Beneath The Weeping Willow Tree

This Halloween story is a pure work of fiction. The places and the two characters in the story are not real but they were both above the age of 18 when the event took place. I hope you enjoy reading it!!!

Freddie took one last look at himself in the bathroom mirror as he ran a little wax through his close-cropped hair with his fingers. He takes his aftershave from the cabinet and spritzes a little over his stubbled skin. Closing the cabinet door, he takes one last glance at himself in the mirror, smiles and says to himself "ready."

He quickly makes his way downstairs to the hallway, slips on his trainers before grabbing his jacket, phone, and keys. He had a strict time schedule to keep. It was imperative that he reached his destination prior to the clock striking 11pm. There was no possibility of extending this deadline.

Freddie was about to shut the front door behind him when he realises he has forgotten something. He quickly turns and goes back into the house towards the lounge. He grabs a blanket off the back of the sofa, and collects the single red rose he had bought earlier that day from the coffee table. Leaving a light light on in the hallway for his return he closed and locks the door to number 13 Candlewick Green and steps out into the darkness.

Walking down the garden path towards the lane he could smell the familiar damp earthy aroma of autumn. It was an eerily silent still night, there was no cloud cover, and the full moon above illuminated the way ahead. Freddie walks quickly, making his way through the sleepy village towards his destination. The young Halloween trick or treaters had been out in the village earlier in the evening, but the lanes were now quiet.

The only sounds Freddie could hear was the crisp crunch of the fallen leaves underfoot and the occasional hum of a passing motor vehicle. He stops under the orange glow of a streetlight and checks the time on his watch. The time is now 10.40pm so he needs to pick up his pace if he is going to make it by the time the church clock chimes at 11pm.

Although the anticipation of what lies ahead scares him, the promise he made to her drives him to keep walking in the direction of the village church. The church sits at the heart of the village and has been a place of solace for many parishioners in the local community since the twelfth century. It was the place where he thought he would be married to his first love, Lucy.

They had grown up together in the village, but sadly they fell out of touch with one another when Lucy left to go travelling after university. They found each other once again when Lucy returned to the village to care for her mother who was dying from cancer. A relationship developed from their rekindled friendship, and they were happy together until the disease that had taken her mother also stole Freddie's happiness when it also took Lucy's life at 11pm on the 31st of October.

Lucy now rests in the churchyard close to the grave of her late mother. The churchyard expanded as the population in the village grew. Lucy's resting place was in a quiet corner of the expanded graveyard beneath the cascading branches of a weeping willow tree.

It has been three years since Lucy passed away and Freddie always tries to mark the day by taking her favourite flower, a single red rose to her graveside. It was the last thing he gave her to show his undying love before she took her final breath. Freddie told Lucy that he would always bring her a single red rose to mark the moment of her passing, no matter the time of day. The first year after she passed, he could not make it at 11pm as he was away with work. Last year he got to the cemetery on time but the thought of going in alone on the evening of Halloween freaked him out, and he turned on his heels and went home again. This year he told himself he just needed to man up and be at her graveside at 11pm. After all what was there to be scared about! Of course there are no such things as ghosts.

Although he would do and give anything to be close to Lucy and see her again. Sadly, for Freddie his heart still craved that love and connection he shared with Lucy when she was alive, but somewhere deep inside he knows this is just a memory. She has gone and he will never get that feeling of holding her body close to his again. Obviously, he realises this is just a fantasy, but he is not ready to let go of it yet.

Freddie approaches the lane that leads up to the church. In the darkness he can make out ahead of him the silhouette of the churches bell tower. There are no streetlights along the secluded lane to the church, and the darkness feels eerily silent. He is the only one out here, and that familiar sense of unease builds with every footstep. Every sound of rustling leaves has him stopped in his tracks while his eyes search around in the darkness trying to find the noises source. He tells himself to stop being stupid, it is only the sounds of a passing animal and his own footsteps. There is nothing to fear out here apart from his own shadow.

