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Sun shining, the day just now starting and the young marine peering into the water that laid before him. He was a stranger to this land, but the residents treated him like their own. They didn’t know though – what he was here for, why he came. Senel Coolidge. He came to the Village of the Ferines under orders of Vaclav, but the moment he set foot in the village, he was greeted with nothing but peace. Quickly, he became friends with Stella Telmes and Shirley Fennes, even though he had been sent to capture Shirley. The peace, friendship, love, and kindness the village offered him made him change his mind. The sense of belonging he felt here was something that could never be replaced: Stella and Shirley were proof of that.
Senel had just finished his morning swim and now he stared out on the water he came out of, the sun glistening on his bare chest. He shook his head to get the remaining water out of his hair and put his shirt back on, hoping to go back to the village square before anyone woke up.
Wishful thinking. Gentle footsteps sounded behind him. He started to turn around, but the voice stopped his movements.
“Don’t look back,” the young girl’s voice spoke.
Stella.
Following her command, Senel turned his face back to the water. “It isn't like you to be awake so early.”
“Every morning you wake up… I became curious,” her steps got closer. “Is that so bad?”
“Maybe it is. What were to happen if Shirley woke up and you weren't there?”
Senel felt a tap on his back and a gentle caress on his hand. He slightly turned his head, but once again was interrupted by a voice. “What were to happen if I woke up and you weren't there?” She spoke, her voice gentle and soothing, almost breaking Senel apart.
He clasped his own hand tightly around hers, not knowing what to say, not knowing how to comfort her. Every time he woke up and swam, did she wake up wondering where he went? Did she fear that she would never see him again? “Stella… We won’t ever be apart. I will never leave you.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
His eyes opened and he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Sitting up in the dank inn, staring at his comrades Moses, Jay, and Will sleeping tight, Senel stared at his hand, clenching his fist tight. A dream – but it felt so real. The touch of Stella’s hand on his own, the memory of her on his back, the peaceful atmosphere of the village.
All but a memory now.