| One Night Of Forever The rain beat a steady symphony upon the roof of Morgan’s` car. The water was standing on the road and the ditches were running full to overflowing. It was a cold, heavy rain that had come up unexpectedly just at twilight. |
Morgan had seven more miles to go before he reached the inn where he had booked a nights` lodging. The thunder clashed over head and lightening lit up the trees on both sides of the road making them appear quite eerie and foreboding, standing there in the rain, reaching across the road, yearningly, to each other.. |
In the headlights glow there was a sign “Shortcut Rd.” and pointing toward Newport. Any time saving at all was important in this storm. Morgan quickly made a left turn onto a gravel road in the appointed direction. |
Falling rain was now coming in torrents and Morgan leaned forward to see better...He was becoming a little nervous. |
Nervousness was something Morgan hardly ever experienced. His was a cut and dried life. He went to work came home, had his dinner and after listening to a little music, he went to bed and slept the sleep of a contented bachelor. He had never married and never fallen in love. The closest to love Morgan had ever come was his cat, Domino, a fat black and white fur ball whose main activity was sleeping and eating. Morgan had left him in the care of the neighbor, a kindly lady who loved cats. |
His vacation had taken him into the hills of Tennessee for some autumn sightseeing. The trees were well into their fall colors and Morgan hoped to get a few good snapshots for his growing collection. He was an avid photographer and almost never went anywhere without his cameras. |
The car had slowed to a crawl as it was getting harder to see and the tires had started sliding on the wet gravel. Perhaps this short cut had not been such a good idea….. |
The road was narrow and curvy, and seemed to be climbing ever upward. The short cut must be over the mountain. Not a good idea at all in this rain... |
And then it happened... The blue Saturn suddenly lurched to the right on the rain soaked gravel, seemingly with a mind of its` own and Morgan was unable to pull it out of its sideward slide. With a jarring stop, it was firmly mired in the ditch... |
Morgan pushed the gas pedal, only to be rewarded by the thud of flying gravel and mud flung against the trees behind his car. It was useless to continue .He was only getting the car deeper into the mud... |
Turning off the motor, he sat dejected, hoping it would not be long before help came along... Fumbling for his cell phone, he was frustrated to find that it had no signal in this area of the mountains. |
After what seemed hours, the thunder and lightning stopped but the rain still poured steadily down. He would wait until it slowed or stopped and then venture out to find help. |
There was nothing else to be done. Morgan only had a faint idea where he was and he thought he had heard that there were bears in this area. He bet that Domino at home was curled up on the sofa without a care in the world. Morgan wished at that moment that he was right there next to him. |
Morgan awoke with a start. He had fallen asleep and at first was at a loss to remember what had happened. “Damn,” he thought, when full awareness returned. The rain had slowed to a fine drizzle and it was as black as pitch outside. |
Looking at his watch, Morgan could tell it was hours from dawn .It seemed he had been stuck by the side of the road long enough, Time to take some action… |
Getting out of the car he inched his way to the back and around its trunk. Even in the darkness, he could tell it would take a tow truck to get his car out. |
Backing up he felt his leg touch something metal. Feeling along it, he could tell it was a wrought iron fence. There must be a house near! |
Morgan knew that if he followed along its` length he would find a gate somewhere. Inching along he finally came to it and it swung open with a rusty groan, In the darkness he could made out a white stone path way. Starting carefully down it, Morgan could make out the outline of a small house not too far away. He was starting to feel confident that help wasn’t far off. |
The darkness seemed to be getting even darker and thicker. Morgan was beginning to know how a blind person must feel. Slowly he came up to the small house. It had a low shaded porch attached and he stepped upon it and felt for a door. Here it was! With a sigh of relief he began to knock. There looked to be a yellow glow showing through the small window. Morgan knew it was a light from a candle. The power must have been off because of the storm. |
There was the low sound of a piano being played which stopped as Morgan knocked upon the door. No one answered his knock. He waited and knocked even louder. The door swung slowly inward… |
There, sitting at a piano in the middle of the small room, bathed in candlelight, with a “startled deer in the headlight” look upon her face was the most beautiful woman that Morgan had ever seen. |
Aware that he was dripping wet and probably looked like a drowned rat, Morgan held his hand up and said,” Please, Miss, do not be alarmed. I mean you no harm. I am just a stranded traveler seeking help” |
He saw that she had risen from her seat at the piano and was standing with her hands clasped in front of her. Morgan continued to speak, “I have had a mishap in the storm. My transportation seems to be stuck securely in the mud near your fence. I saw your light and heard your music and thought perhaps you had a telephone with which I could summon help.” |
She stared at him appearing confused.” Telephone??” her voice was sweet and pleasant, but puzzled...“I have no means of communication for you to summon help, but you are welcome to wait out the rain here.” |
