The Sparrow and The Swann
I stood out in the rain for what it felt like days. I felt every water droplet hit my skin ever so innocently. I looked up at the sky, and stretched out my arms as if I had wings. I smiled for the first time in weeks. I loved the rain, it reminded me of freedom. Every little water droplet had its own imagination and its own destination.
I looked at the ground and saw my reflection ever so delicately. My eyes wandered around the puddle. The tears streaming down my face now blended into the rain, but the redness in my eyes did not. I danced around in the rain, as if I was a little girl experiencing it for the first time.
My routine was interrupted as I heard my husband say, "Come in, Darling. It's time". I walked into my house, rubbing my sore eyes. I nodded at my husband as he lead me into the house.
He looked at me carefully and said, "You know you haven't aged a bit, since the last time we saw him". I tried to smile but I couldn't. Some of the warmth rubbed off of his hand and onto mine, I then let go of his hand and whispered "Thank you". I then walked away from him, and went into our bedroom.
I locked the door behind me, and I gasped at the sight I saw in front of me. My son was sitting on my bed; I smiled at him and said, "I guess its time for your bed time story". He nodded and I continued, "What would you like to hear?"
He looked at the window and said "The Sparrow and The Swann". I kissed my son on his forehead and said "Alright, Jack. I'll tell you that story". I stood up and went into the closet and took out a box. I opened the box and said "Remember you must never tell your father about this box".
The child nodded and watched me take out a letter. I then said to him "Jack, this story is very short…." The boy nodded and interrupted me while saying "I know, mother. It is like a letter, but it is a story. It's not real, I know mother."
I chuckled and began to read "Dear Swann,
Almost five years have passed since our last night together. I remember you as I sit here in here in the darkness of my prison cell. I clench the cold bars that surround me and I remember the last words you spoke to me "I love you", and I was a fool that night to have let you go. I realize now more than ever that we could have been free together, a freedom that I will no longer have since I am doomed to a life of the coldness of this jail cell. I sit and I wonder, what he had and I didn't. And now I remember, he had you.
My black eyes stare at the shackles before me, and I remember the first day I met you. My once vibrant eyes have now grown cold. And it reminds me of my cold blood that runs through my veins for one last night. I think of our night together, and I no longer have only one love in my life. The sea is my soul but you are my heart. I have spent my whole life committing felonies, but never in my life would I ever think to regret a moment of it. Until you came along, I was just an adventure seeker, a man with no purpose but to live in the moment. You gave my life purpose, and you gave my life happiness.
The nights that I spent without you, I thought about you and what our life could have been. The more I think about it, the more I know we are suited for each other. Our names even, are both types of birds. The Sparrow is wild and free, and the Swann like you deary is beautiful and graceful. Those two birds complete each other, just like you and me. I just cannot believe I let him take you away from me. I regret it everyday, especially today while I write you this letter from my jail cell.
Tomorrow I will be gone, but my feelings for you will never be. Please know that you will forever be with me in my heart where you belong.
Goodbye forever,
Your Sparrow."
I sobbed once I finished the letter and looked at my son who was now smiling. I smiled at him and said "Okay, Jack. Time to go to bed". He then walked up me and said "Mommy, my eyes are black too". I glanced up at him and nodded and said, "I know, sweetie".
He then hugged me and said "Mommy, is this letter real?" I smiled at him and he then continued, "I think it is. Is that why you named me Jack? After the dead man we saw this afternoon?" I nodded and said "Yes, that's why I named you Jack".
The little boy smiled and said, "How come I never saw him before?" I looked up at him and said, "Oh, your father wouldn't allow it, sweetie". The little boy then sat on top of the bed and asked me "Oh really? Well, how come at the funeral they called you Miss. Swann? Are you the Swann in the story?"
I sat down on the bed next to my son and said, "Yes I am Jack. But how about we keep that our little secret?" The boy nodded and then asked "Okay, its funny that he looks like me and has my name too".
I nodded and said "One day when your older you'll understand why".
I looked at my son and closed the lights in the room, and let him sleep on my bed. I walked out into the rain once more, and thought about the night where Jack Sparrow and I slept together for the first and last time. It was the night that I conceived my little Jack.
Authors Note:
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