Trip to Serenity
He’d been down the coast so many times, that no one even bothered to wait for him any more. He’d take off at dawn then kayak his way down coast ’til he came to Serenity. Do his shopping, then return to their isolated village some 500 miles away. The trip sometimes took as much as a month, depending on the weather or who he met along the coast.
Jim Mathers loved kayaking, he loved the wilderness and he loved being alone. A few months before he disappeared back in ’14, he’d gotten married to a young woman who’d come to teach at the local school from somewhere in the lower 48. They seemed happy enough, but Jim, well Jim liked to be alone and sometimes they’d have words about him walking out into the wood without saying a word and not coming back ’til the next morning!
Mary Hellen had her work with the school, which kept here pretty much occupied. Still, she wanted to have Jim more to herself and would have liked to share more time with him. She couldn’t understand his need for solitude.
They were both poets. Seems he could just whip a poem out without any efforts…Mary was a perfectionist, and loved her forms and rules, something she tried to teach Jim, but he didn’t take much to.
One day they had words once again after Jim had been walking out in the woods for two days. He never became angry and didn’t this time either. As she shouted and cried, Jim just looked on a little bewildered. Then he went to their room, packed up his backpack, and as he went through the livingroom, he passed her his folder full of his poems.
He gave her a passionate kiss and then said: “I love you Mary Helen and I hate to see you upset. I’m going to Serenity.”
“That was the last time I saw Jim,” Mary Hellen said years later,
“I sat there and waited, but he never came back.”
@)—>—>—
The Speakeasy Prompt: Your piece must include the following sentence as the LAST line: “I sat there and waited, but he never came back.”
Oh the ending just broke my heart 😦 I already developed sympathy for Jim as he was poet and I love poets but why did he leave Mary after expressing his love… Beautifully written story.
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Well, we don’t know exactly what has become of Jim…a bit up in the air there…but he left her his poems, so he knew he wouldn’t be coming back, though that doesn’t mean a tragic end….
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I loved your story.
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I’m happy you do…thanks for the comment!
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Sad and a little eerie. Makes me wonder what and where Serenity is.
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Oh, I like that idea…when I wrote Serenity, in fact I was thinking about an old TV series called Firefly…but don’t tell anyone 😉
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I was thinking of that too, but the movie instead of the series. Weird to think of it as old.
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Yeah…for me it’s even weirder to think of it as old…since I only ust came across the tv series…shame they discontinued it after only one season…great show.
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He sounds like too much of a lone wolf for marriage. I think Serenity was anywhere where she wasn’t harping on him (I think my husband goes there mentally at times, but he hasn’t packed a bag yet 🙂 )
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LOL yes, I think you’re right…actually between you and me, I know him better than I imply here in the story 😉 let’s say he’s male part of my personality and that there are times when I would like to go to Serenity too…
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You fulfilled the prompt perfectly for me. Nice writing.
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Thanks glad you liked the write!
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Very moving! This was also believe-able….he could love her passionately and yet needed to go. This was a great use of the prompt.
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Yes, I think you’re correct, perhaps if he’d stayed they would have lost their love for each other…a thought.
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Great story! Too bad it didn’t work out so great for Mary Hellen…
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Ah..sometimes we have to learn that love needs space to grow in…
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There’s a great big wide truth!
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🙂
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Nicely done! That need for solitude can be overpowering, can’t it? I hope Jim found his peacefully.
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Seems there was pleanty of space for him…it’s a shame that in relations sometimes the need for space can’t be understood… Thanks for your comment Suzanne! Ciao.
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I love the idea of his going up and down the coast. Sounds meditative. Heartbreaking, but people do what they need to do.
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Yes…must agree with what you’ve said here…thanks for your comment.
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Very poignant. I like to think Jim moved on to a quieter, happier life in Serenity.
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I think that’s exactly what he did…even though he loved her.
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Reminds me of australian aborigines. They need going bush from time to time. We all need it! A sabbatical is a sort of that today. Well written.
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So I’ve heard…I think probably many of us need a little more private time, which sometimes is not something our companions understand…Thanks for your interesting comment!
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I am very familiar with the quest for solitude. It seems to run in my family. I really enjoyed your story.
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Thanks for sharing…and I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
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