Heart's Content

Part Forty-Seven

{'Grandmother' by Albert Anker from Wikimedia Commons}

Nothing but darkness surrounded her and all sensation had been lost to it. She couldn't even recall how long since it began and only now was she beginning to feel its return and the diminishing of the blackness that had seemingly for so long claimed her. She felt weak and disconnected as a feeling of weightlessness encircled her head before it slowly trickled down through the rest of her body bringing with it the recognition that she was returning to the conscious world. She didn't feel like she could open her eyes, as though she were so weak that the weight of her eyelids was too much and she felt as though she were dreaming but no dreams had found her since two nights before the storm. In the darkness that had been previously all encompassing and silent she hadn't immediately been aware of faint singing nearby, though she was relatively certain that it didn't come from any voice she recognized. Along with the voice came the realization that the numbness of her limbs and the weakness that she felt weren't her sole sensations, there was also a comforting warmth that surrounded her. Her cheeks no longer felt the icy sting of cold water and she managed to wiggle her toes, which no longer felt frozen and wet. The thought had previously crossed her mind that she was dead and that the afterlife was nothing like that which she had been led to expect, but the gentle singing she could hear that didn't grow nearer nor further away convinced her that she was indeed alive.

The realization that she had somehow survived brought with it a sense of relief and joy, but these were accompanied by an undeniable fear because her current situation was unknown to her. The pain of even briefly moving her toes caused a soft whimper to escape her but that didn't prevent her from trying to open her eyes as she heard the soft singing, pause. Dim light began to flood in through her cracked eyelids and she found herself squinting slightly at the brightness, her vision blurred as she managed to open her eyes a bit more.

The light streamed in through an open window on the opposite wall from her head and brought with it the cries of seabirds and the fresh scent of the sea. The window itself was obscured from her view by a thick brown curtain which had been hung specifically to keep the sun from directly touching her along with a thin netting to keep local insects from making a meal of her. The room itself was little more than a box made of cobbled stone for the walls and floor while the ceiling had thick wooden rafters covered in reeds, and large fronds. The furniture in the room was aged and nothing truly matched anything else and on the wall opposite Lisette there was a door to another room and beside it a small hearth that went unlit.

She closed her eyes once again, finding that keeping them open for even a small amount of time was just as painful as the feeling in her throat which she cleared gently and as she did, she could hear the sound of approaching footsteps before the curtain was quietly drawn back. There was the soft creaking of a wooden chair as whomever approached sat upon one that was placed at her bedside and she felt obliged to open her eyes again in an effort to see the person who joined her. She was a short and round woman who wore well worn but clean clothes and a faded blue kerchief over her gray streaked black hair that was neatly pulled back and hidden beneath it. She had a friendly disposition about her and the concern in her gently wrinkled features was joined beneath her prominent nose by a comforting smile that graced both her thin lips and dark eyes.

"Here, have some water, love," the elderly woman who sat beside her said in a gentle voice when her cracked lips parted painfully, a soft croak coming from her as she tried to speak but her throat was too dry. The woman raised an earthen cup she had just filled from a matching pitcher and slowly fed her the water as she gently cradled the back of her head. She swallowed a bit but blew a few bubbles and sputtered as she rushed herself, "careful now... slowly, you have been out for many days."