Angela

He stood on his small balcony overlooking the sea, watching the surf as he did every night. One hand held a bottle of beer, the other petted the gray cat he had originally thought belonged to his neighbors. Whether she did or not, she seemed to enjoy his company because they had been going through this same ritual almost every night for a number of months now. It comforted him. It made him feel less lonely, and this feeling was what kept him going since Angela had died in that terrible accident almost a year ago.

The cat - he called her 'Spirit' for her gray fur and her ability to appear and disappear almost at will in the morning fog - had the added virtue of not complaining about his heavy drinking. He knew that all the beer in the world would not bring his Angela back, but still he drank far too much of it.

Spirit turned on her backside and let him pet and scratch her belly. After a while, she squirmed back onto her feet, jumped off the railing, and disappeared into the night. This was just her way, and when the willful cat left, he usually went inside soon after, not wanting to be out alone.

His thoughts wandered back, remembering the woman he had loved. She had always been quiet about her past and family, reluctant to share even the little she had. Just once she had tried to deliver what might almost be understood as a kind of justification, and she had tried to explain to him why she thought she could never really be free.

"See, say there is this cat that runs away from its owners. It can run wherever it wants, halfway around the world if you will, but that damned, tiny red cat collar around its neck will accompany it forever. Any place it may run to, the collar will be there as its mark."

He had been somewhat confused by the analogy, looked at her a long time, and asked, "What if somebody else took that collar away?"

She had looked at him, and fallen into his arms crying. And because he didn't know what to say, and he didn't want to see her cry, he had never spoken about it again.

A cool wind brought him back to the present. He sighed, emptied his beer, went to bed, and within minutes, he was asleep.

A gentle breeze came in from the sea. Gulls were laughing, and her hair shone in the sunlight as would spun gold as she walked towards him on the beach. He knew he'd have had to be standing there staring at her for minutes, because she started to laugh her pearly laugh. That's how he had got to know Angela. His Angela. They sat in the sand exchanging stories, pointing out bizarre details in their surroundings, laughing together. Their eyes found each other, their hands touched, and they kissed. Much later, they walked hand in hand, up towards his little house with the little balcony overlooking the beach and the sea.

They made love that night while the breeze billowed the curtains. They screamed their extasy across the waves, unashamed of anyone overhearing. And, eventually, they slept, holding each other.

He opened his eyes when a shadow fell across his face, and looked up into her beautiful face. He was instantly grinning broadly. "Last night was wonderful", he said. And, "I love you."

She smiled her warm smile at him, caressed his cheek, and said, "I love you. I will always love you." And as she kissed him, he woke for real.

The balcony door was open, and a slight graying of the dark sky announced the coming of the new day. The curtains moved slightly in the sea air, and for a moment he thought he saw something moving outside.

He propped himself up on one arm to be able to see better when his hand fell on something on his bed.

There, on the pillow beside him, was a small, red leather cat collar.