The Shell Pt. 1

[simplified]

Alright, so here is a short story that I wrote in the heat following the end of my last relationship. If you want to know how that ended, check the thread in the Broken Hearts forum (It's over.). Anyway, this was written about 3 weeks ago, coming to you straight from my myspace blog. So, without further babbling, I present to you--

The Shell

They held hands as they walked along the water. Bill and Stephanie had been together for about two months, and it was a fascinating young love. Both felt as if there was no doubt in their minds that they would be together forever. The sun was low in the sky, and the beach was empty. Stephanie's long, auburn hair was flowing in the wind. It was her thighs. Bill couldn't get enough of them. They were shapely and curvaceous, and he couldn't take his eyes away. It was his face, she thought. His face could carve a hole in diamonds. His piercing glance and steel-blue eyes saw every thought in her mind before she even had to speak it.

Both of them were smart and good-looking people. But both of them also had pure hearts. They had made their mistakes, but they found each other, and they felt like that was all they'd ever need.

As they were walking, Bill saw something gleaming in the sand in the distance. As they neared it, he stooped, and picked it up. It was a small, perfectly circular Mother of Pearl. The sun was red like a mist of rosepetals, and it's fierce blaze turned the shining rock into a ruby of fire. He looked at her and said, "This is the most beautiful thing on this beach. Though the grains of sand are beyond count, and the shells and rocks are all huddled and massed in disorganized clumps, this beautiful piece of nature found a way to us...and it reminds me of you. Though the people on this world are too many to count, and the dark forms of them as they walk through their lives are huddled and busy, you were shown to me like this gleaming piece of rock, standing out among the masses. I want you to cherish this, like I will always cherish you." Then he took her in his arms and kissed her.

Months, and then a year or two, passed. Bill and Stephanie had their ups and downs, just like most relationships do. Every now and then there was a big fight, but they were always able to work through it. But inside, Stephanie was dying. She was losing what she felt for him. She didn't know why, or how...but it was happening nonetheless. Though Bill tried desperately to save it, and put his whole heart into making it work, it was to no avail. Stephanie's heart had changed. Bill and Stephanie ended their romance after three years, relatively peacefully.

Stephanie felt better immediately. She was free, independant...she didn't have to worry about someone else all of the time. She could go throughout her day without having to check in with someone, and she didn't have to worry about a fight waiting for her around every conversation. It was a much better life, absolutely.

Bill was another story. Bill knew what Stephanie was. He knew that she was a one in a billion type of gal. Sure, he had messed up a few times here and there, but he would always ask himself...could I have done anything differently? What if I had? His life was dominated by those questions for years after it was over.

Years passed. Bill graduated college and became a contractor. He had met a girl at the university, and they had fallen in love. At the age of 26, Bill had finally forgotten about Stephanie and their failed relationship that ended 5 years earlier. But not completely. Late at night, when his new wife, Ally, was sleeping next to him, he would have old thoughts. A beach with a fire-red sunset would haunt his dreams. But every day, he would wake up, and wouldn't remember the dreams of the night before. He would kiss his wife good-bye, and head off to work, tackling the day.

Stephanie also graduated college, as a business major. She had gotten a job at a major engineering corporation and scored a nice salary. She had gotten over Bill much easier than the opposite. She met a wonderful man named Steve, who was associated with one of their vendor firms. The two were married, and Stephanie was extremely happy. Bill hadn't been in her mind since a year after they broke.

But Bill began to have problems in his marriage. Regular marriage problems, maybe...but something was causing him to escalate them. Even he didn't know what. Ally had no idea what was bothering him, and her attempts to have him talk to her left her empty-handed. Bill simply didn't understand it either, but he always had a nagging feeling like something was wrong. Well, not wrong...but just not quite all right.

Steve and Stephanie had a different situation. Sure, they had their problems, but Steve was a good man, and he treated Stephanie with everything she deserved. But sometimes, very rarely, something he would do would bring a sudden jolt of a memory back to Stephanie. Piercing, steel-blue eyes. A scruffy beard. A gleaming, red shell. She put it out of her mind, because she didn't understand it.

Bill and Ally grew old. Their children were all gone to college, and Bill had retired. He loved Ally with all of his heart, and he had shown it. That small blip of--whatever it was--had passed shortly after it began. He never did find out what felt like it was missing, but he buried it. Whatever it was, it was in the past, and nothing could change it now.

Steve and Stephanie grew old as well. Their only child was working in a food corporation, and both had retired. Stephanie had become increasingly sad, but it was attributed to just aging. "It was understandable," Steve said. "It's hard to get old, but at least we're doing it together." And he smiled. Stephanie felt better, and hugged him.

Then, one day, Ally died. She was 63, and had had a heart attack. Bill and his children, and his grandchildren, all wept together. But all were at peace. They knew that she had spent her time the way she should have here, and because of her they were all there together. Bill missed her terribly.

Around the same time, Steve suddenly died in his sleep. Stephanie mourned terribly with her child. She missed him so much, because he had always been there for her. Their long years together had been so wonderful, and so worth it. She prayed, so that he would listen, every day.

Bill had turned 70 some years later, and decided to move out of the house. It reminded him of his wife too much, and made him sad to think about it. A nice, fresh change would be perfect. He climbed into the attic and started mulling some things around, each thing bringing up memories. Old CD's, magazines, books, reports for school, pictures of his friends..he smiled and laughed and his childhood. Then, away in a corner, and covered in dust, he came across an unmarked box. He wiped it off, but there wasn't anything at all written on it, save the old grocery label that the box had come from. He opened it...and gasped.

Inside were pictures, and posters, a teddy bear, some picture frames, cologne and perfume bottles, love letters...the works. Bill was taken aback. He couldn't remember any of it. Then, at the very bottom, was a small, black-hardboard box. He blew the dust off of it, and opened it.

It was the shell.

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The story's too long for one thread. Continued on the next...