Ella Jade: At The Beach by Ella Jade

I'm up next...

At the Beach is a series of micro-novels being posted on the individual blogs of some of the Beachwalk Press authors. You'll be able to find a short (100-500 word) installment of my story posted here each week.

The Waves of Change

At the beach, the last remnants of the setting sun glistened off the ocean. The evening air was moving in, making the balcony where Ally Nichols stood a few degrees cooler than just an hour before. Night used to be her favorite time. She recalled chilly evenings sitting by the fire with Jared. They'd always loved this beach house and tried to spend as much time there as possible. Jared already owned the huge house set back on the beach, overlooking the sea before they'd met. He was older and came from a wealthy family. Ally met him her senior year of college. They fell deeply in love, pretty quickly and married as soon as she graduated.

They had five really good years together before he was taken from her. She sipped her wine and tried to block out the last few months of his life. The chemo had taken its toll on his once strong and masculine body. The doctors had said treatment was a long shot, but Ally begged him to go through with it anyway. She was selfish because she wanted him to stay with her. That wasn't meant to be. He died the summer before.

It had taken Ally almost a year to return to the beautiful beach home that held so many wonderful memories for her. She'd finally come to terms with her husband's death. It had been a long and torturous year, but she was ready to start living again. Jared would have wanted that for her.

When she took a freelance assignment for a travel magazine taking pictures of beach landscapes, she knew the house would be the perfect location to begin. Photography had always been a talent she'd possessed, but painting was her passion. She hadn't picked up a brush since Jared was diagnosed, but she'd hoped the sea air would help get her artistic juices flowing again. Some of her best creations came to her when she spent time there.

She focused on the blank canvas in front of her. She listened as the waves crashed to the shoreline, watching as a few children still played down by the water. She'd been sitting out on the beach every day for two weeks hoping to find some inspiration. She'd found some. It just wasn't the kind she was hoping for.

Ally grabbed her glass of wine off the rail and headed inside. She turned on the gas fireplace, trying to ignore the covered canvas in the corner of the room. She'd promised herself she'd abandon that particular project and come up with something she could work with.

She pulled the sheet off her latest project and shook her head as those haunting blue eyes stared back at her. After a week of stealing quick glances at her unsuspecting subject she'd finally gotten those orbs the perfect shade of blue. Actually, she'd thought they were his exact color. Now she just had to make the lips more realistic. She closed her eyes and visualized the thin shape of his soft lips. She licked her own when she imagined his sexy, well-toned, sun-kissed body.

"Stop it!" She quietly scolded herself as she threw the sheet over the unfinished painting. She'd spent most of her days gawking at the sexiest lifeguard on the beach. He was an obsession she couldn't afford.

***

Up tomorrow is Theresa Stillwagon

You can find more micro-novels from these spectacular authors...

Picture taken from http://photobucket.com/profile/linabina227/index.