A little light, a little dark, a little mystery… 

This is the first of my posts in the ‘Five Photos – Five Stories’ Challenge, thanks to west517 for inviting me to join in!  As I am forever composing the beginning paragraphs of short stories in my head I thought perhaps this would be an opportunity to encourage one or two of them to blossom a little further!  So, to accompany a rather strange photo I took yesterday, here goes –   Please read on………………………………………………………………

The iron frame of an old garden chair stood near the half-open doors, illuminated by a cool halo of moonlight like an actor under a spotlight in the West End.  The beam picked out the silvery edges of a hundred cobweb garlands and the dust motes which floated by in the night air, the strange light turning everything grey-blue and ghostly.

A faint smell of aromatic aftershave made her turn her head instinctively towards the old staircase, as if he might suddenly appear at the top of the steps staring coldly down at her, hands gripping the balustrade, a venomous comment ready on his tongue.  But there was no human movement, only fluttering shadows from the torn curtains and the oak tree branches outside.

She clutched the letter tightly in her left hand, the paper was damp and soft now, the elegant, rather feminine handwriting only faintly visible. She stood still to listen, catching the chorus of an old love song blown on the wind from a summer party down in the valley. Voices, laughter, the hoot of an owl and then a sudden rustle nearby – just the leaves and the wind and a field mouse foraging.

She had rehearsed this moment a thousand times in her head, each time with a different ending, none of them fairytale, none of them happy.

“But why would you go, knowing him, after all these years, after what he did?!” her mother had almost screamed at her in fear and confusion.

“Because I have to, ” she had replied softly. Because for 10 years this is all I have waited for, she had said to herself.

Another rustle, a footstep, the smell of sandalwood tingled in her nostrils again and she shivered as a voice behind her whispered, the breath against her neck turning her skin ice cold, “So you have come after all, Isabelle.”

She remained motionless for a few seconds more, staring at the strange outline of the garden chair. Then two breaths slow and calm and her right hand tightened around the cold steel of the revolver as she turned at last to face him………………

♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠

The rules of the challenge are to post 5 posts over consecutive days, attaching a story to the photo, fiction, non fiction, a poem or a short paragraph and each day inviting a fellow blogger to join the challenge, I’m going to invite the most excellent Variety of Light to join the fun today but there’s no obligation!