The Offering

A chameleon stirred in the shrubs next to Jerrod. The sand path beside the bungalow was dark, in deep shadow. Steps placed from memory, he walked towards the beach.

'If life feels this good...how can so much have gone so wrong...' His thoughts drifted under the moonlit sky. The wind stirred, just a breath, and heavy palm fronds rustled overhead. Past the corner of the bungalow, the yard opened wide and clear. Fifty feet of anemic grass before the beach proper and the calm smooth sea beyond. His eyes lifted to run out over the golden ribbon painted across the water by the setting moon.

The night was perfect.

Soft warm sand caressed his bare feet. The air was moist and thick, heavy with a brine-soured bite. The high water mark was carved into the beach, a six-inch ledge in the otherwise smooth expanse of black sand. One stride took him onto the wet, hard-packed surface. Two more had his feet at water's edge. Sand swirled around his feet. The movement and tickle of the tiny hairs on top of his feet were the only indication that warm water washed over his feet each time a swell ran up.

From down the beach, he heard the fast beat of calypso, softened by distance.

The music drifted on the wind from Charlie's, the gritty beachfront local's bar. It was where he first met Savo. His reaction when he saw her unsettled Jerrod until it registered; her hair was darker, her body lighter, her face softer, but the walk...that smooth self-assured grace a woman at ease with her beauty possesses...it reminded him of Maggie.

'Did I have to leave without a word, a note, an apology?' It haunted him. For a year he had buried the memories. To have the façade crumble and expose his raw pain so easily angered Jerrod. Memories of Maggie seared through him, from clenched jaw to hard-knotted stomach as his eyes traveled down the beach towards the approaching woman.

A silhouette in the bar's dim lights, Savo came as arranged. Even in the sand, she moved with feline grace, a dark sultry motion in the night.

No ancient grove to chant in, no garden to romp naked in; Jerrod had chosen this place carefully. A place between domains of the Lady and the Horned One. A place to cleanse himself. And Goddess you shall have your dance of naked bodies...here, on the sand. He felt the erection grow in his slacks.

Savo floated up to him in silence. Her soft body pressed against him like apparition out of space and time. Jerrod shuddered as he proffered the five crisp bills. The money vanished with a deft motion of her hand past her bag. Her large dark eyes swallowed him, transported him.

Litha night, full of life and promise.

His lips sought hers. With the first soft touch, his pent-up energy rushed forth. The world spun beneath Jerrod. Her body moved against him.

"Maggie my love..."