The Groom

A sound echoes from behind us — a faint, polite cough. We see that a figure has appeared in the great rock’s shadow: a young woman in a pale veil, a smile on her face. Quickly, the old man falls to his knees, face ablaze with sudden hope. “Oh, but you have come, my love! So many years have I searched!”

“Yes, my sweet,” smiles the bride. “But let us not speak of those years! Come, hold me, and we shall be one into eternity.”

She does not seem to notice his haggard, aged face — and indeed, as we watch, the groom seems to grow younger before our eyes. Clasping one another and speaking silent vows, the two spectres kiss. As their phantom lips meet, there is a distant sound of bells — the faintest glimmer of petals in the air.

Then the happy couple is gone, and the hills are silent once more.