大象传媒

听

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Kathleen Rose

I don鈥檛 like the sea! No, I don鈥檛 like it at all. It鈥檚 so, so cold.
鈥淎re you for real, Shannon? What is there not to like?鈥�
John sat down on the grass beside her. She fascinated him just as much today as she did when he met her three years ago in Manhatten. It had been a frosty February morning and her long dark brown hair,听 pale skin and amber eyes all added up to give her a sort of mystical quality. She was his Irish rose. But these days she was in a strange mood. He couldn鈥檛 put his finger on it but she just wasn鈥檛 her old self.
He looked out over the Atlantic and drew a long sigh. The view from Glen Head cliffs was pretty spectacular. The blue spread on forever and got lost as the horizon met the sky. It was a bright summer morning and the waves were teasing the Donegal coastline enthusiastically. Rocky outcrops poked fun defiantly at this mighty ocean with its notions of its own omnipotence.听Behind them, far below in the treeless valley the smoke was beginning to rise almost in sequence from the houses in Glencolmcille. Decades of repeated daily routines and you could nearly guess which household was going to stir next.
A single dog barking from across the wide panoramic valley sounded as though it was within a stone鈥檚 throw. The soothing putt鈥損utt of a Massey tractor along the coast road was comforting and in harmony with the callings of seagulls and the relentless orchestrations of the sea. Below them a fishing vessel was returning laden from a night at sea.
鈥淚t鈥檚 beautiful,鈥� he protested. 鈥淥h, I know it is and I can see all the beauty out there. The colours and sounds and the freshness of the breeze on my face should add up to something more than they do for me. But, lately I鈥檝e been doing a lot of thinking and I know now that I will never like the sea. Please, John, I don鈥檛 mean to spoil your day but can we please go now. I鈥檒l try and explain it all to you later. I want to go now鈥�. John shrugged his shoulders and rose to go. She鈥檇 been very preoccupied for the last few days and he didn鈥檛 like it one little bit. She was everything to him and he had a feeling that something had happened that was going to change their world. He put it out of his mind and they went home. They鈥檇 been living now in Meenaneary for a year and he couldn鈥檛 remember ever feeling so happy. Not even early memories of growing up in Boston could compete with what he and Shannon had. 鈥淭he hotel is booked for eight,鈥� he called to her from the shower. And that was another thing she hardly ever wanted to make love these days. Not surprisingly his fragile male ego was beginning to totter.
鈥淕ood I鈥檒l get changed,鈥� Shannon called from the bedroom.鈥� I have something I want to talk to you about鈥�.
He could hear her searching for something in the bedroom. The cottage was tiny 鈥� one bedroom, but the low ceilings and thick walls meant it was cosy and inviting even on the stormiest winter nights. He wondered how anyone had managed to raise 8 children within these walls all those years ago.
Shannon got what she was looking for and slipped it into her velvet purse. She slipped into her little black dress and smiled appreciatively at her figure in the mirror. Her Louis Vuitton necklace accentuated the milky hollows of her shoulders and neckline. The make up must be applied carefully tonight. She鈥檇 need all the Dutch courage she could muster.听 She hadn鈥檛 had much call for her glad rags of late. But tonight, she might as well. She wouldn鈥檛 be wearing them too much longer.

The trip to Dr. Mc Mahon鈥檚 surgery had thrown her and the past few days had been stomach wrenching to say the least. She knew she couldn鈥檛 keep it from him much longer and she wasn鈥檛 so sure how he鈥檇 take it. She didn鈥檛 feel in the least bit brave.
鈥淐ome on, Slow Coach, hurry up!鈥� John called from the car.
She slipped on her Jimmy Choo sling backs and snuggled into her pashini. They drove along the Lofties at a speed consistent with the Donegal road surface. A sheep was sitting in the middle of the road and took it鈥檚 time to hoist itself up and waddle slowly into the bog. After the hectic life of New York, things like that used to annoy her but now she relished these unpaid traffic controllers and savoured the placid way her days unfolded now. Despite this she still managed to get her work done and deadlines met. The table would wait for them. It wasn鈥檛 a dead fancy hotel, the owners had very few of the 鈥榝ive star 鈥榓irs and graces she鈥檇 thought so indispensable before.
She picked at her chicken fricassee as John tucked into his fillet steak. The large side orders of mashed potato and vegetables almost turned her stomach. The soft piped Phil Coulter music and the dimmed lighting relaxed her and she began to feel quite tired.

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