A TANGLE OF LIGHT 

By Tessa Harvey


    Annabelle lay awake staring into the darkness. Her room was comforting with warm pale pink cream walls, beautiful floral chintz curtains and a small matching sofa. Their presence, unseen, still comforted her, making the night hours more palatable. She even thought how fortunate she was to have a home. A few years ago she had been on a committee helping the destitute. But that was then....
    The woman drifted into an uneasy sleep. The dream was unusually vivid with strong colours of sky and sea awash with lovely changing hues of blue and teal.
    Then abruptly she found herself in a forest. Many of the trees were deciduous, a kaleidoscope of warm browns, red, orange, yellow leaves, some still tinged with green, drifting as they fell. She saw herself as a young girl, laughing, throwing up the leaves, twirling with them as they fell with their rich evocative scent. They crunched joyfully underfoot. But then a mist came down damp and cold. The young girl felt lost and alone, afraid.
    The trusted glory of the leaves was hone in a tangle of light, as the sun tried to break through into the morning. The grown woman awoke in the still darkness, longing for love, for light, for hope.
 
--------------------------------------

    Damien Blackburn walked as quietly as possible into the bedroom. His wife was huddled over on the far side of the double bed. She was breathing softly, but he sensed she was not asleep.
    He sighed, changing tiredly into pyjamas, warm and soft, now the nights were turning cold. He tried to put his clothes tidily over a chair near the dresser. The passage light glowed into the room, giving enough light to see.
    "Ava," he whispered, longing for a response, a hug or interested question, even the love he knew she still had for him.
    Silence. In the night he thought of Ava, of their daughter Annabelle, and of Adrienne. All out of touch. He wanted to change this but how? How could one person move through tangled relationships and find freedom? He began to pray.

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