Monday, April 23, 2007

Entry #17

Marble Point
by Seamus Kearney


Not long after the smell of the date and walnut loaf had sulked away into the woods, the majority of the group made their awkward farewells and headed off along the mud track. Flo joined her dear friend, Tim, on the veranda, aware that the decision to put Marble Point on the market had hit him the hardest. She put an arm around him.

‘I thought we’d be coming here every year until we died,’ he whispered.

She avoided the view in front of them, the velvet valley that had seduced her and her eight university chums some 30 years earlier. ‘We’re the only ones who’ve really made use of the place.’

He folded his arms. ‘We all promised we’d never sell it.’

She pictured that summer of ’74: living in tents for two months, everyone chipping in to build their “castle”, starting the tradition of the date and walnut loaf. But that was before the weddings, the kids, the break-ups, the sickness.

He said, ‘Maybe we should’ve agreed to the access road, electricity, an indoor loo.’

‘We let them hook up the water! That was compromise enough … though we were the only ones who ever did the washing up.’

He almost smiled. ‘I’ll boil the water, and then we can take our last hike down to the waterfall.’

At that very moment Flo made a decision: yes, she would tell him about her divorce and the huge settlement, news that had been eclipsed by all the emotional exchanges.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Poor old Tim, what will happen next I wonder?

Unknown said...

Simple and sweetly done, Seamus.

Suzan Abrams, email: suzanabrams@live.co.uk said...

Touch of a country tale with a brewing sinister history in the shadows.

Beth said...

Yes, poor Tim ... unless he was the one who left it a filthy mess. =)

briliantdonkey said...

Interesting. I am seeing a happy ending here but judging from other comments maybe I am wrong.

BD

Pallav said...

Thats...thats... So EVIL!!

I LIKE it!! ;)

Nicely done man!

N

heather said...

i'm with bd and read this as a positive story. two old friends who should have been together all this time perhaps finally becoming free to do just so.

Esther Avila said...

I saw the happy ending from the first read too. She will buy the castle and get her prince too. Lovely. :)
Nicely done, Seamus. You gave us their past, the present, and a beautiful future.

Esther Avila said...

p.s. and i loved that you made everyone else leave so that she could share the information privately with her friend.

Anonymous said...

I'm just a little younger than the characters in this story... so I can relate to the sense of long ago promises to self and others that over the years have turned into obligations one can no longer fulfill.

Seamus, you've captured a slice of life... tugged at the heart strings... yet left us with hope for the future.

S. Kearney said...

Thanks for all the feedback! You lot are great! I'm glad some people saw the positive ending possibility: she buys the castle and gets her man. Or was it something else? Ahaaaaa. (Psssst: I tend to go with the happy!)

Anonymous said...

Very sweet story. I can sympathize with how hard it would be to let a special place go.