Page 128 - The Houseguest

swirled and amassed in front of me to form the silhouette of a woman, transparent, yet standing in front of me as if she were by my side again. She felt too real to be a figment of a madman’s mind. I reached out, and as my hand penetrated the form, it felt like ice crystals, as though I’d literally reached inside the mist of a cloud. And then she was gone.
I stood in place for I don’t know long, could’ve been minutes or hours. When I returned to reality, my mind was racing. I checked that Rachel’s confines were secure, and left the house. Running out to the sand where I’d set free her cremains, I slammed my knees into the sand near the crashing waves along the shoreline. The cold spray from the ocean stung as it slapped my face and merged with my tears.
“ARE YOU HERE?!!” I cried out, “Karina, where are you? Please my love, come back. I need you.” I flipped over onto my back as the water began to rush over my body with the recurrent waves. My body surrendered to the rhythm of the ocean and the saltwater entered my ears, my eyes and my nose, as I gagged reflexively. Though I wanted to, I couldn’t die today, not here, not now. I needed to know why Karina came back from the other side. Perhaps she carried with her a message of hope, guidance, something I could hold onto. I finally stood up, woozy and bewildered. Since it was off-season, the weather was cold and the water felt like ice against my skin.
I called out again: “Karina, please my love...come back.” My pleas returned a deafening silence as even the sound of the waves colliding with the sand and rocks seemed to fade away. She wasn’t here. She probably wasn’t at the house either. I was reaching the edge once again, or had I crossed over? I shook my head violently as my wet hair swung
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The Houseguest by Linda Ellis www.LindaEllis.life