This is so exciting… I so totally love how our story is coming along… intrigue, mystery; even love shinning through so many twists and turns… can you not see it? And where to would the black bird be guiding them? Is the mysterious Frederic really a werewolf? Oh I’m so loving our little story! I love it so much I decided to bring it up again. Maybe our enthusiasm will motivate others to join in? Oh please pretty please do write on!
And So The Story Goes...
As Julia Mead quietly vacuum her sun-drenched dinning room, her mind began to wander…
She can still remember the day when Robert and her had met. How young and naïve they were then, and how much in love with each other from that day on… but life had not prepared Julia for the disappointments and unhappy affair ahead of her... and how does one finds love again when you know it has hurt you so much? Love can be so mysterious. One time it gives you so much joy and ecstasy. The next thing you know, love forgets your face and forgets your name and it leaves you bruised and hurt… and what’s worse, you’re back to square one in finding love again.
As Julia continued vacuum her dinning room; hair flying freely over shoulders and face, she suddenly turned her head towards the garden, and looked across the hedge of Endless Summer Hydrangea that served as a live fence between her home and her next door neighbor's...
As Julia absentmindedly gazed over her lovely hydrangeas, her eyes suddenly met the forlorn figure of her neighbor, Frederic Minton; a handsome and mystifying man, quietly observing the shadows that seem to melt under the sunshine across the woods from his terrace.
Julia studied the strong masculine features of
the man, the dark hair and Italianesque look, comfortable and polished, and suddenly
realized how shadowy and beautiful he was. Why hadn’t she noticed him before? Really noticed him? And who was really Mr. Frederic Minton? All the years Julia lived there she had never
spoken to him and only knew him for the loner he seemed to be; a quiet and enigmatic
type of a men who lived alone and seemed to have lost something terribly
important in the woods which spread across their homes like a dark shroud. Perhaps love?
Robert... she missed him terribly, and yet…
Finding one last comfort in the rhythm of her hand as she vacuumed, Julia suddenly knew what she had to do. She quickly took off
her apron and headed out the back door…
To be continued...
It's a beautiful Friday...
*pls continue *
Let's have fun!
What was Julia going to do? Is she going to
find Robert? Forgive him? Ask him to come back? What is her story?
Please write on! Add a word, a sentence, a smile or a paragraph in the comment
box below. After someone goes first, we can each add to what they wrote
and to the story comment by comment.
The rules is that you continue the story where the next person stop.
The rules is that you continue the story where the next person stop.
It's a beautiful Friday...
*pls continue *
She ran out the door until she reached the cliffs where she longingly searched the horizon for her beloved and wondered .....
ReplyDeleteHope you visit me on my blog too www.portraits-by-nc.com
Suddenly, in direct opposition to her will, she stopped herself, steeled her passionate will, and turned around in the path. She headed back through the woods in the sure direction of her home. She laughed at herself, thinking it was silly to have chased after that odd, darkly handsome neighbor after all these years. But as the pathway seemed to grow unfamiliar, the mists grew darker, dank and grey. She could no longer see her home at all. Face it. She was lost in her neighbor's woods...
ReplyDeletePoor girl ran towards the figure in the distant woods only to feel like someone was rapidly approaching her. Fearfully she turned to look,seeing nothing. When she heard footsteps behind her again, she stopped and cried out "who are you?". Looking toward the ground she saw a beautiful dog, wolf like in appearance. However the dog looked very familiar.
ReplyDeletethe dark eyes stared back at her with a look of surprise and recognition. Normally she would have felt afraid of meeting a strange animal in the woods, alone with no one to protect her, but as those dark eyes stared back at her she felt excited and calm at the same time.
ReplyDeleteAs the mist swirled around her, Julia sat down on the trunk of a old fallen oak. Her new companion sat next to her and as she sat there petting him her mind wandered. She thought of the person she had become since her sad ending with Robert. Tentative and unsure of herself she didn't recognize the person she had become nor did she like her very much. Julia had always had a strong will and a bit of a wild nature, and loved the make believe place her mind took her to sometime. Robert never understood that side of her and she wondered if that was what lead him to the arms of another woman who seemed to be more "sensible". The dog stirred at her side as if to say, you know who you are and what makes you happy, be true to yourself. The mists seem to lessen as she got to her feet and she walked towards her cottage, knowing what she wanted and feeling better and more herself than she had in a very long time.
ReplyDeleteJulia knew she was lost in the woods. With no orientation whatsoever to guide her back home she kept walking. Something in these parts of the woods made her uneasy… something she’d never seen or smell or felt before had her thinking about life and death, about places she’d only visited in her childhood dreams.
ReplyDeleteAn uncanny feeling that was becoming much too in tune with her own soul stirred deep in her soul, and Julia knew that this eeriness; this inexplicable feelings were also in sync with a deep inner peace and inexplicable joy that somehow it shrouded her like a magical blanket. And she knew that although she was lost in the woods she was not alone….
She heard the low howling, the rasp breathing of an animal and as natural as her soul would drink the morning light each day, she turned towards the darkness where she had heard the noise.. her eyes searching for something, or someone she already knew.
That’s when she noticed them—those eyes… The eyes of the animal upon herself, the strange enigmatic eyes of the Canis lupus. A wolf! But those eyes… where have she seem them before? Frederic Minton.
