Chapter Eleven – By the Sea
Ten years have passed. The Actress lives alone, and works in a little costume shop she runs in her coastal town, making dresses and tunics for local theater productions and special events, sometimes performing in community shows. She is happy with her job and her only regret is leaving Sarah behind, but this regret lingers prominently in her mind on a daily basis. She frequently stands out on the coast and watches the waves, thinking of what could have been, and what her father might think of the life she has led. Even through all of the hardships presented to her and the challenges she has faced, she feels as though she has made a good life for herself, but there is an emptiness that hangs in her heart that won’t dissipate. One day, while watching the boats move in and out of the harbor, she hears a voice call her name, and feels a hand grab her wrist. She turns around to see Sarah standing there, tears forming in her eyes.
“I’ve been searching, oh, I’ve been searching.”
They embrace for what feels like an eternity. After Sarah’s career had fizzled out in the few years following the fight, she spent many years trying to locate The Actress, eventually tracing her back to a small town on the shore near The Actress’s childhood home. Sarah whispers that she is sorry for everything that happened. The Actress realizes in this moment how poorly they both handled things, and breaks into tears. They both made mistakes.
“I want to cry for a year. I want to cry for a thousand years.”
As the months pass, the two buy a house in the coastal town and make a life together. Each night they sit out on the beach and look out into the vast horizon, as the sun fades below the surface, and keep each other close, knowing that they have made it there. Knowing that it was all worth it in the end.
“As the summer months die, and the sun starts to set, I will lay in your arms with your hands on my head. And until the waves turn my body to rust, I will sit here beside you and know I am loved.”
“I will sit here beside you and know I am loved.”
- End -
lyrics
It’s a Sunday morning / the ocean is calm / I am wandering out / with outstretched palms / a decade alone / though it feels like a week / I keep seeing your face in those of strangers I meet
What would my father think of me now / would he be proud? / would he be proud?
I tried my best to command my life
The water is cold or I imagine it might be / I watch as the sand wicks the rust off my feet / the regret seeps in at noon right on time / and I laugh to myself that I’m doing just fine / and I’m watching the boats / as they weave through the docks / and I pretend that one day they might carry me off / back to New York to find you / but what would it matter / you’d have nothing of me / you’d scoff and rain me with laughter
What would you think of me know / would you be proud? / would you be proud? / I say out loud
A hand on my wrist / a voice asks my name / I turn round to see a face defined in its shame / and you look back at me and say / I’ve been searching, oh, I’ve been searching
You hold me close / I whisper I’m sorry / you say that’s alright / we all make mistakes
I want to cry for a year / I want to cry for a thousand years
In the swell of the summer we’ll set our hearts free / as the sea opens up and is swallowing me / when the moon on the ridge extends over the trees / we can fall there together / how happy we’ll be
As the summer months die and the sun starts to set / I will lay in your arms with your hands on my head / and until the waves turn my body to rust / I will sit here beside you and know I am loved
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