THE COLOUR OF LOVE (Wattpadprize14)Completed

Chapter 44 - Yellow Brick Road

Cole swore under his breath as his bride faded before his eyes, not even giving him a chance to seal their marriage with a kiss.

“Why?” Cole screamed out in frustration.

His sister jumped out of bed, tripped over the cushions on the floor and knocked over the coffee table in her haste to reach her brother.

“Cole, Cole what’s wrong?” Natalie called as she burst, limping through the bedroom door.

Cole was sitting up in bed looking angry and annoyed and in his hands he held the sketch his sister had done of Cherrie earlier that day. He looked across at his sister and said, “I have got to find her Natalie. I won’t rest until I do.”

“Cole for heaven’s sake it’s only 5am. Please go back to sleep.”

“Natalie, open the curtains please, quickly Nats please.”

“Cole have you completely lost your marbles now?” Natalie asked as she moved towards the curtains. Pulling them back she turned round and looked at Cole, “There, are you happy now?”

“The sunrise, it’s golden.” Cole remarked.

“Yes, Cole. It’s dawn. Now please can I go back to bed? And please don’t scream like that again unless it’s an emergency.  I nearly broke my leg rushing to your bedside.”

“Sorry Nats. Please can you open the window for me?”

Natalie sighed and opened the window. Just as she pushed the window open the movement disturbed the birds in the nearby tree, causing them all to fly up into the dawn sky.

Cole stared unable to believe his eyes, “Sis, those birds that just flew up.”

“Yes, Cole. What else has caught your attention besides the sunrise today?”

“They’re all white doves!” Cole exclaimed.

“And that’s unusual because?” Natalie asked staring at him through sleepy eye.

“It’s just like my dream Nats. Please listen.”

“Cole, please can we get into this a lot later when the sun is high in the sky. I’m not use to waking at dawn. And if I don’t get more sleep I am going to be ever so grumpy. You won’t like me when I’m grumpy Cole.” Natalie stated as she limped out of the room.

“Nats, please, you’ve got to help me find Cherrie.”

With hands on hips Natalie turned on Cole, “NOT NOW COLE! I am going back to bed.” Natalie slammed Cole’s bedroom door and crawled back into bed.

‘Cherrie, for God’s sake, where the hell are you? Please just appear, before Cole drives me nuts!” Natalie whispered to herself as she snuggled back into her pillows.

Cole sat staring out the window at the magnificent dawn sunrise turning from gold to brilliant pinks and purples. It was just too much of a co-incidence, this scene he witnessed outside his window, even the doves were a vision from his dream when he married Cherrie.

Closing his eyes he lay back against the pillows and brought the memory of Cherrie back into his mind’s eye just before she disappeared again. She really was the perfect picture of loveliness and he could not help wondering why they only ever met in their dreams. Frustration overwhelmed him again as he recalled their kiss that didn’t quite happen.  He could almost feel her lips on his. He thumped his chest hard.  Why was he being put through this agony? Why did it have to be so hard to find her? Where was he even going to start? He didn’t even know her full name.

Suddenly it occurred to him, ‘I wonder if she is even dreaming about me? For all I know all these dreams may just be one sided, my side only and she doesn’t even know or care that I am looking for her.’

With these thoughts running through his head, Cole stared helplessly through his open window watching the sun rise higher into the sky. He knew in his heart he would not stop searching till he found her and then he would explain the reasons he had been searching for her and see how she would respond. As if in answer to his thoughts, a white dove landed in the tree outside his window. It sat and stared at him for a moment, then spread its wings and flew off.

In sheer frustration, Cole thumped his legs really hard, causing the pain to shoot straight up into his head. “Aaaahhhh,” he moaned softly, so as not to wake his sister up again.

“She exists, I know she does and you Mr White Dove just proved it to me, along with your friends and the golden sunrise, just like the vision from my dream. I will find you Cherrie, if it takes me the rest of my life. I will find you and seal our wedding vows with that kiss. Only this time it will be real and you won’t disappear.”

Cole’s whispered words drifted through the open window and Cherrie suddenly felt warm all over. The kind of warm you feel when someone you love has just hugged you.

Cherrie reached out the window to pick up the tiny orchid and looked up at the sunrise. “I will find you Cole, I won’t stop until I do, and if you are married …..” She could not bare to think how she would react if this were true.

Cole suddenly felt at peace, his frustration slipped away and he whispered ‘I love you Cherrie’ and drifted off to sleep.

Cherrie kissed the petals of the orchid and felt a tiny thrill of excitement run through her. Placing the orchid in one of her childhood books she had read several times, The Wizard of Oz, with the intention of pressing the flower to keep forever. She read the title of the book again and thought to herself, ‘Cole, will I find you, if I follow the yellow brick road?’

Cherrie closed the book with the orchid pressed firmly between the pages and hid it under her mattress. Hoping this gesture would make all her dreams come true.

Cole fell asleep with a smile on his face and a feeling that he would definitely find his Cherrie.