Jane Doe's Short Story Collection

Lament's Crescendo

Cover I made for this^^

***

The sea lapped against the shore languidly, the fading reminisce of a sunset coloring it dark orange. Overhead the moon hung like a beacon while the stars were little more than small bright spatters in the darkening sky.

Eleanor stood on the shore, her eyes drinking in the great expanse of sea and sky as she breathed in the salty smell of the ocean. The sting it gave her nose was nearly addicting.

She gave a small sigh of pleasure and sat down, letting her bare feet dig into the wet sand as she tucked her dress away from the lapping waves.

Her black hair danced in a small breeze while she sat there, the thoughts in her head gloomy as she stared past the sea and toward the horizon. Her eyes dipped to the water skimming over her buried feet. A small sad smile tipped at her lips as she began to sing in a murmur:

"He sailed the sea
With lots of glee

His anchor untethered
Never to be ensnared
With anything but the brine

But then one day he saw she
Standing amongst the waves
Looking like the opposite
Of the knave he'd come to be

Hair of obsidian
Eyes of emerald
She was a treasure
He could never measure
With any of the things he'd stole

At first sight he was a goner
Cursed to forever want her

Denial became his hindrance
A mask of endless indifference

He finally fled in fear
Sailing away from commitment
On a sea of his own tears"

Eleanor pressed a hand against her eyes as they began to sting, leaning her head toward the sky as she choked out the final words of the song in a slow soft voice that was on the verge of becoming a sob.

"He sailed the sea
Always thinking of she

His anchor ensnared
Never to be untethered

For all he could love...was h-"

Eleanor's voice cracked and she took a shaky breath to compose herself. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she finished the song in a croaky whisper. "her."

A loud sob tore from her throat immediately after she'd finished the word as if it was a part of the song.

Pulling her feet out of the wet sand Eleanor curled into herself, her arms wrapping around her legs as she buried her face into the coarse fabric of her dress. "Oh David..." She sobbed. "I miss you so much."

David is... was the love of her life before the ship he fished on sank in a storm. When Eleanor found out she was devastated. Not only because she'd lost him but also because she hadn't known she'd lost him until two weeks later; when the only surviving man stumbled into town with tattered clothes and a haunted look.

When he told her the news she couldn't do anything besides grieve. And sing. When he was alive, David would beg her to sing for him, always wanting her to sing a particular song. His favorite song.

The first night after she'd found out of his death, Eleanor had come to the shore and sang-as if by singing to the sea she would sing to him. Even now, months later, she still did it. She still cried afterwards too. In a way it was therapeutic.

Her sobs began to ebb as the night finally took over, the moon and stars brighter than ever in the darkness. She let out a small sniffle as she looked up from the snotty wet fabric of her dress, instead choosing to stare out over the water.

The moon lit it up, making a strip of it lighter as opposed to the darker blue coloring the majority of the vast expanse.

It was colder than before, the breeze running up her dress now chilling her legs, making goosebumps spread all over her body. Eleanor shivered. With shaky legs she got up, wiping her eyes as she did so.