BARREN

BARREN

   Anna spent many hours every day thinking of the time when she was banished to the island. It was actually “her island” now. She had been here twenty five years; she knew so by the turn of the seasons and marked each down upon the wall of her stone cottage. Banished because she was infertile and would never have children, to this place one hundred and fifty miles off the Norwegian coast, a prison without bars. In her bones she felt her loneliness as she stared out to sea, looking at the turbulent waves. They were always in motion like her wounded mind. Sighing, Anna turned and walked back to her cottage. The afternoon light was perfect; it was time to paint another tortured painting of the ocean. She knew the sea felt her pain, that the ocean was her jailer. Not her lost husband who banished his young wife here, he was innocent in Anna’s eyes, acting on his father’s orders. Standing before her canvas, Anna sighed and mixed her colours together before her. A crazy image took shape where everything was moving. Ocean blue was her favourite colour. She’d leave out the strange yellow lights. A single tear ran down her cheek. Her pain was eternal, yet she smiled.

   Anna turned the metal music up on her stereo. Iron Maiden blared out of the speakers. She worked on her canvas, her artwork was nearly finished. In her mind she remembered what had occurred yesterday. It was terrifying but her fear of the event was short lived, overcome by curiosity. This wasn’t of this place, her island prison. She had been watching the sea, the blues and greens were forever moving. Something made the ocean move in the wrong way.

   “What the hell?” Anna stuttered.

  

   The sea kicked upwards and rose many metres, then exploded in a huge tower of white spray. A silver object, totally unnatural, slowly rose out of the depths. It broke loose of the vast salty water and was free; it was like a newly minted coin, silver and quite magnificent. Rather beautiful yet overtly malevolent. What or who was inside the flying disc? It rose effortlessly and arced round with no sound. Dipping slightly as it turned, Anna saw it was perfect in its design. She stood rooted to the spot, scared or interested? The disc slowed and landed twenty yards away from Anna, on the grass by the cliff top. One minute later the side opened up and a figure emerged, she had flame red hair. In a hushed voice she announced: “I came to help you.”

   “Who the heck are you?” Anna gasped, looking at the person before her, her mouth wide open in amazement.

   “Anna, my name is Juniper’s Daughter. I don’t want you to be afraid; I promise I won’t hurt you. I want to help you,” Juniper’s Daughter said, smiling.

   “How do you know this? Where did you come from? How can you fly that... that thing, from out of the sea, just like that? That’s not possible!”

   “Yes it is Anna. You saw it with your own eyes. How can that be a lie? This craft was built by aliens a long time ago. I use their ship for the good of humankind, call it my job. Listen,” explained the witch, “I know you have a bad leg. Do you want me to heal it?”

   “My leg? How the fuck do you know about that? You can’t see it because of my brown skirt,” Anna replied, looking down at her windblown skirt. Her leg ached, as always.

   “If you let me heal it, then you’ll believe me.”

   Anna thought about it for a few minutes, glancing at her leg, to the strange woman before her and at her flying saucer. Finally, Anna nodded. “Yes, do it.”

   “Okay, please come here and stand before me,” instructed Juniper’s Daughter.

   “Okay,” agreed the island woman. She slowly walked over and stopped one metre from the witch.

   “This won’t take long and will be painless.” Juniper’s Daughter knelt down and touched Anna’s leg. Lifting up her brown cotton skirt, the witch saw the raw wound that refused to heal and grimaced. Purple scabs covered half of Anna’s lower leg; newer ones were a vivid red. Placing her left hand over the affected area, Juniper’s Daughter closed her eyes and whispered several strange incantations. Her breathing became deep and regular, she concentrated and focused her positive healing energy. A sudden white light came forth from her hand, totally obscuring Anna’s leg. The light rose in brightness till it was impossible to look at. Then suddenly it was gone.

   “What the hell?” whispered Anna. She saw fresh pink skin where the old scars and ruddy wound had been. “That’s not possible.”

   “Now do you believe me? Your wound is healed. The new skin will soon be the same colour as the surrounding skin and you won’t be able to spot the difference. Be careful when you walk over the rocks, you don’t want to fall again and hurt yourself again,” said the red haired girl, standing up. She offered her hand in friendship. Anna took it and they shook. Friends.

***

   Back in the present, Anna left her finished canvas to dry and cleaned her brushes. She ejected the music CD from her stereo and turned it off. Walking over to her LCD TV, she picked up the remote and clicked it on. Going to the War Channel, she watched a movie called The Blue Max. Anna loved war films, especially ones about aircraft and air battles. She relaxed in her red leather easy chair and watched the film. In her mind though, the stocky woman was uneasy. It was the things Juniper’s Daughter had said to her that spooked her. Things about having a baby and being back with her lost husband again. Anna knew that was all impossible, all of it, but being inside the flying saucer when the strange woman said it, somehow swayed Anna’s mind. A glimmer of hope.

