I was sitting next to the old man and we were having tea at the breakfast table. His eyes were shy but his tone was perfectly controlled. The words aligned in a rich order to construct a paved shiny road to an unknown place.
…I followed the voice with all the delicious images floating forward, he took his time to tell his story I took mine to enjoy it.
He was taking an elevator in a hotel somewhere in a sunshine country when a young boy ran inside before the door closed. The child hugged him intensely crying of joy. When he finally raised his eyes toward the surprised man he said “papa”, so glad you have returned home,….coming back to us, we have missed you so.
I could guess his feelings but I guess wrong. He had no feeling of doubt or guilt. The boy wasn’t his. He was astonished but he marveled in the light of this meeting. The old man walked back with the boy to his modest home.
…so what happened I asked, eager to be with them now.
- Well, he said, I went to meet my wife.
I travelled fast and far to the dark ages in France and felt I just was introduced to Martin Guerre. The one who used to puzzle me so. How can a man take the place of another with the blessing of all the family and friends of the previous Martin? It worked for a while until envious people would tragically end the story.
I still can’t understand what drive a soul to integrate another soul through an abandoned life. But I can imagine it and feel in all my flesh and bones how happiness can come from the most obscure corners of our conscience and that it needs to be protected and cherished.
In front of us the tea was cold. His eyes were distant. I knew he was far in her arms.
The Raven's Nest 
This was deeply moving.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLike
Great story 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
A good idea for a story.
If I may be presumptuous and comment on the style, I would say it needs a little work. There are a few spelling and grammatical errors. Those are easily corrected.
Sentences are tough. All thoughts are contained in a sentence or a part of a sentence. Too often the writer combines sentence and, therefore, thoughts which are inconsistent, incongruous, or illogical.
For example, “He was taking an elevator in a hotel somewhere in a sunshine country when a young boy ran inside before the door closed.”
This sentence contains three images and three sentences. First, somewhere in sunshine country there is a hotel. Second, the old man was taking an elevator to somewhere, perhaps his own room, perhaps not. Before the elevator door closed a young boy jumped inside.
Then something happened.
Last sentence, “I knew he was far in her arms.” is a unclear.
The Return of Martin Guerre is a great movie. My take on it is that some people are sticklers for the law, others prefer happiness. The real Martin was not a lovable character and so his wife chose happiness over social convention. Guerre and war are synonymous. Good stories are about being at war with our conscience, our friends, our family. That is life.
Keep up the hard work and enjoy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Arthur,
For everything. I wish I could learn but I have given up on structure a long time ago. I am like Martin wife, I follow feelings more than grammar and I am afraid I was never impressed by spelling things right by anyone. Words are just ships and perfection never made a good trip.
You are not presumptuous, you have values and I used to envy them. Thank you so much to have taken the time to read me or take a look at my images. They are also far from perfect like me.
LikeLike