At last, he reaches the gate to the churchyard. Holding the red rose in one hand he reaches through with the other and fumbles in the darkness for the latch. He can feel the the silky threads of spider's web brushing against his arm as he reaches through the gap. Finally, his hand finds the latch, the metal feels cold beneath his fingers. Freddie slowly lifts the latch and pushes open the wooden gate. The sound of it creaking breaks the silence but this year Freddie is undeterred, he walks through the open gate releasing it to close and clunk behind him.

He briefly pauses to find his bearings in the darkness before walking up the path towards the church. The loose stones crunch beneath his feet, the sound seems loud enough to wake the dead from their sleeping graves. Their headstones scattered either side of the winding path in this older part of the churchyard. Many of the older headstones had inscriptions that had succumbed to erosion, and their words were no longer legible.

As he walked, above his head in the moonlight his eyes caught a glimpse of the passing tiny shadows of swooping bats, as they left the safety of their roost in the church tower in search of a tasty insect meal. There was something very spooky about them as they flitted back and forth in the darkness and Freddie's ears could not hear the high frequency calls they use for echolocation and hunting.

Lucy's resting place was in the newer area of the graveyard. Freddie had to walk down past the side of the church and follow the path through an open hedged entrance. The headstones here were much newer and commonly composed of granite, and the inscriptions from their loved ones are still legible. The graves are organised in neat straight rows. Lucy's grave and headstone was in the back corner of the graveyard. Its location would be easy for Freddie to find in the dark. The plot was on the end of the row beside a mature weeping willow tree, so he knew if he headed in the direction of that tree, he would be on the right path.

Freddie cannot see the clock on the church tower from her grave, but he has not heard it chime to say it is 11pm, so he knows he has made it in time to fulfil the vow he made to Lucy just before she died. He stands beneath the draping long branches of the weeping willow at the foot of her grave. He takes the phone from his pocket and turns on the faint torchlight to read the inscription on her headstone. Having read the comforting words, he turns off the torch light and puts the phone back in his pocket. He stands in the darkness and closes his eyes for a moment of quiet contemplation, until a noise coming from the branches of the willow tree startles him.

Freddie feels his heart racing as he dares himself to open his eyes and look up into the branches above his head. It takes a moment of searching before he spots a ghostly white shape. He blinks and looks again and is relieved to see that it is only the white plumage of a barn owl, and that is certainly nothing to be afraid of.

He takes a deep breath as he reminds himself there are no such thing as ghosts, they are just figments of a person's imagination. Clutching the red rose to his chest he closes his eyes again and thinks of Lucy. As he does the clock on the church tower starts to chime to mark the hour. It is 11pm the hour when she lost her fight for life and the cancer finally took her.

With every chime he pictures her before him as she was before the cancer, not that she ever lost her beauty. He sees her brown shoulder length hair, and smouldering chestnut brown come to bed eyes, her cherry red lips, and her beaming smile. The neck that he always nuzzled and kissed, the curvy silhouette of her hips. The arms that held him when they spooned in bed, the nipples on her heavy-set breasts. The hands that worked their magic on him. God how he misses those Sunday mornings when she would wake him in bed with her hands masturbating his cock. She knew just the right amount of speed and pressure to bring him orgasmic joy. He occasionally masturbates himself now, but it never feels as good as when she touched him.

The church clock chimes the last of its eleven rings to mark the time of 11pm, and the graveyard again falls eerily silent. Freddie opens his eyes and his raw emotion overwhelms him, and the tears begin to drip down onto his cheeks. The remembrance of her death has not got any easier even with the passing of time. Freddie wanders if it will ever feel less painful.

Freddie was in no hurry to leave the graveyard, after all who wants to rush home to an empty house and bed. Life can be so lonely at times. He lay the single red rose on the ground by her headstone.