   Anna’s biggest fears were like the Devil’s shopping list. She couldn’t have kids and was totally infertile. Anna had been banished to this little island for twenty five years. To do that, her husband mustn’t have loved her and now he would be long settled with someone else. No man would want her now including her former husband. She was middle aged and going grey, her brown hair ruined by grief and stress. Her brown eyes were dead eyes, with no positive emotions. Only insanity and pain lived in those once sparkly happy eyes. Her fair complexion was ravaged and blown away by the strong northerly winds. She was a hollow shadow of her past self. Stop worrying she told herself and watch the film.

   Later Anna fed her only companion, her dear friend and pet, Tom. He was a wild rabbit who had been lost in a storm and she found him when he was half dead. Nursing him back to health, she gave him food, water and lots of love. Now he was very tame and friendly, her only friend. Anna didn’t consider Juniper’s Daughter a friend, why should she? She hadn’t seen another person in twenty five years and what about the strange entry the mad woman had made? Flying out of the sea in an alien craft. Just crazy!

   “What do you think Tom? Is she mad? She’s the first person I’ve seen in all my time here and you know what? I’m not bothered, not at all. People are the reason I ended up here, banished forever. Fuck them!” Anna ranted, passing her pet rabbit a home grown carrot. He took it hungrily. “Only you matter Tom. Nobody else, not at all”

   Tom ate his carrot and squeaked once in agreement.

   “Still, I always wanted kids and still do. Do you think she tells the truth? Am I too old to bear a child? I’m forty five now. She says such lies,” sighed Anna, taking a drink of homemade beer. She needed a drink, a strong one, after recent events. I’ll always be alone, she thought, wiping away a tear. Not even my holidays on the other side of my island help stop my pain. Do they make it worse?

***

   The strange red haired woman called Juniper’s Daughter returned a few days later, to see how Anna was and if her leg was fine. Anne was walking by the cliff edge, peering down over the five hundred foot drop at the waves crashing upon the rocks far below. White spray made the rocks glisten like newly melted chocolate. Each crashing wave made a booming noise that Anna liked. It reminded her why she was hear and gave her something to look forward to – doing a new painting of those very waves and ocean. Suddenly from out of the dark rain filled clouds a series of yellow lights appeared, blinking on and off several times.

   “Looks like bitch is back with her fancy flying machine,” commented Anna, angrily spitting over the cliff edge, into the wind.

   From out of the clouds a silver object appeared, itself taking on the look of a cloud. Yellow lights showed its disc like outline against the murk. The object rapidly grew larger and dropped below the cloud base and majestically landed, like a ballerina doing a somersault with the grace of a swan. It was fifty yards away on a flat area of ground, far from the cliff. Was the witch scarred of the drop? thought Anna. Looking over, she saw a hole appear in the smooth metal craft and the red haired girl stepped out.

   “Greetings Anna, how are you doing?” shouted Juniper’s Daughter over the wind. The opening closed and she walked over.

   “I knew you’d come back, I saw your lights in the sky. I know you’re a witch,” replied Anna, ignoring the question on her health.

   “Yes you’re correct; I am a witch amongst other things. I heal as you know. How is your leg? Fine I presume?” commented the witch.

   “Only a witch would possess such a craft as a flying saucer and only a witch could heal my injured leg like that. My leg is okay, no blood or pain. I thank you for that. I didn’t mean to be insolent before when you healed it. It’s just I haven’t seen another person in a very long time.” Anna looked downcast and gazed longingly out to sea. She sighed and blinked away her tears.

   “Do you want to see him? I can take you there, right now in my flying disc. All you need to do is say yes.” Juniper’s Daughter knew how sad Anna was, at her continued isolation on her island from her husband. Not even twenty five years killed her love for him, it made it even stronger. That was admirable.

   “You can take me there? Right now? You’re not lying or tricking me, are you?”

   “No, no I would never lie or trick you Anna. I mean what I say. I will take you to your husband right now if you want me to.”

   “Yes. Take me, right now. Right this very moment,” Anna answered, smiling as tears flowed down her face. She didn’t mind the witch seeing her weep now.

   “Come Anna, take my hand. You won’t ever be alone or sad ever again.”

