Hidden through time

3. Wishing well

                  

Written 2015 by VeGirl ©

That next morning a dense fog covered the surroundings. Everything bathed in a milky white nebulous distinction that made the view hard to appreciate. Clouds seemed to rest directly on the rocky hills, giving the green fields and hills a cold and inhospitable impression.

"Isn't this the ultimate bias of the highlands?" Charles sighed with a frown as he looked out the window of the diningroom while he filled his plate with another batch of delicacies.

I felt a whole lot better, more alert than I had been in years. I would not let his mood taint that. "The clean air is good for you!" I used that stern voice again that I had needed while our children were growing up.  "I feel much better since that walk yesterday."

Charles reluctantly admitted that he had actually felt alert, but he had rather taken the car to go sightseeing. "Didn't Jeremy Clarkson and the guys on Top Gear speak of a road up here in the highlands that was amazing?"

I turned and gave him what can only be described as a glare. "I will not sit in a car just to see some road."

I'm sure Charles wondered when I had become the boss of him and why he hadn't noticed before. That had been a matter of discussion before and I recognised the frown.

"But if you want to take a ride in the car, it's okay." I smiled at him.

Remnants of old conversations sifted back to me and I knew as well as him why he hadn't noticed. The instant I had smiled at him on that old dancefloor so many years ago, he knew he had to have me, even if I had gone there with some other bloke.

In his eyes I had been stunning and he still thought I was.

"We can meet up later." I smiled through the slight disappointment and Charles quickly took that escape route.

"Have a nice time, hunny." He kissed me and exited that room.

If we hadn't been married for fifty years, I might have thought that he was avoiding me for somebody else. I was well aware that he simply wanted to skip the walk. He had never been an outdoor kind of guy and I had been surprised of how easy he had been persuaded the day before.

It seemed easier to lace those bootstrap or at least to bend down and reach them. I smiled and made a decision to start taking daily walks again if they had this effect.

A thought crossed my mind as I half an hour later walked towards the vast nature again. I had no sore muscles. Sure I often took walks, but not in such a rich nature and I had been certain that I would be sore today.

A smile graced my face and it even seemed that my heart felt at ease to walk off.

Charles had been more adventurous in the beginning of our marriage, but perhaps it had been the long walks during our honeymoon that had made him more and more reluctant to get out by foot. It could have been an age-thing, but hey you can't change time, can you? The more I thought about it, I realised he indeed had rather stayed indoors than went on any walkabouts.

Memories of our life together clouded the fresh air and even if I had been happy, I didn't want to live in the past. I wanted to be in the moment right now, so I pushed those memories away and briskly stalked over the moor.

Despite the chilly weather it felt good to get out there.

Shrubbery hinted that the forest was closing in and I was anxious to get there. Carefully I stepped over the shrubs. I doubted that the blackberry thorns were poisonous, but I didn't want to be scratched anyway.