Arrival

"I had no idea this was here," Bethan says in wonder.

"No," Dave says. He likes this space, liked this space. Now, it's going to hold memories of too many bad things. He won't want to come back much in future. He is scanning the area to see if anyone else is here but it is just them, him and Bethan.

Is the silent observer still pursuing? If they are, neither Dave nor Bethan can detect their presence. Perhaps whoever it was, was just a walker out for a stroll, curious about the couple in front of them; perhaps a writer, scrutinising the posture and gestures of an exchange which shows the vestiges of familiarity, a relationship previously built on something strong at one time, maybe even love, but now, with time passed, with the heat and the hurt of loss, is now manifesting itself differently, quavering and shaking with the discovery of hollows at its foundations. You can still see it for what it once was but now, it is a ruin, left to decline; neglected.

Maybe there is another access point to the quarry, unseen and unknown.

The quarry is fenced and Bethan asks "How do we get in?"

"There's a way," Dave says and sets off, skirting the upper perimeter until he finds the hole under a flap of wire. He ducks under and enters quickly and deftly, like he has done this before. He doesn't hold it open for Bethan to follow. Bethan notices. It is like he has withdrawn into himself now, focused elsewhere.

She realises that she needs to tread carefully, in more ways than one. She wonders if it's too late to notify someone of her location.

Dave has moved off to the edge, staring into the middle distance, like he is searching for something.

Bethan goes to the hole. She makes her way through. She stands away from Dave and looks around the desolate, harsh landscape in which she finds herself. Her heart is pounding with the effort of seeming cool in a situation where she feels very scared indeed.

Her worry is misplaced as she will be alright. But someone else may suffer in the quarry today.

***

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