Next to Lucy's grave was a patch of grass underneath the weeping willow tree, perfect for sitting alone. He unfolds and shakes out the blanket he had brought from home and lays it down on top of the dew-covered grass beneath the safety of the sweeping branches of the willow tree. He sits on the blanket with his back against the trunk of the tree. There was something comforting about sitting enveloped by the bare drooping long branches even though they had dropped all their leaves.

Graveyards were certainly very spooky places to be in the dark, and especially now, as the cloud had encroached on the moon and reducing its light. He had only sat down briefly, when staring out into the quiet darkness he became aware that something strange was happening.

It all starts with a sense that someone was watching him, yet for some peculiar reason Freddie is not afraid, still he could not imagine anyone else wanting to be in the graveyard at this time of night. As his eyes scanned around the nearby headstones he thought he caught a glimpse of a white figure walking along the loose gravel path without making a sound. He knew that it was impossible to do that because he had walked the same path earlier and heard every footstep. Freddie held his breath and listens as he takes another look, but there was nothing to see or hear. It must have been another trick of the light, or his mind was playing tricks on him again. He knows one thing for sure he can't blame it on that owl this time.

Freddie was thinking it was time that he headed for home. Just as he was about to stand up to leave the strangest thing happened. The temperature around him drops suddenly, and he can smell a familiar fragrance, it was Lucy's favourite perfume and she always wore it. He could not fathom where the scent was coming from, but it was the same fruity, floral hue that he remembers, and it smells divine.

Freddie inhales another breath of the delicate perfumed fragrance, before calling out "is there somebody there?" He listens hoping to hear a response but the only reply he gets is the eerie shrieks of the barn owl. Yet he can't shake the feeling that someone is there in the shadows watching him, and they are close enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Freddie knows that he should really get up and leave quickly but he can't, something is strangely preventing him from getting to his feet.

Suddenly, the fragrant aroma of perfume intensifies, and Freddie feels something in his hand. He looks down and sees a single rose, but it can't be as he had left it by Lucy's headstone. The rose feels strangely cold against the warm skin of Freddie's hand. In the dim moonlight the cold sensation he feels is not the rose, it is coming from a cold transparent hand. He tries to grasp the hand, but his fingers slide straight through the ghostly shape. He can't quite believe what just happened, so he looks again and the hand was still there hovering above his.

Freddie tried to grasp the hand again. As he did the church clock chimed, it was 11.30pm. Something felt different this time as his fingers reach out. There was a warmth beneath his touch as their hands met. He squeezed his fingers and felt a squeeze back. The air around him no longer felt cold and the strong perfumed scent was intoxicating. It no longer felt as if someone was watching him because they were right here beside him beneath the sweeping branches of the weeping willow. Freddie dared himself to look across to the figure sat beside him. He had to look twice when his eyes gazed upon the face smiling back at him, and he asks, "Lucy, is it really you?"

"Yes Freddie, it is me."

"But it can't be, you died three years ago, and we laid you to rest here."

"I remember, but I am here now and we don't have long!"

"Really, what if I fell asleep and you are a figment of my dreams?"

"No Freddie, you are not dreaming and if you open my robe, I will show you."

"How long do we have?"

"They told me I would only have until you hear the clock strike 1am, and then I will have to go back."

"Go back, back to where?"

"Back to the other side Freddie, the side of death and eternal life, and like I said you don't have long."

"Well, we had better make the most of the little time we have left. Are you going to open that robe and show me what I have been missing,"

Lucy stood up and turns to face Freddie. She was barefoot and dressed in a black lacy robe. She said to him "Ready?"

"Yes, if you are."

Lucy glances at Freddie and slowly begins to loosen the ties on her robe. Freddie had forgotten how much she loved to tease him. He still can't quite believe that this is going to happen, yet here she is standing before him, and all he has to do is open that robe.

