A Mysterious Parting

A bitter wind howled across the black as pitch field, the stars and the moon hidden by thick clouds. The wind chimed in his ears, like a deep and heavy bell, and the chill of it stabbed through the single layer of clothing he was wearing. Seeing nothing except the darkness, he was condemned to this lonely post at the midnight hour and so he sank to a sitting position, feeling the ruddy grass brush across the rawness of his skin.

How had this happened? He thought of the series of events that had transpired earlier in the day.

‘You coming?’ Yelled Manna, her voice ringing clear and true.

‘Give me a minute.’ He shouted back.

A river of hot, soothing water ran down his body as he finished showering. Today they had set aside precious time to go to the village next to theirs, visit the ramen restaurant, and of course to enjoy each other’s company. Normally on a Thursday night, he would be busy attending to his work, and would not trouble himself to do anything superfluous to his schedule, but for Manna, he was willing to spend the time.

He had known Manna for just over a year, and so far, he was very happy to be with her. Between them, conversation flowed easily, and he often found himself losing track of the passage of time in her presence, shocked to see that countless hours had passed when he looked at his wristwatch.

Having felt that he had washed himself enough, turning off the shower he dried off and made to change into his clothes. Soon after brushing his teeth and his hair, he found himself face to face with his impatient girlfriend.

‘Manna, I’m sorry to keep you waiting, I’ve got to look respectable you know?’ He said softly, already leaning in for a kiss.

‘Well George, if it was anyone else… but it’s you…’

She smiled as their lips met, erasing all thoughts but how lucky he was to have her.

Once parted, she looked at him fondly. ‘Okay so if we leave now, we can make it there by 6:30. We’ve just got to get the all stops Countrylink service at the station.’

‘Way ahead of you.’ He replied, holding up two unused tickets.

She smiled and took his hand. ‘Well then let’s go!’ And with that she was pulling him out the front door.

It was a short walk to the station, and soon they were waiting on the tarred platform, people milling about around about them. Delicious bready smells came wafting over from the eatery on the station platform, but they both resisted, wanting to enjoy their meal at the restaurant.

Eventually the rattle of the train echoed distantly from afar, as it became visible from underneath the bridge. He held Manna’s hand firmly, and waited for the train to stop and the doors to open. Soon they were seated in the lower section, and the train began to pull out of the station.

Golden rays of afternoon sun illuminated his girlfriend’s face, highlighting her sky blue, floral print summer dress. She caught him looking at her, and he smiled sheepishly, but she consoled him by leaning forward and touching the top of his leg with her palm.

‘Look at us.’ She said with muted excitement. ‘Going out together to Staffordshire for an evening meal. I’m so happy to be with you George.’

He took her hand. ‘The pleasure’s all mine my love.’

Beside them out the window, the open country rolled past. It would be at least 20 minutes before the train arrived at their destination.

She turned and stared out the window, her face a picture of calm. ‘You said there’s been some development going on in Staffordshire?’

He nodded. ‘Yeah, there’s been a bunch of new stores opening, I haven’t seen them all yet. Maybe we could take a look before we go to Manmaruya?’

‘I’d like that.’ She replied.

‘The park in the centre of town’s been upgraded as well.’ He continued. ‘It’d be great to take some snapshots of us in front of the statue.’

‘That one of the bears?’ She laughed.

‘Yeah, that one. I don’t know what the significance of it is, but it looks pretty good.’

‘Well sure honey, we can stop there.’

The countryside continued to roll by, but his attention was on Manna.

‘Remember how we met?’ He asked her, his voice betraying his depth of feeling.

‘How could I forget.’ Said Manna, softly. ‘We were both at your friends 27^th birthday, and I was standing alone, because I didn’t know many people there. But then your eye caught mine, and I saw you standing at the other end of the room, also alone. I’m so glad you had the courage to come over and talk to me.’

He looked down. ‘Yeah, at the best of times, I can be a little socially anxious. But there was something about your face. I could see you didn’t want to be there.’

She looked him gently in the eye. ‘And now how long has it been?’

‘About a year and a half.’ He replied. ‘I don’t know why, but I worry sometimes. Like I’m in a dream and I’m going to wake up and lose you.’

Her face became filled with sympathy. ‘You don’t have to worry George. This is real. As long as you love me, I’ll never leave you.’

As the sun continued its course towards the evening light, the train sped past grassy fields, wizened oaks, and over a bridge across a meandering river. It began to slow down as it neared Staffordshire station. The doors opened, and they walked out hand in hand, making their way to the station exit.

As they left the station, the sun retreated behind a large grey cloud, and a frosty wind suddenly pierced them.

