had a natural empathy with people that he must surely have inherited down the line from her!

  Lukas, on the other hand, played guitar and sang in the local and surrounding clubs, and worked the fire department in his spare time (Blirristope rarely had fires!) He also released an album that was relatively popular, and did a small tour of Canada before deciding to settle down with his childhood sweetheart and have their first child. Our first great grandchild was named Tristen Spencer Le Saux! This was a shock to us, as we’d never told any of them our real names!

  One wonderfully peaceful day, Spencer and I were sat on our porch holding hands. As the sun started to set, I looked over at her. The golden colours from the sky lit up her face and I felt the breath catch in my throat, even now, all these years on.

  “Spence?”

  “Yes sweetie?”

  “What was it that I whispered to you when you hypnotised me?” I asked curiously. She smiled, but it was such a sad smile, I almost regretted asking.

  “Oh yes. I wondered if you’d ever ask me about that again. Do you really want to know?” she cocked her head to one side as she asked, and I simply nodded. My mouth had suddenly gone dry. Spencer nodded back at me, then turned her attention back to the sunset.

  “I suppose it doesn’t matter much anymore. Whether you know or not” she said quietly, then paused for so long, I thought she wasn’t going to say anything. But then she drew in a long breath. “You said that you’d made me love you. So that you wouldn’t be alone. That was all.”

  They were simple words, but the impact was enormous. I suddenly understood why she’d been so reluctant to tell me now! She knew I’d have felt so guilty about making her love me, that it wasn’t a natural love, that I’d have pushed her away and rejected her. Reading my thoughts as always, she continued.

  “But by then, I didn’t care if you’d made me love you or not. I was so in love with you I couldn’t bear not to be with you! I reasoned that you must have been completely in love with me, or you wouldn’t have made me love you, and I was happy with things being that way so I didn’t say anything. And when Pam told me not to say anything, it confirmed what I suspected-that you’d feel so guilty about making me love you, you’d probably make me not love you! And I didn’t want to lose you, so I kept it from you, even when you pushed me for the truth.”

  I thought about this as we swung on the porch in our old swing.

  “You were right not to tell me. Thank you.”

  “Come on. Let’s go inside out of the chill. We can snuggle up in bed and have an early night” she said, holding out her hand to me.

  “An early night? Sounds perfect!” I said, struggling to my feet.

  I think somewhere deep inside, we both knew.

  We cuddled up in bed together and for the first time in seventy six years since the accident, my tinnitus disappeared! In the beautiful silence of the night, we went to sleep smiling.

  When our bodies were found the next day, we were both still wearing our smiles.

  CHAPTER 21

  EPILOGUE

  Charlotte looked down for the first time at the cup in her hands. She frowned, wondering when the contents had gone cold and even whether or not she’d wanted it in the first place.

  Sighing, she flexed her stiff fingers and sat back in the chair, wincing as her back cracked. Her shift had ended nearly two hours ago, but she couldn’t go home yet. Not until she’d seen Reb.

  Charlie felt a flush rise up on her cheeks just from the thought of seeing her, even if it was going to be the last time. She took a long, unsteady breath to try and calm herself down. Her nerves were already frazzled enough, especially after what had happened earlier.

  “Charlie?”

  She snapped out of her thoughts, spinning her neck round way too fast to see her. Her long dark curls were hanging down around her shoulders and she looked perfect, like she was on her way to a photo shoot or something. Charlie gazed deep into her dark brown eyes, trying to breathe.

  “Hey! Thanks for coming!” she gushed, standing awkwardly to embrace her. As they hugged, she tried not to lose herself in Reb’s hair and perfume. She felt a hot ripple of pleasure rush through her at the closeness of their bodies, the warm breath on her neck.

  “Shouldn’t you be at home? I thought your shift finished at three?” she said, and Charlie reluctantly pulled away to look at her. Tucking some stray blonde hairs behind her ears in a stupid (and far too late) attempt to tidy herself up, she sat back down in the hospital canteen chair. She knew she looked a mess. Her blue eyes were bloodshot and sore from crying, and she felt grubby and dishevelled. She tried to ignore how beautiful Reb looked in her (tight) simple white t shirt and (tight) blue jeans.

