by Susan Wolfson
It’s midsummer
now, and getting hotter. Often I go out walking in the orchard, and I
tend to think a lot as I walk. It’s funny how life can sometimes
play cruel jokes on us. I was hoping that this Beltane would bring me
a woman with whom I had a lot in common— someone I could really love.
It’s been said that you should be careful what you wish for because
you might get it. That’s certainly true in my case!
This past Beltane eve I was alone and feeling pretty sorry for myself.
It had been six months since my lady had walked out on me, and, as they
say, “Once burned, twice shy”. My house is rather far out in
the country, so it was easy to sequester myself in my old farmhouse with
all its antiques. I wasn’t quite ready to expose myself to the slings
and arrows of fickle Cupid again, but I sure did miss having a woman around
the place.
That night I was feeling particularly tense, so, although it was well
past midnight, I went for a walk in the orchard to get my head together.
The blossoms had just fallen from the trees and the moon was bright. There
was a peculiar smell in the air, and the ground was soft under my feet.
Oddly, though, I sensed that I wasn’t alone. Then I heard the faint
sound of singing coming through the trees. The melody was vaguely familiar,
but I just couldn’t place it. Someone was with me in the orchard,
but surprisingly it didn’t feel at all unnatural, even at that hour.
She stepped from the shadows, a not very tall woman with a delicate build
and whispy sandy hair. I think she was as surprised to see me as I was
to see her. Her head tilted curiously to one side, as she tried to make
out who this strange man was who was walking in the orchard so late at
night. Strangely, she didn’t seem to be at all threatened by me.
“Hello,” she said as a half-smile passed her lips. Her eyes
sparkled in the moonlight with an almost elfin quality.
“What’s a nice girl like you doing out so late?” I asked.
“It’s too early in the year to be picking fruit.”
She shrugged. “Just out for a walk”.
That was something we had in common. I smiled back at her. “Me, too,”
I said. “You want to walk together?”
She nodded, and we did. We talked a lot that night. It seems that her
family was from the same country that mine hailed from– even the
same little town. It was amazing how much we had in common. Her hand found
mine, and they seemed to fit together perfectly. Our pace slowed down,
and we leaned against a large apple tree. I reached around her shoulders
and gently pulled her to me. She smelled so good. She nestled her head
to my chest, and then she looked up and kissed me. It was a gentle kiss
and sweet. She said, “I’m sorry. I’m not usually so forward.”
I laughed a little. “I would have kissed you if you hadn’t done
it first,” I grinned. The next kiss was more intense, as were the
stirrings I felt. It was so wonderful to feel her in my arms. My hands
started to explore her body. She was slim, but curvaceous and soft.
All of a sudden she backed away from me. Time had slipped by unnoticed,
and we both realized that light was beginning to glow in the east. My
house was becoming visible in the dim light. We’d been walking for
many hours.
“Would you like to see where I live?” I asked her. “I could
sure use a drink of something, and something to eat. Would you allow me
to offer you something?”
She nodded, and, holding hands, we walked over the little stone bridge
which led to my back door.
The rough-hewn door creaked slightly as we went inside. The house was
small-just three rooms. The only light was that of the dawn, but there
was no need for any more.
My boots were wet with the dew, so I pulled them off and kicked them to
the side with my foot. She laughed, and kicked hers off as well. I reached
for her, drew her to me and we kissed a kiss that I’ll remember forever.
The world ceased to exist for me, and all I knew was the intensity of
the emotion that I felt for this woman who had been a stranger only a
few hours before. I could feel stirring in her body and I responded in
kind. My bedroom was just off to the side. As she pressed against me,
I gathered her up, and carried her to the antique bed which had been in
my family for generations.
We sat on the edge, and I started removing her clothes– the hook
and eye fasteners causing me some difficulty. She helped me, and then
started pulling my shirt tail from my jeans. We slowly removed each others’
clothes, tossing them to the floor, and then sat for a while looking at
each other in the soft light. Her body seemed to glow with the dawn, its
nipples growing hard in the chill air.
“Oooh, it’s cold in here,” she breathed, and together we
dove under the quilt quickly pulling it up to our necks. Once in the warm
nest of my bed, my hands found her beautiful breasts. My head descended
beneath the covers and my lips kissed first one then the other. Her arms
reached around me, her graceful hands caressing my back. My muscles moved
in concert with her strokes. Our passion rose. My lips moved from breasts
to her mouth, and I started kissing her deeply, my tongue exploring and
moving in concert with hers. Our breathing became heavy and in rhythm
with each other. Her hands grasped my tightening buttocks as I entered
her, and I could feel with each thrust an intensity that filled my whole
being-our passion was all that had ever existed in the world surpassing
time itself.
We shared an explosive climax that was like the end of the universe, and
then a total peace. We lay in each others arms and slept.
As the sun rose higher, the room became brighter, and my goddess awakened.
She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and slowly looked around. She looked
at the house and at its furnishings, and a dismayed and shocked expression
came to her face.
“Oh, no!!,” she blurted. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,”
She jumped from the bed and sought out and found her clothes. Hurriedly
putting them on, she ran through the door out into the orchard. And all
at once.... she was gone. I had some trouble finding my clothes. I ran
after her but when I got outside, she was nowhere to be found. I tried
to retrace the path we had taken the night before, but when I came to
where I remembered the large apple tree, there was only a place that bore
the remnants of a rotted stump.
Total confusion filled me for a number of days, until I found an old hand-written
book and a tintype of someone who looked just like woman I had met in
the orchard. They were stuck in the back of a drawer in a bureau in the
attic. The book was that of someone who dabbled in magik. She had been
working with time travel. The story was an unusual one telling of a tryst
that took place one night near her apple orchard– a one night liaison
that had resulted in the conception and birth of a son. I looked at the
name on the flyleaf of the book– it was that of my great-grandmother.
No wonder the song she had sung that night in the orchard was familiar
to me. It was a family song that I faintly remembered hearing when I was
little. And now I understood her shock when she awakened, looked around
at the house and furniture and realized that she had spent the night in
incestuous passion! This was nothing that we had planned, so I don’t
see how it could be considered a sin. The true sin would be to allow her
to think I’d forgotten her. Each night I go out into the orchard
trying to find that doorway back to her. Hopefully, it will appear. So
if one day you find my house empty, you’ll know that I’ve found
my way to join the woman I love back in her time and help her raise our
son. I know he’ll turn out just fine because I remember him as an
old man. After all he was my grandfather.
— Written March 2001 —