   The two women held hands and walked to the silver craft that rested upon the green grass, under a moody grey sky on an island surrounded by a blue green sea that was never still. Climbing aboard the disc, they entered this fantastic machine. It soon zoomed out of sight and headed towards the Norwegian mainland guided by destiny herself. a witch called Juniper’s Daughter.

***

   In a small fishing village, a man struggled to sleep. As usual he was haunted by dreams which killed his rest and made him feel uneasy. The same dream every night for twenty five years: the banishing of his dear wife to an off shore island because she was barren. She would never give him a son to continue his bloodline. His “new” wife of twenty four years was by his side, asleep. He had never loved her, not like he did his first wife. Yes, he was fond of her but it wasn’t love. She had given him three children, of which two were boys. His family bloodline was safe for another generation. It was his father who had found the second wife, the daughter of a neighbouring family. The ceremony was a rushed affair, as if it would remove the memory of the failed first marriage. Did his father know his son still loved his banished wife, even now over two decades later? What would he do if his son sailed to the island to join his wife, send a hunting party to kill them both? A violent law of family existed here; betray that and you were as good as dead.

   Suddenly there was a whooshing noise and the wooden house shook. This jerked the man awake from his worries, he got out of bed and made his way outside, wearing only his night clothes. On the field in front of the house was such a crazy sight. A shiny silver disc lit up yellow, illuminating the scene. In front of the disc were two women. One was dark haired, maybe red, and the other was someone strangely familiar. It was his first wife, his real wife! He ran over and almost stumbled over the rough grass. In seconds he was with her, in her arms. She had changed so much! They years hadn’t been kind to her, she was going grey and her eyes were sad eyes. Yet it was still her! His Anna! How was this possible?

   “My love, I knew you’d come. I knew you would. Every single day for twenty five years, I prayed you’d come back! You have my love!” said the man, Anna’s husband, through his tears. He fell to his knees in utter shock.

   Anna smiled and her eyes came alive, for the first time in all those years. She walked over to her husband and knelt down, embracing him. She kissed him. He returned her kiss; she felt his tears on her cheek. “We’re together now. Come with me and join me on the island. No one will interfere or stop us.”

   “How did you know I was here? What is that machine? Who is your friend?” asked the man, incredulous.  Slowly he regained his composure and stood up, not taking his eyes of the scene before him or the girl in his arms. “You want me to leave? And leave all of this? My family and my home? My livelihood and my parents? You know what my father is like. He hasn’t changed; he’ll pursue us and kill us all.”

   “I promise to answer all of your questions when we leave, all of them. We can be together, do you want that? I do, I have all this time. I’ve never stopped loving you, not for one moment. Join me my love on my island.”

   Silence descended on the scene. The man thought it over. Leave his wife, who he never loved, to look after their children. What about his vengeful father? He decided.

   “Let’s go. Right now. I never did love my second wife. She’s not like you,” he said, looking back at his house. It looked like it belonged to a stranger. It did. Fuck his father; he’d caused enough heartbreak already, especially for Anna.

   “We must go now,” Juniper’s Daughter commented, joining the conversation. She indicated to the opening in the craft.

   “Come my love,” Anna whispered, urging her husband to go. She took his hand and led him to the disc. They climbed aboard. The witch entered last, she cast a spell so no one would miss the absent husband or realise where he had gone. Silently the disc took off and flew into the clouds, out of sight.

   “Liam my dear, how I missed you. I waited twenty five years for this to happen, for us to be back together,” Anna said, embracing her husband. They were sat on a red leather seat in the craft’s control room. The witch sat separately and flew the disc.

   “We won’t be apart again, not ever. Tell me my dear Anna, who is your friend and how did she rescue me?”

  

   “My husband, this is Juniper’s Daughter. She’s my friend and helps people like us. She’s a good soul. And we’re in her fantastic flying disc.”

   “Wow, it’s like she was sent by God to help bring us back together. Kiss me my dear,” Liam said. He held his wife and welcomed her kiss. In his heart it was like yesterday when they had last kissed. A little later, Anna answered Liam’s questions. There were a lot of them.

   Arriving at Anna’s island, the disc landed and the couple embarked. Juniper’s Daughter stayed aboard her craft. Goodbyes were said and she took off, on new missions doing who knew what. She promised to return soon. Anna and Liam made love inside her quaint stone cottage; there was no worry of infertility or of anyone coming to harm the couple. Finally there were together. How long would it be till someone else joined them? A third little person? The witch had left her positive legacy through words and actions, some of which Anna was aware of. Did she know that the witch had genetically modified her barren body, allowing her to bear children, even at forty five years of age, with alien genetic science? Maybe Anna was aware, she was happy being reunited with her lost love. They had a lot of catching up to do. Love could endure...

***