“Thank you, Miss. I would appreciate that... just until daylight,” Morgan told her, looking around. It was a small room with no furnishings other than the piano with the lit candle atop it and some pictures upon the walls next to the two small windows that looked out upon the small porch. They looked to be old family pictures of yesteryear. He saw that there were several baskets and vases of artificial flowers here and there. It was a very sparsely furnished room indeed. |
“Do you live here alone?” he asked the young lady. It seemed a very isolated location here upon this mountainside. |
“I am alone”, she said quietly.” My father and Mother built this house for me so that I would always have shelter.” |
Morgan felt very nervous and unsure of himself under her gaze. He had never been silver-tongued with the ladies and now he felt especially tongue-tied. He wanted very much to get to know this young lady. He felt an attraction to her that was stronger than it had ever been with anyone else before. |
Making an effort, he asked. “Have you been playing long? I heard your piano when I was coming up the walkway and it was delightful.” |
She smiled then, and Morgan felt his heart skip a beat.” Thank you. I have been playing for years and years,” she said. “Do you like music? It has been a long time since I have played for anyone. Come sit and listen, it will help pass the night away.” With that she smiled again and Morgan felt his heart totally melt. |
Her eyes gleamed warmly in the candlelight and it cast darker shadows among the tresses of her golden hair. Her dress was one of crushed blue velvet with white lace at the throat and wrists in a style of a bygone area. Somehow it didn’t look old fashion on her. In fact, it looked rather perfect and fitting. She was truly one of the most elegant beauties that Morgan had ever seen. |
She sat back down at the polished piano and patted the place next to her on the bench. Morgan swallowed hard and took a seat next to her as she began to play. The music poured forth from under her fingertips like magic. Morgan was enthralled and closed his eyes and floated in the delightful river of notes, rising and falling like gentle waves. The melodies were so beautiful, poignant and yearning… |
What was happening here, a stranded man and a beautiful woman at a piano on a mountainside in the middle of the night and in the midst of a storm? Morgan did not know what was happening and did not care. It was as if time was standing still. |
She turned and smiled at him every once in awhile but Morgan’s` eyes were closed and he was not aware of her glances. She felt very comfortable sitting next to this man and playing for him even if they had only just met moments ago; the feeling was one that she had always longed for. She played on and on. |
Morgan opened his eyes feeling he had been in dreamland but she was still there and the music still played, soft and low.” My name is Morgan Summers,” he said. I am on vacation, a little road trip. I feel as if it has been fate that I have met you here on this stormy night. I am being forward, but I feel as if I have known you all my life, as if I never existed until this moment...” |
The beautiful head tilted toward him and he heard her whisper the soft words.” I know. I, too,” and she kept on playing, the music sweet and yearning... |
“My name is Elizabeth Ashley and I have waited for you so long, my dear Morgan.” She stopped playing and looked full at him.” I had vowed never to leave this world without knowing love and you have brought it to me.” |
Morgan reached out and took her hand between both of his. Her hand was small and cool, very, very soft. He raised it to his lips and said” Elizabeth, I have fallen in love with you. If it would please you, will you be my wife and share my life from now on? I am not a rich man, but I am an honest and a true one and I will try my best to make you the happiest woman in the world.” |
Elizabeth leaned into his embrace and said, “Dearest Morgan. I will love you forever. It is so hard to explain…perhaps you need to see? Kiss me one time, love and then go and look behind that huge basket of lilies on the back wall. Never, never forget that you are loved by your Elizabeth.” |
Morgan’s head was spinning and he was ready to grant her any request, no matter how strange. Looking toward the back wall in the dim light he could see the basket of lilies Elizabeth had spoken of. He rose, his lips still tingling from her kiss and went to the basket of flowers. |
He slowly moved the basket to reveal of all things, a marble grave stone. Leaning closer he saw an inscription... ‘Beloved Daughter Of John And Hannah Ashley Elizabeth Ann Ashley Born June 3, 1870 Died December 15, 1895 She now rests with the Angels’ Turning back to question what this meant Morgan found himself suddenly alone. There was no candle glow and light was beginning to show outside. He could see there was no piano and the soft carpet was nothing but a dirt floor. In panic, he read the inscription upon the gravestone once more... |
Morgan bolted for the open door, bursting out into the early morning sunshine. He saw the white graveled path that he had trod in the rain last evening. It led to an iron gate that was lined on both sides by rows of tombstones of various sizes. Across the top of the iron gate of the fence, next to where his car was, still there in the ditch, read a sign, ‘Ashley Family Cemetery’. |
Looking back up the path he had come down he could see the dim outline of an old fashioned grave shelter, crumbling now with age. Morgan had found the love of his life and she had died and been buried in this place for sixty years before he had even been born… He had spent one night of forever in a grave house.... ©June 30, 2009 Faye Sizemore -- "In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." - Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) |
