Oblivion

Oblivion - Part 19

In all my life I have not felt as happy as I do now. With my arm around her, we walk along the lake. The weather is still lovely, but all I can focus on is her. I can smell a whiff of her perfume now that she's so close, her warm body against me is enchanting me. If this is the outcome of all the years of pain, sadness, fear and loneliness, I would do it all over again in the blink of an eye. She teaches me how to live in the now, not to worry about tomorrow. Although that was very different not so long ago, for both of us.

As our walk heads toward the landing pier, she breaks away from me. She looks at me provocatively and playfully. "Let's take a swim?". Overwhelmed by the suggestion, that would never have occurred to me in my life, I stutter out a few questions. To which she cheerfully without shame suggests going skinnydipping. Before I can say anything else, she is completely undressed and jumps into the water. I pick her clothes off the ground, fold them and put them in a neat pile next to me as I sit down at the end of the pier.

I would gladly have joined her, if I could swim. When she emerges from the water, I can do nothing but smile. But that smile quickly fades when I think about how she doesn't know I can't swim and all the other things she doesn't know about me yet. It's not that I want to keep things a secret, I just don't know how to tell her about my other reasons why I wanted to go to Duskwood. And certainly not now.

Her doctor has worked miracles. From the dull woman she was made into by the bastards, she's become the real self again in days. The twinkle in her eyes when I told her about my motorcycle, almost my second love. The clever puzzler she is, when we stepped out of the motel today, and she immediately realized that this was my last known hideout. The spontaneous action to go swimming naked. That's the woman I fell in love with, the crazy, spontaneous and confident woman. And I don't want to ruin that now, not now that she's finally found herself again.

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear someone approaching the pier. I immediately get up to see who it is, after all my girl is naked in the lake. A man in his late fifties comes up to me in a ranger outfit. I don't like his whole demeanor, but I'll be polite for now. "Young man, it is forbidden to swim in this lake." he tries to radiate his authority. He failed completely. "Yup, I know. Back in the day, you rangers used to come to ruin our Sundays." I smile at him fake friendly. "Oh so you're familiar with the area?" he asks semi interested, because he is constantly looking towards the water. "Yes, I lived here until my teenage years." I step aside to block his view and draw his attention to me. He pays little attention to me and leans to the side and yells at Layana that she has to get out of the water because it is forbidden to swim in the lake.

Just before she wants to get out of the water, onto the pier, I see the realization on her face that she is still naked. She politely asks the man to turn around. Only he refuses, with a misplaced joke. I feel my blood starting to boil "Sir, I would do as she says" I threaten. With a smug look on his face he looks at me "Is that a threat?". I clench my jaw and my fists "You bet it is!". If he hadn't chosen to turn around, I would have slammed his eyes shut, so he couldn't look at anything anymore. "Filthy creep, I know your face now. I would watch your back if you know whats good for you. One wrong look at her and I'll put you behind bars for a long, long time." I whisper to him.

I see the man stiffen a bit, then he walks away and quickly shouts another warning about swimming, then disappears from view. When Layana has dressed quickly, we walk back to the motel together. She didn't notice, and laughed hard at the mischief she'd been up to. Which lowered my anger, and laughed with her.