Eager to see what lies beneath Freddie stands and takes a step towards Lucy. She lets go of the ties. As they fall to her side Freddie slowly draws the robe open and is surprised by what he sees beneath. He gasps as he takes in the view of her naked body. He no longer sees the body riddled with cancer, the scars from her double mastectomy have gone and now all he sees is a pair of curvy voluptuous breasts and he can't wait to kiss them.

Freddie stands staring lost for words until Lucy breaks the silence "are you okay Freddie?"

"Sorry, what, yes, it has been a long time since I last saw a naked woman in the flesh. I am ashamed to admit that I had forgotten just how sexy you are, and those breasts, wow! They were not what I was expecting to see beneath that robe, and they just took me by surprise, and boy what a bouncy surprise."

"Freddie, your apology is not necessary, and I could have forewarned you that I might look a little bit different to the woman you remember but I could not help myself and I always hated to ruin a great surprise."

"Well, you certainly didn't spoil anything. Did I forget to say how stunning you look? I was a little distracted by just how much I want to feel your soft silky skin brushing against my body as I make love to you."

"Your eyes told me everything I need to know and as you can see there is no breast cancer on the other side."

Sadly, for Freddie, on this side the world keeps turning and their time together would be brief. They both heard the clock as it began to strike 12 times. It was midnight and Lucy would soon have to leave him again.

Freddie realises their time together was running out, and he didn't want to spend the rest of that time talking.

Freddie wraps his arms around Lucy and pulls her towards him. Her breasts pressed into his chest, and he felt his cock harden as her lips caressed his when they finally kissed. He kissed her with a sense of urgency just like he had done that very first time, could she sense how his body hungered for her touch. It was only now in this moment that he realises just how much he wants and needs this.

They stopped kissing and Freddie releases his arms from around her body. He starts to unbutton his shirt when Lucy stops him and said "let me." He releases his fingers and she continues to unbutton his shirt kissing his body delicately as she makes her way down to his pants. Her warm kiss against his cooling skin feels electrifying.

Freddie forces the trainers off his feet, as she begins to unbuckle his belt and pop the button on his pants open before slipping one hand under his shorts cupping him as the other releases his zipper. She frees the bulge in his shorts and helps him remove his trousers. Lucy tosses the trousers beside the blanket covering the grass, as she makes her way down to the floor. She looks up to him and whispers "join me."

Freddie got down on the floor beside her, with his open shirt still on his back she pushes him gently back until he is lying down. She teases the shorts down off his erection and places them with his trousers and socks.

Lucy herself has no clothes to remove as she was only wearing her black lacy robe, and she was keeping it on. She straddles his body, as she lays down on top of him and they begin to kiss. She caresses his lips slowly with her tongue before slipping it into his mouth and they kissed passionately as he cradles her with his arms. Lucy could feel his erection pressing against her and although their time together was short, she was not yet ready for him to cum.

They stopped kissing and she rolled off him onto her back. Freddie shifted himself on to his side so that Lucy could centre herself on the blanket, watching eagerly as she opens her legs and relaxes her knee's.

With his arm supporting his body weight Freddie looks across towards the beautiful face smiling back at him. He listens as she whisper's, "I want you to enjoy all of me before our time runs out, but we do not have long left so we will have to be quick and make every second count!"

Freddie did not reply with words, but he did reply with his mouth. From her neck he gently caressed his lips and tongue down her body pausing briefly at her breasts. He kissed around each breast in turn, sucking her nipples until they were hard and sensitive to his touch. He continues kissing his way down her body before positioning himself comfortably between her parted legs.

With no time to waste he quickly begins to lick around and over her clitoris, rhythmically massaging it with his tongue. Her hips and his tongue moved in tandem. He knew it felt good as he heard her moan and her pussy felt wet. He inserts two fingers inside stroking her g-spot as he continues to lick her clitoris until Lucy squirms and moans as he brought her to orgasm, not once, nor twice but three times leaving the blanket beneath them incredibly wet.

