At the water's edge, a woman's heart called out for a man, right before her mouth even could manage a strangled, small, breathless word, but somehow, she could manage to whisper, ''Jack.''
A name which haunted her. A man who had loved her. Loved her still. Just as she did him.
Beside the sea, where the waves fell, she was knocked back by the slightest of breeze. The grains of sand which they were once meant to explore together, slipped through her fingers like the grains of time. Time which she had spent in utter pieces collecting the parts of herself which had been scattered to the wolves. The grains slipped so smoothly. Just as he had slipped away from her. It seemed easy once, to love, to dance so openly and freely. Free to be herself. To be a woman. Everything had been so easy after the endless suffering of a loveless engagement, there had been a chance for her to feel touched by the deep depths of humanity; to trust, to respect and play and have that undoubtedly reciprocated.
For a silly second, as her fingers dug deep into the sand, she almost felt the roughness of Jack's hands clasp onto hers as though offering some kind of solstice. As though when he slipped beneath the ocean to his watery grave, he had gifted her with some strength. It had slipped away now.
It was not worth it now.
Nothing was.
There had been a baby. Something that she could hold onto, something true to ensure that she could go on. Pregnancy had not suited her. How sickly she had grown, so unable to eat, to consume anything but the guilt that overcame her. Laying in a single cot, in a room with several other single women, women who were just as lost in the world as she was. Now, as the storm came rushing in, as the wind was howling, whipping her hair about her face as the graceful and elegant moon watched, unable to offer assistance. Once, beneath a darkened sky, she had felt as though life had nothing left to offer. This world she did not belong in. Until a voice had cut through the silence.
"Don't do it."
''Jack.''
Down on her knees, the sun could no longer smile down on her. The moon no longer lights the way of life. There was no light left in this world. Oh, how she wished for the sea to sweep her away to Jack, wherever he now lay.
''Don't do it.''
Was she going to jump to her death? She had asked herself then beneath the twinkling stars of eternity. The answer had left as soon as blue eyes had watched her to safety.
Safe.
Jack had made her feel safe. Isn't it funny how a moment can just change your life? That silly second sometimes there's a strange moment when fate offers you two paths…sink or swim?
Her heart had got lost, her head had followed; the simple, logical part of her, gifted with an endless and expensive education that all meant nothing right in that moment. By the next moon, she had been singing beneath the stars, giddy from what could only have been the best time in her life. The sky so black, the great Titanic had been just a speck of dust beneath God's glare. The great plan which God had planned for her, had seemed to be so far away by then.
Life was a mystery and as she stood alone, the surf soaking into her skirts, she called desperately out for him.
His name is forever on her lips. His name was now hers. Rose Dawson.
Crying for a man who she had known for three days. Endlessly in a fit of mourning. Pregnancy had bought some light into her life. As though a song had become a dream and into a reality. Josephine she had planned to name the child if a girl would be born. Joseph for a boy. She had dreamt of a field where streams turned into rivers. Where Jack would stand on the waters edge, open arms and smile. Welcoming her home. But he wasn't here.
When dark turns to light, the day wouldn't welcome anything other than further heartbreak.
"I belong with you, Jack."
She sobbed, bringing sandy fingers to her face before digging them back into the wet softness and creating a symbol of their love together. A heart. For him. He had hers. He had their child with him, she was sure of it.
"Just take me to where you are." She called into the echoey abyss of Santa Monica beach. The surf offered a rough and stormy wave which soaked her through. Jack was not here, only God's anger as the storm ripped through the horizon lighting up the world in an eerie glow. One which she recalled months before.
As the sun had set on the final day of Titanic being at sea, Rose had kissed Jack beneath a beautiful array of colour. Flying…her heart was truly soaring. She wished to remain in those final remnants of daylight forever. His kiss freed her. His touch awakened her. When the light disappeared into evening, Rose had laid completely naked beneath his gaze as he saw through into the depths of her very soul. Exploring her with his eyes, before finally his hands in the backseat of a motorcar.
They had conceived a child together. It was as though God knew they belonged together. As though they were part of a greater plan upon his Earth. Even though he was a small town farm boy and she an upper class society girl, both barely adults, there had to be another plan for them, hadn't there?
The moonlight cast an eerie glow, the rain hurting as it lashed down across her face. The anger which seemed to be in this world matched her own. In the distance, there was almost an elusive figure, walking towards her in the waves. It wasn't real. She knew that.
Squeezing her eyes closed, she felt the pain in her hand, as though she had been stabbed through her palm. Her other hand clutched to her now empty belly, where once a forming human had attempted to grow. She had failed that. Failed to live for Jack.
Beneath the final moon, she had made him a promise. But that was broken. She had promised believing that daylight would come for them both. It never did for him. She placed her painful palm into the heart upon the sand and as she opened her eyes, she heard their song.
Come Josephine…
Their song. The name of their child. She wanted to run to the figure, as ghostly as it was, it seemed inviting to a broken woman. A violent storm ensured, almost stirring the ocean like an erupting pot of hot lava but something in the waves never changed. Never moved. Never emerged. Her hand was bleeding, soaking into the sand. Onto her dress. Into the earth.
''Jack, I belong with you.''
The salty sea air offered no solstice for a damned broken woman. Not even their plans could save her heart. Not even her promise could keep her going. But, somehow, as she extended her hand towards the sea, in a wordless invitation to just take her towards him, it was clear that he was already coming.
It was Jack.
He was white. Translucent. Smiling…
''I've got you, I won't let go.''
It echoed about her ears, in a ghostly whisper, a beautiful song entwined with it. Come Josephine…
''Jack!''
He was there.
She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn't move. Tried to fight the will to move but couldn't. She was stuck.
Hold on just a little bit longer, Rose.
A baby's giggle echoed straight through her ears, rippling as the storm overtook the sound, as a powerful lightning bolt came from the sky, hitting nearby but there was no fear.
She wished to run towards him. There, raised in the surf. He was closer to her. The storm was completely unaware of his presence. The waves caused no disruption to his movements. He wasn't on this Earth any longer. Son, neither would she.
Lightning struck again.
Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
The shivers of the wetness seemed to take over. When the waves came, they washed away the hole that she had dug. Washed away the heart that she had drawn. Suddenly, it seemed to be daylight forever.
To you I belong.
Suddenly, Rose was able to run free. To fly. She ran to Jack. To the sanctuary of his arms, where rested in the crook of his arms, a tiny baby lay.
''You're back where you belong.''
The warmth lasted forever.