  ‘Jesus, she smells good too’ she thought, certain her pupils were dilating each time her perfume came her way.

  “I wanted to see you before I went home. How are you?”

  Reb’s eyes narrowed at the idle chit chat and she sat down next to Charlie resignedly.

  “It’s not good news, is it?”

  “No. I’m sorry. Oh god, I’m so sorry. I…I wanted to be the one who told you” Charlie looked down at the stupid damned cup she’d been nursing for the last few hours, trying to hide the tears that had sprung into her eyes. When she felt Reb’s warm hands take hers, she looked up in surprise.

  “When did it…what…was she in any pain?” she choked out the words as tears rolled out of her eyes. Charlie desperately wanted to kiss them away, to take her into her arms and tell her she’d look after her and that everything was going to be ok. Instead, she shook her head and smiled weakly.

  “She wasn’t in any pain. Her heart just stopped.”

  Now her own tears were falling, although for more reasons than one. She knew that this would be the last time she was going to see the woman she’d spent the last few months falling in love with. Before she could raise a hand to wipe away her tears, Reb got there first, her fingers softly tracing down her cheek. She cleared her throat.

  “There was nothing we could do” Charlie managed to say, although her face was sparking crazily from her touch.

  “When you called, I thought…well, it doesn’t matter now. I guess I just hoped it wasn’t to tell me this” Reb muttered, her gaze falling on the untouched coffee in front of them on the table. She wiped her face wearily, echoing how Charlie felt.

&nb
sp; There was a long awkward silence between them, and it suddenly occurred to Charlie that maybe they’d never had anything else in common? Maybe this really was it?

  She suddenly stood up, embarrassed for thinking they could have had a chance, ashamed for ending her four year relationship with Keren on the off-chance.

  “I’d better go. I’ll um, I’ll see you around” she said to the coffee cup, alone and cold on the table, and without waiting for a reply, Charlie practically ran from the hospital cafeteria.

  Reb watched her go, stunned. She couldn’t believe she’d got the wrong signals? She’d been so certain that Charlie had liked her! And last month, when Charlie had told her she’d broken up with her girlfriend of four years, hadn’t there been a look exchanged between them? A look of promise and of hope?

  Then earlier, when she’d got the call from Charlie, a part of her had thought she was finally going to ask her out.

  But she couldn’t get out of here fast enough.

  Her heart sank with the realisation that she no longer had a reason to return back to the hospital-her only excuse to see Charlie was now dead. It was a massive double blow losing them both in one day, and she hadn’t expected it. The doctors had said that she might live for years. Two months was not enough. It was sad. It was heartbreaking. It was all over!

  She glanced at the coffee cup left behind on the table and pulled it into her hands. For some reason, she felt sad for this too.

  “I know how it feels to be unwanted” she muttered to it, then shook her head. She needed to pull herself together. It was time to say goodbye, to let go of the fantasy and go home and mend her heart.

  She stood shakily and looked toward the exit. Maybe saying goodbye wasn’t such a bad idea? She’d got quite attached to her over the last two months, and was actually genuinely upset that she’d passed away.

  So Reb walked down to the ward for the last time, with heavy legs and a heavier heart. The nurse on duty, Tricia, told her she’d already been taken to the morgue, and gave her directions on how to get there. She also passed on her condolences.

  Confused, heart-broken, and at a complete loss for what she was going to do now she’d lost both of them, Reb made her way slowly down the corridors toward the morgue. These daily hospital visits had become part of her routine now and been something she looked forward to.

  Or had looked forward to.

  She pushed open the doors, feeling colder inside than she did on the outside. Then she stopped in surprise.

  “Charlie? I…I thought you went home?” she exclaimed, her heart lifting like a stupid warm fuzzy balloon! She realised that Charlie had probably come down here to say goodbye too, and had obviously wanted to do so on her own or she would have invited her, but it was good to see her again anyway! As if to confirm this, Charlie jumped guiltily and blushed a deep red.

  “I came down to say goodbye.”

