THE COLOUR OF LOVE (Wattpadprize14)Completed

Chapter 4 - Shades of purple

Falling silently through empty space, Cherrie felt dizzy at the speed at which she seemed to be going down.  She suddenly remembered a childhood story, something about a girl falling down a rabbit hole that went on forever, but she was unable to remember the title.

Looking down at her feet, they seemed at odd angles, and her dress was not flying up as it should have been if she was falling down. It remained close to her body as if she was falling up instead of down.

She stared into the nothingness, trying to see something that would give her some idea of which direction she was going or where she was going to.  But it was just empty and so silent except for her heartbeat which she could hear really loudly in her ears.

Closing her eyes she tried to recall what had brought her to this moment, and the vision of the man running towards her appeared as clearly as if it was happening all over again. Quickly opening her eyes, she was relieved to see that he was not there to try and take her peaceful space away from her. Suddenly she felt, more than noticed, that she’d seemed to stop falling.

Her feet were in line again and she felt as if she was standing on something, but there was nothing to see, just empty space all around her, like she was lost in a thick fog.  She had no idea which way was forwards and which way was backwards so she closed her eyes and spun around, stopped, opened her eyes, and decided that she would walk towards the direction that she was facing.

The fog around her seemed to be thinning out as she walked, and the softest haze of lilac drifted in the distance.  The closer she got, the more of the space it took up and it seemed to be wafting slowly as if blown by a breeze.

She blinked a couple of times to make sure that she was not imagining things. As she ventured nearer to the lilac haze, it became darker and more intense. Unexpectedly, as if someone had flipped a switch, she found herself standing amongst giant purple orchids.  She had never seen anything quite like it in her life.  Each flower was a different shade of purple, each one the size of a dinner plate and the height of her waist. They seemed to be moving, like they were being blown by a gentle breeze, which she could not feel. She walked carefully through them so as not to break any petals and as far as her eye could see, was a continuous sea of purple orchids.

Whilst drifting aimlessly through the enchanting flowers and enjoying the serene peace and quiet, Cherrie thought she heard footsteps behind her.  Holding her breath she turned around slowly.

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Cole stopped beating his chest, stood up and walked to the edge of the road. He looked intently into the thick, fog-like space which the woman had jumped into.

He felt angry and frustrated that he was unable to stop her. The deep need to help her seemed to overwhelm him.  Without thinking of the consequences, he stepped off the edge of the road into the empty space.

It had been too late for him to help his wife, and now he had failed yet again, to help someone else.  The torturous memory of his wife, lying in a pool of blood on the bathroom floor, her vacant, lifeless eyes staring into nothing, would remain imprinted on his memory forever.

As these memories overwhelmed him, he realised that he didn’t know if he was flying or falling? He couldn’t tell.  Putting his hands out to the sides, he tried to touch the thick fog that seemed to surround him, but he couldn’t feel anything. Time seemed to stand still, and he had no idea how long his journey through this strange, empty fog continued or where he would end up.

Just as these thoughts crossed his mind, he felt himself come to a stop.  It was not abrupt, gentle or anything that he could put a name to. He just stopped in the thick blanket of fog. Putting one foot in front of the other, he tested what was beneath him to see if he could walk or if he would fall.

Having no idea where he was or what direction he should go in, he just walked in the direction that he was facing, automatically holding his hands up in front of him in case he should bump into something.

In what seemed a fraction of time, he stepped out of the fog and into a field of purple flowers stretching out towards the horizon.  Stunned at the scene before him, he walked cautiously through the plants that reached up to his waist.  He was not sure what they were, just that they were beautiful and must be a very rare species of plant.

He waded through the plants for quite some time, feeling their soft petals gently caressing his skin.  He was thinking how sensual it felt, when he noticed a dark shape bobbing through the flowers in the distance.

Feeling the need to catch up with this dark shape, he walked a little faster.  As he approached, he saw it was someone’s hair that bobbed and bounced as they walked.  Then the shoulders came into view, and he stopped in his tracks.  It was the woman who had jumped. He was so surprised, as he didn’t think he would see her again but he just knew that it was her. He recognized her dress.  It was a white, summer dress with shoulder straps.  He did not want to scare her again and so he knew that he had to approach her carefully as she’d seemed quite distressed when she’d seen him last time.

He was really pleased to see she was not hurt, but then when he thought about it, neither was he after he stepped off the road. It was all so confusing.