NC-2 Where Love Goes (standard:romance, 1355 words)
Author: KShaw	Added: Jun 11 2005	Views/Reads: 3361/2197	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A writer writes, teasing himself that words can cross the greatest of divides...perhaps they can.

The black telephone rang four times before Katherine finally answered
it. ‘Please be him,' she heard herself thinking. ‘Please...please be 
him' she said, closing her eyes and holding the receiver to her ear 
with both hands. 

‘Honey, are you there?' the voice asked. ‘I miss you, I'm coming
home...I'm coming back to you, darling, to write the very best work 
I've ever done.' But the static on the line broke down his words. 

‘Yes, darling, I can just hear you,' she said, her heart scattered with
happiness. ‘I'm here, come home now,' she pleaded, slumping into his 
favourite chair and staring out across the ocean, as soft-burning 
September skies, earlier flaming, deepened toward dusk. ‘The children 
miss you, the dogs miss you, even the gulls come round in pairs 
wondering where you are.' 

The phone line buzzed, crackled, and burned. But still the fire of his
words singed their way through. ‘I've worked it out, Katherine; I've 
worked out the whole mystery of the Universe. It's so magical, and now 
I know why Earth is the most beautiful of all the planets. It's so 
simple, honey, human tears soaking into the earth, nourishing the soil 
and the oceans....can you hear me... can you understand what I'm 
saying....I'm coming home...' 

When the door of the study opened, Susan entered carrying a tray. ‘You
still at it, sweetie, you must be famished. I've brought you a cup of 
tea,' she said, placing the tray down on the corner of his desk, ‘and 
your favourite biscuits.' She came around the back of his chair, put 
her hands on his shoulders and squeezed gently. ‘Must be good, you've 
been typing away for hours.' 

He raised one hand from the keyboard and grasped her fingers. ‘Thanks
honey. It's going okay. My main character is speaking to her husband on 
the phone. He's telling her why the earth is such a beautiful place, 
and just the sound of his voice on the phone breaks her heart. In the 
next paragraph, her son enters the room. She will tell him that his 
father is on the phone, and that he's coming home. The son will place 
his arms around her shoulders, reassure her, and then escort her back 
to her bedroom while she continues to talk on the phone, its cord 
trailing behind her.' 

Susan listened intently, one hand caressing her husband's balding scalp.
‘I love you, you old romantic. No doubt you'll find a way to bring him 
back, right?' 

He turned his head and looked quizzically into her smiling eyes. ‘Do you
think some words could be so powerful, so believable, and so utterly 
right that they could reach through space, through time...and through 
death's gateway?' 

‘You mean like ‘Ghost'. Who was that guy?' she asked. 

‘Patrick Swazee.' 

‘Hmm...That's him; he was cute in that movie. I believed it, you know,
him coming back and everything, sure.' She kissed the back of his head 
and gave a last squeeze of his shoulders. ‘Don't forget Reckless, 
honey, he's sniffing at the door.' 

In the kitchen, ‘Reckless', a two year old border collie sat, ears
pricked, by the door. ‘Your master is in a creative mood, Reckless; 
you'll have to be patient.' 

The clock above the kitchen door chimed four times. Reckless stared
soulfully up at her. ‘I know...' her sentence was cut short by the 
presence of her husband, holding his cup of tea, and leaning on the 
kitchen door.  Reckless immediately became excited, frantically wagging 
his tail and turning in circles. 

‘Well, there you are, and not a moment too soon I can hear Reckless
thinking,' she said, smiling, wiping her hands on her red gingham 
apron. 

‘I've concluded that I'm probably not writing a best seller, therefore
have elected to share my illustrious self with you and Reckless here.' 


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