Lost at Sea

Lost at Sea

Lost at Sea 500 word story

The howling wind created a cacophony of thuds and clangs outside the window of the old rustic cottage. The window gave off a golden yellow shine out in to the cold snowy darkness of the winter’s night by the sea. The reeds swayed from side to side as the barn door in the yard began to rattle with the strength of the inclement weather. This was a night to be indoors by the fireside.

As the night drew on the old lady held the letter close to her bosom and gentle tears still trickled down her pale aged face. The letter held a simple yet devastating message from the Navy Officer in charge of her sons ship ‘I regret to inform you that your son has been lost at sea…’

As the bereft mother of the deceased subject of the letter picked up the poker to prod the fire – coaxing the last of the flames from the hearth – she felt a chill run up her spine and then a spark from the fire startled her causing her to fall back into the rocking chair by the fireside. As the last of the fire turned to smouldering ashes the old lady drifted into a dream state.

The meadow was full of wild flowers and verdant green grasses the sun shone gently down on the meadow and give a golden hue to the horizon ahead. As she stared out at the blue azure sky and the giant oak tree that lay ahead she seen a hazy figure off in the distance the figure was tall and muscular in form and the hair flowed around the face of the man in curling locks as the figure got closer she could recognise the face of the man – it was her son.

In tears of joy and overwhelm she reached up to his face and stared into his deep blue eyes and whispered “I thought you were gone from me son they said you had been lost at sea yet here I am seeing you”. The son took her hand in his and smiling gently spoke softly to her “Mama, I am always only a whisper away from you now I have parted this earthly realm only to be enveloped in the greater love of the creator. Be at peace do not mourn my loss only cherish the fine man you taught me to be and know that nothing is ever lost for those that know love in their hearts.” As the voice of her son faded into her mind she stirred in the rocking chair and a beautiful smile grew on her face where such grief had lived only a short while before.

The headstone in memory of the Navy man lost at sea was placed near the sea by the old cottage that his mother tended often till her final days on earth it read “Life is a turbulent sea and though tears and tragedy may darken our voyage the guiding force of Love shall always take us home”.