Hope Burning

Chapter Eight:

As soon as Mark was through the door of his house he sat on the couch and pulled the carefully made bowl from its protective bubble wrapping and placed in the coffee table I front of him. He stared at it for what seemed an eternity while reflecting on his evening with Jessica Carrel.

         I can’t believe I told her about Kai! Mark was shocked at himself for confiding in Jessica about why he’d moved here and what had happened to his wife. Although strangely it made him feel better than he had in a long time to share with her his own desperation and hopelessness at the cancer that first ravaged then killed his precious Kai. They had been best friends since diapers and sweethearts since puberty. Kai had been his right arm and, truth to tell, probably his left as well.

         In his eyes, she had been every good thing about him and when she had died and he could do nothing to help he didn’t understand how he kept living, why he wasn’t dead and laid beside her. How could he continue to breathe in a world where Kai did not exist? The burden of grief that had laid so heavily upon him for the last two years had been lifted slightly after his conversations with Jessica. He felt like he could breathe for the first time in two years and this made him feel oddly guilty.

         Unable to help himself, he compared these two woman who seemed to have touched his life so intensely. Kai who had been absurdly small and petite, only reaching 5’2” in heels, seemed worlds away from the tall curvy woman who now lived next door. Her face had been a perfect oval with wide set almond eyes that were deep pools of warm brown with high cheekbones and finely sculpted features indicative of their shared Navajo heritage.

         Jessica, on the other hand, had a heart shaped face with emerald green eyes and olive skin; still with very fine bone structure but it was an exotic European kind that again was not anything like Kai’s. Her hair was like thick frothing waves of a dark ocean with russet highlights that shone in sunlight.

         They both did shared something though. It was the way they carried themselves. They each held themselves with an indefinable sense of dignity and composure. Both had kindhearted, gentle temperaments but with a core that seemed much stronger and resilient than one might otherwise guess.

         Yes, this woman who was so different from Kai reminded him of everything he had loved about his wife. She would have fascinated and intrigued him even if she didn’t remind him of Kai.

         Although Jessica refused to talk much about herself he had managed to learn quite a bit about her and the more he learned the more he wanted to know. She also seemed genuinely interested in hearing about Mark, his life and interests.

         His ancient cat Douglas slowly wandered over begging for attention.  “I wonder if she will ever tell me what happened to her.” he wondered aloud. Douglas simply looked at him with the disdainful indifference that only a cat can master.

         Mark picked up the aging feline and carried him to the kitchen and fetched him some food before heading for a shower and bed.

         That night for the first time in what seemed forever he dreamed not of his lost wife but of his beautiful mysterious neighbor.