Nerissa: The Tale of a Death and What Came After
an excerpt

He walked with her back to the hotels lining the beach a mile up, standing a careful two feet away the whole time, and listened to her hum in some native language he didn’t understand, entranced by the sound, the day, and her. Who needs words when you’re walking with a beautiful woman?

As they approached the buildings and she made no move to go in, he turned to her, pointed at his chest, and said, “Carl”. She just looked at him, so he did it again, then pointed to the nameplate on his uniform, “Carl Maris”. She nodded, then turned away, looking like she was going to continue down the beach.

He watched her hips sway, silhouetted in the lowering sun, then ran after her. “please, stop.” Amazingly, she did. “please, tell me your name”.

She opened her mouth, he saw her lips move, but no sound came out. :What?” he asked, confused.

She pointed at herself then mouthed something to him again. “I can’t hear you” he said, his frustration starting to rise. Was she just being coy? Pretending to listen but refusing to speak?

She shook her head in frustration, sang a few liquid notes, then tried again. Still, she didn’t make a sound. Obviously frustrated now, she pointed at her throat and shook her head “no”.

“You can’t speak? But… I heard you singing…”

She shrugged and he was momentarily distracted by all the upper anatomy that quivered as she did so.

“You can sing, but not speak?”

She nodded slightly, looking directly at him. “well, if that isn’t the damnedest thing…”

“you understand me, though, right?”

She nodded.

He got nervous again, could feel his palms starting to sweat and tried to discreetly wipe them on his slacks.

“Well, the thing is… I was wondering, well… Can you spell write English?” He got a piece of driftwood and wrote his name in the sand, then pointed at himself and said again, “Carl Maris”

She took the wood from him and delicately wrote…something. The script was like nothing he’d ever seen, but he had not been on this particular island all that long.

“I guess that’s a no…”

She shook her head sadly and wiped out her writing with the toes of one bare foot.

“Ummm.. well… you see… I was wondering if, well, maybe, if I could walk you down the beach again tomorrow….?” He asked, staring at the sand crusting his polished shoes.

Nothing. She touched his arm, gently, and nodded.

“ I can?”

She nodded again and smile warmly at him.

“Okay then. Well, ummm, I guess I’ll meet you here tomorrow afternoon?”

She nodded, then pointed at his watch and arched a brow at him in inquiry.

“Say, 5 o’clock?” She nodded, then shooed him back toward the hotels, pointing at herself, then further down the beach.

“You live down that way…?” he asked.
She laughed, he could tell even though she was silent while doing so, nodded slightly, then pushed him back toward civilization.

Well, if you’re sure you’ll be okay…?

She nodded firmly, put her hands on his shoulders and gently turned him away from the beach and her path.

I’ll see you here tomorrow then, 5 o’clock ?”

She nodded again, smile, waved, and turned away from him, walking down the beach with a graceful stride that reminded him somehow of the tide rolling in and out. He watched til she rounded the curve of the beach and was out of sight, sighed happily, and went home.