  “Can I join you? Unless you’d rather…”

  “No, sure, that would be fine! Some company would be nice!” Charlie interrupted.

  They waited together while the attendant went to prepare the body to be viewed.

  “I thought she was going to make it. I thought the doctor said he could detect signs of brain activity or something? Like she was dreaming?”

  “That’s normal sometimes. It’s just like REM-the mind can be engaged in very intense dream activity, but they don’t always come back. There was a lot of brain damage from the accident, but the area of her brain that regulates dreams just sort of kicked into hyperdrive. We don’t know why. There’s still a lot we don’t know, or will ever know, about the brain, or the mind.”

  “But she knew when I was there! You said yourself she used to perk up when I arrived! That she…” her words trailed off as the attendant returned and ushered them through.

  They both stared at the body on the table. She felt Charlie take her hand and was grateful for the warmth. There was another long silence, but this time it wasn’t awkward. It was just their way of paying their respects.

  As she gripped Charlie’s hand, she felt her time with her slipping away and her heart rate increased. She stroked her thumb softly across Charlie’s knuckles. After a pause, the move was reciprocated and her breath caught in her throat as a thousand flowers bloomed inside her chest.

  “Would you like to go out for a drink with me?” she suddenly found herself blurting out. “I think I could really do with one.”

  “Yes. I’d love to!”

  “You would?” Reb looked at Charlie in shock, wondering if she had understood what she really meant. She decided to clarify, just in case. “I mean on a date. You know, with me.”

  “I know what you meant! I just can’t believe it took so long for you to ask me!”

  “What? But…you just broke up with…”

  “I broke up with Keren because of how I felt for you. I just wasn’t sure if you liked me back.” She sighed. “It was stupid of me really. I’ve always been a bit shy around girls I liked. I just sort of waited for you to make a move” Charlie admitted.

  “I was giving you some time…to get over Keren!”

  “Well, I’m over her now!”

  “Good! That’s good! I mean, it’s great!”

  Reb looked down at the body again and felt the smile slip from her face.

  “It’s weird. I came down here to say goodbye, but now I wish I could have thanked her. If it wasn’t for her, I’d never have met you.”

  “I know. She looks so peaceful. Almost like she’s smiling.”

  Rebecka Spencer remembered back to that day, two months ago now, when she’d seen that horrific accident and pulled this girl from the wreck. She’d visited her every day, almost feeling responsible for her survival. She’d talked to her, held her hand, told her how she felt about Charlie, about her best friend, Alice and whatever else she could think of. But none of it had worked in the end.

  “Isn’t it strange? Both of us tried to save her life, and she ended up bringing us together.”

  “Maybe we were meant to be? I don’t know-I like to think that everything happens for a reason. It would be nice to think that something positive came from her death.”

  Charlie leaned down and kissed the dead girl’s forehead.

  “Rest in peace Molly Tristen.”

  THE END

  Thank you for taking the time to read “The Blurring”! I hope you enjoyed it! Please also take the time to leave a review on Amazon-this would be gratefully appreciated!

  You can follow me on Twitter @angelapeach1 or like my Facebook page!

  If you liked this, check out my other novel “47”. Here is an excerpt!

  “As I watch the wormhole start to close, I make one last desperate plea ... "Please? Please don't make me do this?" I whisper.

  "You're almost out of time, Lily. Please, just let go?"

  I look down at the control panel. I know what I have to do.”

  Lilith Madison is captain of the Phoenix, a spaceship filled with an elite crew and travelling through the Delta Gamma Quadrant. Their mission is mankind's last hope for survival.

  But there is a killer on board. One who kills without leaving a trace and seems intent on making sure their mission fails. With the ship falling apart and her crew being ruthlessly picked off one by one, Lilith must choose who to trust while tracking down the killer before it's too late.

  "A suspenseful...exciting...thrilling whodunit adventure in space...discover the shocking truth about what's really happening on the Phoenix" (Clarion)

  "There's a lot of action, sex and forward motion. The ride...will keep readers turning pages in excitement and anticipation.

  A sleek and sexy sci-fi thriller." (Kirkus)

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10


  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21 EPILOGUE

  Excerpt from “47”.