The Tempest

Andy looked at the umbrella by the door. Should he go after her, out into the rain, or should he just wait for her to come back?

He walked to the window, looking out at the turbulent weather.

He had always loved Cornwall, with its tempestuous seas and steep cliffs. But somehow, it's very wildness could make him feel uncontrollably angry, make him say things that he shouldn't!

He looked through the window, into the teeming rain. A lone figure walked towards him along the beach. It was Laura! Tall, willowy, beautiful, with her long black hair billowing behind her.

Andy turned and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He put down his empty whisky glass and with trembling hands, smoothed down his hair.

He thought back to earlier, the fight, the harsh words, the recriminations.

He had told her about Claire, the girl that he had met at work, how he had fallen in love with her, wanted to be with her, not Laura!

She had cried and begged, told him that she loved him and that she didn't want him to leave her.

She had run out of the chalet, into the wind and rain, saying that she needed to clear her head, needed to think.

She came closer. What would she say, would she be angry still, or would she accept that it was over?

Perhaps this holiday was a bad idea, maybe he should have told her before they had come.

What was that in her hand? He couldn't quite make it out. Something that she had picked up on the beach and thought may be useful, knowing Laura!

She opened the door, battling against the wind, and stepped into the room.

Her face was set, he couldn't tell what she was thinking, how she felt.

“Laura, talk to me! We need to discuss this, work out where we go from here!”

Her face suddenly became dark, frightening!

“I told you, I don't want you to leave me, I won't let you leave me!” Andy suddenly felt afraid. He had never seen this side of her before.

With horror he realised that she had a length of metal piping in her hand. She raised it above her head.

A look of confusion passed over Andy's face in the split second before the world exploded as Laura brought it crashing down on his head.

He fell to the floor, blood pouring from the wound. He looked up at her. “Why?”

She stood, silently watching as his breathing grew ragged and slow, the pipe dangling in her hand. “You will never leave me Andy, and you will never be with her”, she whispered.

He took his last breath, sighed and went limp, his eyes staring blankly.

Laura turned, opened the door and walked back out into the storm. He would always belong to her now, nobody else could ever have him!