Lost – part 4
The inevitable.

Both women finally found rest in their isolation and slept. Neither dreamed, their minds finally as exhausted as their bodies. Only when the gulls began to greet the dawn did either stir from their respective cocoons of unawareness.

Tina stood and stretched her chilled and cramped limbs. Her body was demanding that she pay attention to her basic human needs, so she slowly headed back to her car for some kleenex and to see if she had even half of a candy bar she could eat for breakfast. Her car yielded supplies for both morning needs, and having dispensed with both tasks, she wandered aimlessly back toward the water.

As she stood looking out over the choppy water, Tina let her mind reflect on the seas effect on her. The ocean always evokes such emotion in me, such feelings of emptiness and longing. I suppose its natural that I should seek it out when I, myself, feel only emptiness. With a sigh, she broke the trance shed fallen into and allowed her gaze to sweep the coast. Her breath caught when her eyes lit on a seemingly familiar form almost obscured by a craggy spit of land dividing the beach from its neighbor.

It cant be. Its just my imagination, reasoned Tina as she tried to calm her heart. After everything that happened the other night, its no wonder, either. Determined to prove herself right, she began to walk toward the figure. She observed that the person had her (it was definitely a woman) arms wrapped around her legs and was staring out to sea, much as she had been only hours before. Tinas own pain and sorrow seemed to be reflected back at her, only magnified…if that was possible.

Bette was unaware that she shared her corner of the world with another living soul, much less Tina. She had risen and stretched herself into wakefulness, only to find that her legs could not support weight that awareness brought. Sinking back into the sand, she tried to empty her mind and regain the numbness she had enjoyed so much the previous night. Only the occasional tear betrayed her failure to empty her heart, as well.

Tinas heart almost stopped when she realized that the miserable mass of humanity before her was, indeed, her…it was Bette. *****. *****, *****, *****! she silently screamed, tears of frustration springing to her eyes. She had run as far and as fast as she could, trying to forget what had happened, with whom it had happened, and here was Bette ruining everything. Damn her all to *****!

Unaware of the tragedy being played out behind her, Bette concentrated on using meditation techniques to try and control her own emotions. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, do not cry, breathe in, breathe out…