Eves Dropping On The Beach
“I love her so much. I just can't believe...I'd do anything for her.” I nearly dropped my book as the man's voice burst through the air, his words slurring and stumbling. A drunk. Should I move? Goddamnit, and the view of the sea is so nice here.
“Shhh, shh, not so loud, Bert. The whole city'll hear you.” And he has company. Company just as drunk as he is, going by the sound of him. I should move.
“But I have to. I have to talk about it. You said, you said, it's good to talk about stuff. Especially,” there was a loud patting sound as if the first man, Bert, was thumping himself in the chest. “Especially feelings. Said it’s healthy. And I want the whole world to know, how much I love her!” Or maybe I’ll stay. They sound harmless and unless they pass my beach hut, they won’t see me.
“Sharup! Mate, mate, the police’ll be on us if you keep yowling. Yowling? No, wrong word.”
“Mmm not a cat. But, but that’s the problem.”
“What, she wishes you were a cat?”
“No, no. But you know um, you know her cat died last week?”
“No, not Princess. Is there gonna be a funeral?”
“No. Alice, she doesn’t want that, she wants, she wants me to, to resurrect her. And I said I’ll take her down to the shelter and I’ll buy her a new cat but she cried and said she didn’t wanna get her heart broken again. So, I’ve gotta look through my books on black magic, but I tried resurrecting a dog once and it came back all yucky. I don’t wanna do that again.” Necromancy. Damn, he’s got a strong stomach. There aren’t many people I know of who’ll touch that branch of magic.
“Oh, mate,” the other man said as I heard a muffled thud, like someone had sat down very suddenly on the sand.
“I just love Alice so much you know, I just wanna make her happy.”
“She feels the same way mate. I know she does. I was talking to her just yesterday, and she said, I’m so glad I married Bert, he makes me feel like the most wonder, wonderful person and I love him more than anyone else. So, why don’t you tell her how you feel? That you want to make her happy, but you don’t wanna bring back Princess ‘cause you’re worried something’ll go wrong. Eh?”
“You’re a great friend, Pat,” Bert said, mumbling something else I couldn’t make out before falling silent. I couldn’t help the smile on my face as I packed up my things and prepared to sneak past the two men. Alice was a lucky woman. I only hope I meet someone who loves me just as much.
Published 19th of September 2023