[ At the edge of the beach stands a young woman, with dark brown hair and a simple look on her face. She isn't looking out at the ocean, but down at the sand. She plucks a shell from the golden sand and washes it off in the ocean water that flows to her ankles.
On her walk back up to the pile of shoes that is growing to fetch her own, she runs into Daphne. The woman's eyes widen in recognition of something left unsaid. She runs over and holds the shell out in her open palm. ]
"I saw you earlier looking for your bag. It had a bunch of jewelry in it, so I thought I'd get you a shell to wear as a necklace. A small thing to make you feel pretty!
That tall man helped you out with it, didn't he? What a gentleman he must be, to help a lady in need. He was so mysterious..."
[ The young lady gushes, a dusting of pink across her cheeks as she speaks of the man who helped Daphne. She composes herself. ]
"My name is Leslie. Did you happen to have a spare dress? I feel like my own is awfully exposing."
[ Daphne pauses for a moment, looking down at the woman who had just given her the shell. It was beautifully in tact, Daphne had only seen broken fragments of shells when she had walked the shoreline. She wraps the string around her neck without a word to Leslie, silently signifying her appreciation for the gift. ]
[ Daphne sighs at Leslie's words about the young man that had aided Daphne with her bag earlier. Leslie was right, there was something mysterious about the man, but Daphne saw something that perhaps Leslie could not. Despite the minuscule gesture that gave Daphne her bag back into her own hands, there was something deeper beneath the man's skin that she knew brewed like a storm. ]
"Thank you, Leslie. I appreciate the gift." [ Daphne smiles gently before moving to stand next to Leslie, her back facing the forest and her gaze reaching the water's edge. She longed to dip more than her feet into the cool blue, but knew that a lady would never risk her appearance for her own childish wonder. Daphne wondered if Leslie felt the same. If society's boney hands still grasped at her ankles the way they did to Daphne. ]
"You ought to be careful with the men on this island, Leslie. Not all of them are as nice as they seem. There will be one day where they all realise that there is nobody left on this island to tell them what not to do, and they will indulge their every last desire, as men tend to do. A man may seem kind at first, with his mysterious demeanour, or how much of a gentleman his mother may have raised him to be. But beneath every man's skin is something that urges them to do wrong, and you will have to live with those consequences for the rest of your days if you choose him. He will bruise you and your ego, and reduce you to something you can't even fathom of becoming. You will grovel at his feet and beg like a dog with no respect left to keep him near. This is no place to find a husband." [ Daphne pauses for a moment, with the expression of someone who has seen firsthand the consequences of the actions she warns Leslie of. Daphne gnaws on her bottom lip before smiling to herself and turning to Leslie. ]
"Perhaps it is a place to find a friend, though."
@a-sunken-reverie (mentioned)
romaincrisis
blakekathryn
theartofmadeline
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