MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE ON THE BEACH - #BLOGCHATTERBLOGHOP

                

                          Unsplash

The bottle bobbed up and down in a gentle motion as the waves pushed it towards the shore. The young girl watched it languidly, as she sat with her friend, making the most of a Saturday evening. The beach was crowded with people milling around – families enjoying the balmy sea breeze, children screaming as the waves licked their feet, lovers sitting holding hands, and the vendors shouting in raucous voices. “Peanuts!” “Ice cream!” “Soda!”

The girl’s eyes were still on the bottle. She had been brought up on fairy tales and romances, and she wondered if there would be a message nestling inside the green bottle. Her friend laughed when she heard this.

“You cannot be serious!” she quipped. “In real life, bottles are cast away by drunkards or litter bugs. Neither will have the inclination to write messages.”

The girl nodded, but her imagination continued to wander of its own volition. Would she do well in life? Would she find her true love? Would her dreams finally come true?

The bottle had reached the fringe and was now embedded in the moist sand. It shone, green and bright, almost like a beacon light, signalling to her.

She stood up with a lithe movement and made her way towards it, leaving shapely footprints on the sand. Her friend watched her, an amused smile lighting up her face.

The girl swooped down and picked up the bottle. She wiped away the sand that clung to it and peered inside. Within the brilliant green she could discern a tiny piece of paper right at the bottom. Heart pounding, she waved to her friend.

“A message! There is a message!”

In an instant, her friend stood up, as the girl hurried towards her.

“Look inside!” The little note intrigued her friend as well. What could it be?

They took turns at shaking the bottle vigorously. Finally, the note fell out, and they could make out something written on it in blue ink, ink that had thankfully not spread. The writing was clear, written in beautiful cursive, the curls embellishing the calligraphy. The girl’s heart pounded as she gazed at it, the words imprinting themselves on her mind.

“With love and yearning, this little note I write

I sit in my opulent home; all I need is a wife;

A partner I desire, a maiden just right,

Who can live with me in joy, and without any strife!”

At the bottom was another short message. “If you want to meet me, I will wait for you by the cove at twilight.”

The girl’s face lit up, and she smiled at her friend.

“Oh, this is so romantic! Maybe, this message is meant for me.”

The friend, who was made of sterner stuff, scoffed.

“Don’t be silly! You cannot depend on a message in a bottle that floats up from nowhere. You don’t even know the writer. This could be a joke.”

Her heart sank when she saw the excitement on the girl’s face. She was not even paying heed to her words. Starry-eyed, she was re-reading the note.

The man stood hidden in the shadow of a fishing boat, his gaze on the girl’s animated face. She was beautiful, just the kind of girl he was looking for. She was perfect.

He would come back at twilight for the rendezvous, he thought with a smile, as he caressed the sharp knife that was tucked away in his pocket.

 #Messageinabottle #Blogchatter #beach #seaside #suspense

This post is part of #BlogchatterBlogHop for the Prompt 1: Message in a Bottle on the Beach