In the background Freddie heard the clock strike again, it was 12.30am. In another 30 minutes, Lucy must leave him. There is no more time for foreplay. He removes his fingers and stops licking her. He moves allowing Lucy to scooch over so that he can lay down on the blanket. Freddie doesn't care about the wet patch that feels cold against his warm back as he lies down. The only thing that he cares about now is the gorgeously hot woman who is again straddling him in that sexy black robe.

Beneath her body his cock is rock hard. Lucy adjusts slightly, Freddie guides his cock, and he slips inside. Lucy slowly lowers herself back down onto him. Her pussy feels tight around the girth of his cock. He helps her to straighten one leg out in front and then the other, so she can sit on him allowing his cock to slip even deeper inside of her.

It feels so good, and he knows he is not going to last long as she starts to grind down on him, rocking her hips back and forth. He takes hold of her hands so she can move faster.

He can't take his eyes off her as she fucks him, and the sound of her breasts slapping against her body is divine. He can feel his orgasm building. With every thrust the energy between them intensifies. Her muscles squeeze tighter and tighter around his cock, and that corner of the graveyard is no longer quiet as the silence breaks with the sounds of their moans. With a final thrust his cock pulses and ejects its milky white cum inside of her.

Freddie's semi-flaccid cock slips out, and Lucy untangles her legs and lays down beside him with her head resting against his chest as he holds her in his arms until he feels a familiar chill begin to permeate the air. He hears her say "It is not going to be long now until the church clock chimes again Freddie."

With a heavy heart Freddie says "I guess it's time to put my clothes back on"

She replies, "sadly yes but can I have one last look at your naked body before you do?"

"For you, Lucy I would do anything." He stands and turns to face her, and she takes a final glance at his naked body. He pulls on his shorts and trousers and fastens the buckle on his belt. He slips on his socks and ties the laces on his trainers. He fastens the buttons on his shirt. He walks over to Lucy and pulls her robe around her body and fastens the ties.

Beneath the cascading branches of the weeping willow tree, they stand hugging one another tightly one last time. There is just enough time for one final embrace, her lips feel cold as they brush against his and they whisper three words in tandem, "I love you!"

Freddie bends down and picks up the single red rose from the ground and places it in the palm of Lucy's hand. She closes her fingers around its thin green stem before resting her hand on his. He gently cups her hand with his and gives it a light squeeze. There is no warmth to her skin now, he knows this means they are nearing the end.

He gazes into her eyes, and watches as they lose their warm chestnut brown glow. He wants her to know that he has no regrets, and he is not afraid of what comes next.

He smiles at her as he hears the dull tone of the clock in the church tower as it chimes's once. It is 1am and beneath the weeping willow tree he stands alone. In the dim moonlight in the deathly silence, he opens his fingers revealing the single red rose lying flat against the palm of his hand.

Freddie bends down and picks up his blanket from the ground. He lifts it to his nose and inhales deeply but the only thing he can smell is the scent of wet grass. Above his head in the bare branches of the weeping willow, he hears the barn owl as it shrieks its haunting eerie call. It was time he headed for home.

Before leaving he stops by her grave and places the red rose on her headstone. He kisses his fingers and taps them against the top of the cold shiny granite and whispers, "I love you."

He turns and walks away towards the church. He follows the same path along the side of the building and through the old graveyard. As he makes his way back down the path, he listens as the gravel crunches beneath his feet. This time when he got to the gate, he will not have to fumble his way to the latch. He remembers where it was and easily lifts the cold metal latch and opens the gate. He walks through and listens for the clink of the metal as the gate closes behind him.

Freddie heads back along the unlit lane towards the lights of the sleeping village. As he walks, he replay's the events of the late hours of that Halloween night. He himself believes it did happen; she came back to him from the other side to rekindle their passion.

He decides not to tell anyone how he spent those two short hours on that Hallowed Eve. After all, why would anybody believe him!