Eric And The Pier
by Morgan Murphy.
Eric McGrane stood on the tip of the pier staring contently out
across the bay. He leant forward with his entire body pressed against the waist
high barrier. The pier was a short walk from his home although the sight was
far more beautiful from the end of the pier than from his bedroom window. It
was around four thirty on a cold January afternoon and the sun was at its end.
The street lights had lit the entire bay, illuminating the crescent of land
that faced out to sea. The water so calm it couldn’t be heard. Eric’s hands became
cold, he released his grip from the partially rusted railing and dipped his
fingers into his pockets. Eric was 32, average height and build. Upon first
observation he could come across as a depressive. This was because he usually looked
swamped by his emotions. He wore an old brown coat that hung down to his knees.
Brown boots and brown corduroy trousers. His hair however was black and kept
lengthy on the top but short on the back and sides. At his age he no longer
cared much for his appearance and thus clung a thin beard to his face. His
sickened eyes covered by old fashioned circular glasses. He scraped into his deep
pockets and fingered his wedding ring into his palm. His thoughts turned to his
wife, as he rubbed his thumb and index finger around the ring his heart jumped
as he was reminded of her beautiful face. He remembered their first
interactions with and other. The two of them together. Eric was a teacher, he
taught English but his favourite muse was literature. He had spent most of his
growing life reading novels and could never stifle his need to digest new
stories and immerse himself in lands and cultures he had never seen. He loved
to become close with characters and people he had never met and trying to
understand how their narration revealed the workings of their minds. He could
not understand why these characters and worlds were so much more alive than the
life he was living. To his students he was Mr McGrane and to his wife he was
just Eric. The sky turned from blue to grey and the water became more unhinged.
Darkness moved over the unlimited open sky and it began to fill with clouds. He
turned and faced away from the water and looked back towards the land. The
trees were touching the sky, each branch black against the pale darkening sky.
With one last glance back out to the water Mr McGrane left the pier. He walked
along the promenade just up from the water which lay still with ripples that
lapped the rocks. The street lamps shone the way in an orange glow that made
the sky seem even bluer. The orange and the blue. The contrast of colour made
him feel something. Whenever life imitated art he felt the same way he did with
thoughts of his wife. Warm.
