Copyright – Roger Bultot
She leant on the rail of the great liner, like a bird on a wire preparing to fly south.
Their love had followed the seasons, verdant shoots bursting open-hearted in spring and ripening into voluminous colours of summer passion.
While guiltily hiding their illicit love, cruel autumn crept up and green turned brown.
She chose to stay with what she had. “For the best,” she said, “Doomed compromise.” He thought, “Cold winter’s looming.”
Looking up into the midday sun, he felt the tears slide down his cheeks and fancied he saw others drop from the rail of the top deck.
Written for Friday Fictioneers – a 100 words story based on a photo prompt. Hosted by Rochelle. Read the other entries here
Michael Wynn 
I love the way you have assimilated their love to the seasons 🙂
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Thanks Clare, that’s what I was trying to do, glad it worked.
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Very well done. I like the image of the two tears.
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Thanks for your comment.Glad you liked it.
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I know you didn’t mean this, but I was tickled by the idea of an eternal sea journey that lasted four seasons. The liner, by the way, was a great way to show the class difference
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Yes a friend of mine recently went on a cruise on one of these great ships and showed me a picture from the dock and the sheer height of the thing was amazing. The sea journey wouldn’t have lasted four seasons but she was already far above him and heading further away. Thanks for reading.
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A beautifully rendered illicit love-story in terms of seasons and birds. I don’t know whether you intended this, but these lines:
“Looking up into the midday sun, he felt the tears slide down his cheeks and fancied he saw others drop from the rail of the top deck,”
made me think of the birds on the wire dropping down like tears.
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Great piece. I like the analogy of love to the seasons – we have to hope that for ourselves we can fend off winter!
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Winter the cold, cruel season whether literally or in the way love turns. Thanks for your comment
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I didn’t mean that but I was trying to get the essence of the distance between them, physically and otherwise. Could he really see her tears or was he imagining them in hope? Thanks for reading. I love it when you write something and meanings come out afterwards or readers see things you didn’t realise you’d written.
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Dear Michael,
Lovely comparisons and vivid descriptions made this a good read. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you Rochelle
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Beautifully written.
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Thank you. Pleased you liked it.
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The season works so well as metaphors and for real. You might always wonder if they made the right decision
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I hoped to imply with the result being a cold winter, the decision was a compromise which was doomed to fail.
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Beautiful poetry of seasons of love.
I teach a marriage course in which we talk about seasons in marriage and the pressures/treasures of each season!
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Thank-you. What a lovely comment. I suppose in every marriage there comes an Autumn that you have to make sure doesn’t turn to winter.
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True. However we talk about how each season – spring early days of marriage when all is fresh and green, summer with kids coming in when all is activity and sowing, autumn when you start to enjoy the fruits of labor and winter the twilight years when you have time for each other!
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Your story took me to Titanic and a young couple. Then I saw winter arrive as the ship slipped under the water.
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Thanks Mike
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Beautiful, how the seasons mirror the love story. Safety over happiness–I wonder how long that happiness would have lasted if there had been financial straits. I hope for him that there really were tears falling, then, at least, the love was real.
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Yeah, were there tears falling? Could he have seen if there were? Was it all in his imagination because that’s what he wants to believe? Thanks for your comment.
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Good story, Mike. I wasn’t quite sure if he was on the boat or watching it. Creative blending the seasons with their love. Well done. —- Suzanne
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Thank you
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