Julia could not understand why in that very moment the image of Frederic Minton entered into her mind with such force… stuck unto her very soul like a bad thorn in her skin.
Could it be? Oh could it be as she was thinking? She shook her head trying to blow away her thoughts, but the eyes of the wolf kept searching her soul… kept stirring inexplicable feelings and thoughts…
Was she dreaming? Was she not? And what would she do if she wasn’t dreaming?
suddenly Frederic appeared with a cane in his hand, he said,"I see you have met my dear friend, Simon, come on my boy, I hope you haven't frightened our beautiful neighbor". Simon made almost a bow at the feet of his master Frederic.
ReplyDeleteFrederic stepped forward with his hand extended and as she shook his hand she felt the electricity pass between them. Her mind raced and she could not speak for a moment as she stared into his dark eyes. She felt like she was drowning in their depth, but there was no fear, only a safety like she had just come home. She struggled to clear her mind and find her words. "Yes Simon and I have met just recently in the woods.. I lost my way for a bit and he kept me company." He is beautiful and an unusual pet. I have never met anyone with a pet wolf.
ReplyDeleteShe felt Frederic eyes searching her face for fear or discomfort as he replied, yes he is beautiful, I found him in the woods not far from here when he was just a puppy. His mother had been killed by hunters and I could not bear to let him die, so I raised him myself. We saved each other so to speak.
Julia wanted to ask what he meant, but did not want to appear too inquisitive since they had just met.
Julia tried not to look at the scars that raked across Frederic's face. She knew he was daring her to say more, instead reached out her hand toward the wolf.
ReplyDelete"Simon normally dislikes anyone, yet, it seems he has taken a liking to you." A lopsided grin tried to soften his tone.
"And I don't normally like dogs or wolves and am surprised at myself as well." She turned facing the man and noticed how heavily he leaned upon the cane. Knowing a lady should not be so forward in conversation with a man she'd just met, Julia could not stop the question. "What happened to you . . . to your face?"
Silence deafened the forest’s edge. She wiped her nervous hands down the sides of her lace apron, awaiting his answer.
It seemed that the whole forest was still. The birds that had been chirping in the background now seemed to wait, hanging in suspence, waiting for the answer. Julie felt her heart pounding. Why had she been so bold as so ask him such a question. She thought of what she could say to apologize when he lifted his head and looked at her. The pale blue eyes seemed to know her thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThe man’s distorted features should have frightened anyone, but not so with Julia. The external had never frightened her… it was the lies, the dishonesty; the unseen evilness harbored in the soul that what really frightened her and disgusted her. She rather be broken with the ugly truth than fall in love with beautiful lies…
ReplyDeleteAnd those eyes… Julia looked straight into Frederic’s eyes—eyes so transparent, eyes which carried in themselves all the truthfulness and gentleness and quietness of the morning sky. No. She wasn’t afraid of him.
Sunshine beat upon the wood’s floor, and a lazy morning breeze raised green dust all around them. Simon left his master and walked towards Julia and the two regarded each other. Julia saw that indeed, the animal was a true gray wolf. She stares at the wolf, then at the man. Unable to speak, she stood there dreamily gazing…
What happened to you . . . to your face? Are you really a man… a wolf? She open her mouth ready to pour out her thought as straight and clear as she could, but the cobalt eyes in front of her told her that they could read her thoughts like an open book. Frederic’s eyes had already interpreted her soul through and through.
Julia wanted to say something; break the impasse of the moment, but right that moment a black bird flew by, screeching the silent away… it seemed to be saying: “follow me”… follow me”.
In the first flash of midnight wings, the black bird broke the electric contact between the two aching souks caught together in the dark woods. The brief contact slammed shut, along with any tenderness in Frederic. "You have no permission to walk these woods alone or otherwise,.his voice came low, intent, even tinged with menace. He leaned very close and it seemed the wild scars on his face began to writhe, carving even more lines of pain and cruelty deeper in his cheeks.
ReplyDeleteShe quickly took a quick step backward, reeling in a little fear and quite a surprising bit of disappointment. She started to run from this spot, to head toward the light, happier sunlit fields she remembered from the edge of the woods.
As the blackbird screeched again, Julia recovered her composure, She reached out her hand toward Simon, beckoning him to come to her, but he stood next to his master, looking at her with the same unwelcoming stare. "I assure you I did not mean to intrude, I hope we meet again sometime." She turned on her heel to go feeling embarrassed, confused and her head filled with so many unanswered questions. As she walked towards home she could feel Frederick's eyes on her, and she knew that was not the last time she and Frederick would meet. His mood may have turned dark, but she remembered the look in his eyes, those eyes that had looked into her very soul....
ReplyDeleteJulia's naturally inquisitive mind took over and she decided it was time she find out more about her mysterious neighbor. Tomorrow she would do some research on Mr Frederic Minton. Maybe she could discover what had caused those terrible scars and what had caused him to suddenly approach her after so many years of such a solitary life. She walked through her kitchen door glad for the familiar smells and excited about what she would discover tomorrow.
Julia readied herself for the evening, thinking about the strange events of the day.She was beginning to realize just how lonely she was. She could not stop thinking of Frederick and his beautiful dog Simon, laughing she wondered which one she was more interested in, the man or the animal, to her those eyes were almost one in the same. All of a sudden she was startled by a loud crash, and then a gentle knocking on her door.
ReplyDelete