Storm - Part Three

I took one last walk around the house, watching the firemen put out the last of the flames, gazing at the once magnificent rooms and hallways that were now just bare structures, the bones of the house. Then I turned my back on it, and began my weary journey back home, which now seemed so far away.

But just as I was descending the first slope, I heard something on the wind. A voice, fainter than a whisper, a hauntingly beautiful voice.... I stopped in my tracks, to listen.

"I love you, Annabelle," it said.

I smiled.

"I love you too," I told him.

I saw him first when I was walking down one of the tiny back streets on my way up to the Minster. He smiled his beautiful smile at me, and I smiled back. As I approached him, he reached out his hand and I took it.

"I have missed you," I told him. "You should have visited me sooner."

"I'm sorry," he laughed. "Things have been busy in ghost town."

I hit him lightly on the arm. "Stop that. I don't need that. I'll probably wake up soon, and then what will I do?" I pouted.

His eyes met mine and his laugh washed over me. "I guess you'll just have to go back to sleep again, won't you!" he said, pulling me into him.