Blue Moon

Blue Moon



         Hanna opened the french doors and slipped onto the stone terrace.  Careful not to catch the hem of her nightgown, she closed the door and stepped out into the moonlight.  She pulled the paisley shawl tight around her and hurried across the terrace, feeling the uneven roughness of the stones through her slippers. 

         With quick, light steps she skittered across the lawn towards the dock—leaving a deep green trail in the grass, silver with dew.  The skirt of her fine linen gown billowed as she moved in the direction of the midnight blue of the lake.  Her slippers—long wet before she reached the little pier—left footprints on the weathered wood. 

         She looked at the moon hanging in the Prussian blue sky above her like an opalescent pearl on a velvet cloth, and then to the surface of the lake stretched before her, as smooth and glimmering as polished glass.  She breathed in the fresh, clean air and listened to the chorus of crickets chirping, before tiptoeing to the edge and staring out over the water.

         She had counted the days.  She had watched and waited as the pregnant moon quickened to its fullest.  Tonight was the night.  Tonight he would come to her.  He had to.  Tonight was special.  For tonight there was a blue moon.

         Shuddering as a luminescent cloud shrouded the moon, she gave a glance back towards the house, but saw no lights or movement and breathed a sigh of relief.  She was sure her aunt had seen her earlier as she had checked ‘The Farmer’s Almanac’.

         She settled herself at the very end of the dock, her legs off to one side, leaned over and in a soft whisper called to her twin, “Cooper…are you there?”

         The silvery surface of the water broke and a young man rose up from the depths of the lake.  His long hair drawn out straight from the water—his wet skin shimmering in the moonlight.  With an alien grace, he lifted himself up, rested his elbows on the dock and looked at the lunar light reflected in Hanna’s face.

         She leaned close and allowed him to kiss her, surprised by how warm his lips were upon her cheek—but then she always was.  She brushed a wet strand of his hair away from his face, and tried to smile.

         “I was afraid you wouldn’t come.”  She said in a whisper.

         “I come every chance.  You know that.”  He gave her one of his most charming smiles and waited.

         “I need to tell you something.  I need your advice.”

         “You seem upset, Hanna.  What’s happened?”

         She gulped a breath before she spoke.  “Rob’s asked me to marry him…”

         “That’s wonderful,” He blurted out.  “You did say yes, didn’t you?”  She remained mute, so he repeated, “Didn’t you?!”

         “There’s more,” she said, biting back her tears.  “He’s been offered a job in New York City.  We’d live there and only be able to come here on holidays.”

         “So…?”

         “Chances to spend time with you now are limited.  Who knows when our schedule will coincide with…yours?”

         “It doesn’t matter, Hanna.  I love you.  That’s why you’re there and I’m…here.  I chose your life over mine.  I wanted you to have a future—a wonderful life.”

         “It should have been me.  I’ve always said that.”  Her tears were starting, so she turned her head in an attempt to hide them.  But he knew—he always knew.

         “We aren’t going to waste time going into this again.  You love Rob.  You have since we were little.”  Once more he smiled up at her.  “You marry him, move away and raise a family.  There’s nothing you can do for me, after all.”

         “But however can I live without you?”

         “The same way you’ve lived these last seven years.  We’re twins—we can’t be separated.  I’m in your heart, as you’re in mine.  Just as we’ve always been.  And no matter how long a time it takes, when you come back, I’ll still be here, waiting for you.”

         A dog barked and they both turned to look at the house.  There were several lights moving and as they watched, one of the french doors opened.  Hanna started to panic, but Cooper remained calm. 

         “Give me another kiss, then go with them.  But promise me that you’ll marry Rob—that you’ll have a normal life.  Please.  If you don’t, then everything has been for nothing.”

         She nodded acquiescence, bent down and kissed his forehead, her tears bleeding into his wet hair, and then watched as he slipped silently back into the bottomless depths of the lake.  Once again the surface was flawless and serene. 

         She swiped away her tears with the back of her hand and composed herself for what was coming.

         “Oh Miss Hanna, come away from there.  You know you can’t swim.” 

         “I’m fine, Betsy.  But I am tired.  I want to go back to bed.”  She let the old woman help her up and lead her back towards the house.  But she could still hear what old Ben and the new man were saying.

         “I heard talk in town there had been a tragedy out here several years ago,” the new gardener, Ned, said.

          “Aye.  A terrible thing to lose a brother.  But to lose a twin doubles the loss.”  Ben clucked, “She was with him, you know.  Somehow the boat overturned.  Her father saw it happen from an upstairs window. 

         “One second they were skimming along and the next the boat was ass-end-up.  The boy lifted her up onto it, but by the time help had reached them, he was gone.  Guilt it is, of course.  She never could swim a stroke,” Ben told Ned.

         “Why was she even in the boat if she doesn’t swim?”  Ned asked.

         “Didn’t think there was reason to worry.  Cooper was an excellent swimmer—won awards and everything.  Powerful, he was, even as a lad.  And weren’t scared of nothing, was he?”  The old man shook his head.  “That was what was so surprising…that she would live and he would die. 

         “Out of her head she was when they got her inside.  Insisted that he’d been helped—that something had bartered with him—that she could live if he went with the creature.  Stuff and nonsense, of course.  Imagine mermen in Lake Placid.  But then she always did love fairy stories.  Doctor said it was from the shock.”

         “Well, it must have been horrible. Does the lass do this very often?”

         “Nah, only does it once in a blue moon.”  Hanna heard the old man say, just as Betsy pulled her through the door.



Word count:  1113