Seascape

Seascape –  an excerpt from Remember To Love Me

Sleep was something of the heavenly life that had long gone. Now, Annabelle’s days and nights mingled into one long continual form of misery. She had never felt so alone, so empty, so superfluous. Even with the death of her mother, recalling the confusion and incomprehension, that melancholy nothing to this desolation. This loss brought understanding, perception yet still she had no power.

A little past five, she crept from the cottage and headed for the sand dunes. Under her arm, she clutched a canvas, in her hand an easel, in the other a large case with paints and brushes. The sun was already up; she felt her heart curse its bright abundance, lavishing the seascape with its copious brilliance. She had adopted this part of the dunes, naming it her own. As the day awoke to the sunlight, she made her journey in her daily ritual.

Time was simple up here upon the lookout of life. She could exist with the elements, having to hold no regard for their feelings. The last two days had weakened her soul beyond what she thought could be healed, one simple phrase had crumbled the walls around her insular world. She would listen to it no more.

Amongst the long spear-headed grass and bare patches of coarse sand, Annabelle pitched her easel. Removing her shoes, kicking them in the grass she stood barefoot on nature’s carpet. Random clusters of dusky mauve heather and gathers of small violet blooms bejewelled the otherwise bland dunes. Holding her dress above her ankles, Annabelle strolled, watching her bare feet caress the grass, the sand seeping between her toes.

She unfolded a blanket, spreading it over the rough land and unpacked her paints. She squeezed colour onto her palette, shades of blue and green, and amid them a daub of stark white. Eyes closed against the world, Annabelle swept her brush. A flood of intense azure blue masked the weave of the canvas. This was her world, sedated and numb. She continued to paint as the sun grew high above her. She could feel the hours pass as the shadow cast her art.