Author’s note: Written first for the 100-word challenge at Batbland – Of Love and Gratitude, 2012. The exercise was to begin with the words “Thank you (Vincent or Catherine)” and end with the word “Love”. This version is slightly tweaked from the original to better fit the Beyond the Stained Glass arc, and is both sequel to Everything Is Waiting For You and a foreshadowing of a lake-story to come.

Thank you, Vincent.

Perched on the edge of the wooden dock, she swung her booted feet back and forth well above the still-cold water. Beside her, he sat with one knee drawn up. Birds swooped black against the lavender and gray-rose sky. Beyond the trees, the sun crouched, ruddy with satisfaction. The first breeze of evening excited the mirror surface of the lake.

“For?”

“For waking me.”

He might have said, “We’ve been up for hours.” He might have said, “But, Catherine, you kissed me awake this morning. But he didn’t. He simply looked at her … with love.

______________

The next story in the Beyond the Stained Glass arc is You Arrive In the Flower and the Water