‘Wow, it got cold all of a sudden.’ He said, clutching his body with his hands.

‘Your cold? Then give me a hug!’ She replied.

He reached over to her and put an arm around her.

‘Better?’ She asked.

He nodded, smiling.

They began to walk to the centre of town. When they arrived, they were at the edge of the park, with a street filled with brightly coloured shops facing the green. In the centre of the park, an elevated, tiled platform stood, with three bronze bears. The middle one was standing on its hind legs, while to the left and right of it there was each a bear standing on all 4 of its legs.

‘There’s those bears…’ Said Manna, seemingly ill at ease with them.

He laughed. ‘Come on I’ll get a selfie of us.’

They posed in front of the statue, with Manna putting on a sultry face, and holding out her fingers in a peace sign, while he simply smiled. Wanting to make sure the picture was alright, he opened it on his phone and took a look. A cursory inspection showed that they both looked good in the photo, and he felt his heart grow warm as he saw his girlfriend. But something strange caught his eye. In the photo, the eyes of the statues seemed to be fixed intently on Manna. He glanced up at the statues again, but in the fading light, he couldn’t be sure if it was just a trick of the shadows.  He thought of saying something to her, but before he could, she was already walking towards the row of stores.

‘Hey wait up!’ He called.

She turned her head to look at him while walking. ‘There’s an antiques shop over there, I want to take a look!’

He walked double time to catch up to her, and soon was at her side as they neared the store. Once inside they were greeted by a host of old relics from another time. There were desk lamps, tea sets, nautical equipment, jewellery and all kinds of vintage wares. Manna walked slowly down the aisles, stopping every so often to take a closer look at something that caught her eye.

Leaving Manna’s side for a moment, he walked around until he found the shop owner, standing behind a small desk. ‘Pardon me, but does this store have a bathroom I can use?’

The shop owner scratched the back of his head for a moment, seemingly thinking about something difficult. ‘I shouldn’t be letting you use it, but I guess I will this one time. Down that corridor at the back there and to your right.’

Saying thank you; he made his way to the bathrooms.

After finishing, he went back to the store to find Manna. He walked up and down the aisles, but couldn’t see her anywhere. He walked out of the store and looked up and down the street, but there was still no sign of her.

Going back to the inside of the store, he questioned the shop owner. ‘Excuse me but did you see a girl in a floral print dress walk out of this store?’

The shop owner looked back at him flatly. ‘I didn’t see any girl walk into this store.’

Feeling irritable at the shop owner, he scowled and left the store, and turning to his right, decided to inspect the shops in that direction. It wasn’t like Manna to disappear like this.

Walking past a post office, a burger joint, and a pizza parlour, he began to feel lightheaded, as he could not see her in any of the stores.

’Manna?’ He called out.

But there was no reply, and he began to feel an ache of worry in his chest. He thought for a moment, where would be a good place to look for her? Then he remembered the bears in the park. Perhaps she would be waiting for him there? He crossed the road and began to walk across the grass to the statues.

The green and black figures stood before him, the left and right bears wearing placid expressions, while the one in the centre snarled menacingly. He could see no sign of her in the fading light. Just now the evening sun was setting, its rays hidden behind the roofs of the shops and buildings of the town, and with its setting, it seemed also that the promise of warmth and good company was waning with it. Along with the sense of abandonment he felt a cold in his body and his soul, as well as the pervasive feeling that he was alone. His mind simply could not fathom the cause for this, and he felt a dread feeling that something terrible had happened to her.

As his eyes strained to see in the twilight, he noticed a piece of paper resting on the statue’s tiled base. He leaned forward, picked it up, and began to unfold it. It was a letter, and there was just enough light to read it.

‘My dearest George.

You have been so good to me, and it pains me to leave you like this. Maybe this world we had was simply too perfect to last. Where am I going? I honestly don’t know. Something has called me from this world, something I don’t understand. What will life be like? It will be a life without you, so it will not be a happy life, and where I am going, you cannot follow me. I think it would be best if you thought of me as dead to the world.

I will always remember the time we spent together, like the Saturday we spent together walking around your town, arm in arm, and our time at the café. I had no sense of time on that day, I was lost in you.

I want the best for you George. I know you will never want someone else but me, and so I am not saying that I expect you to move on from me, but I hope you find some happiness wherever you are. Keep working in your job, which for you is such a good thing, as unlike most people, you enjoy it.

I don’t have much longer, and there is so much more to write, but I fear my time here is short. I will be thinking of you always.

-         Manna.’

A shaking sensation began to build up, and tears welled up in his eyes. He began to walk, first towards the edge of town, and then beyond, into the surrounding countryside. As the sun began to set, he found himself in the middle of a field of grass.