Book One First encounter

Part 6

Walking back over to the fire I dropped to my knees in front of it, turning the small grey dial on top, to the right towards the hallway, and pushing the ignition key down at the same time, watching as a row of bright orange flames shot suddenly upwards without warning.

Backing away onto the sofa behind me, I sank back into the soft cushions with a lazy contented sigh, my body ravaged by tiredness, my mind worn down by the day's events; the warmth of the fire, thawing out my partly frozen body, lulling me to sleep; my eyelids becoming heavy, until it got to the point where I could hardly keep them open.

My head nodding forward onto my chest, I had almost drifted off, a vision of Bella's beautiful face appearing in my mind. Closing my eyes I could hear her soft voice beckoning me into the darkness; the beach scene from the last dream I had of her materialising around her, hazy at first but becoming gradually clearer.

She was standing at the water's edge again, her arms stretched out in front of her, reaching out towards me. Her dark eyes urging me to come over, her lips silently forming my name; a warm feeling descending over me, I could sense myself taking a step towards her, her smile all the more inviting as I gradually closed the distance between us...I felt my hand slip into hers...could feel her pulling me closer to her...and then the phone rang, and the dream picture splintered into a thousand tiny fragments, and I shot forward in shock, and surprise, my heart racing as I forced myself to open my eyes.

"Wha..." I mumbled incoherently. Struggling to keep my eyes from closing again, I Lifted my arm up, tilting my wrist until I could see the glass face of my watch...it was 9.00, not as late as I had thought it had been.

Covering my yawns with the back of my hand, I walked back through the hall, and over to the phone table on legs that threatened to buckle under me.

Shaking myself awake again, I blinked rapidly to clear my mind, leaning on the wall for a moment to steady myself, as I reached over blindly for the phone.

Picking it up off the phone table, I lifted the receiver to my mouth.

"Hello?" I said, in a voice that sounded weak and weary.

"Hi sweetheart," Said the cheerful voice on the other end, which despite my head feeling as though it had been wrapped in cotton wool, I immediately recognised as my mum's.

"Hi mum" I said between yawns.

"You sound tired," she said "I hope you're not working yourself too hard" "No, I'm fine...just had a busy day that's all."

"You should get yourself up to bed...get an early night. You work yourself too hard dear...I worry about you sometimes, you do know that you need at lest eight hours sleep to keep healthy,"she stated, as if she was telling me something that I hadn't already been aware of before.

"I know" I said mentally preparing myself for yet another lecture on health issues, and more than a little surprised when there was none.

"How's the cottage?" she simply asked jumping onto to another subject entirely "Tell me...Is it as nice as it looks on the pictures?"

"It's better than the pictures...you and Dad should really should come down, and see it for yourself...when you've got the time..." I suggested "It's lovely really"

"We'll try and come down to see you in a week or so sweetie, then we can see it for ourselves, and I don't know maybe go have a look round the village aswell. Stop off at one of the local pubs, have a meal together like we used to. Spend some quality time together, and catch up on things,

. Until then will you just promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"Promise me that you'll take care of yourself, no pushing yourself too hard, you always were your own worst enemy when it came to trying to doing more than you were able... oh...and make sure you eat regularly, and get enough sleep...I mean we can't have you wasting away down there now can we,"