The old lady stared into the distance, watching the sun creep above the horizon. She was never usually up this early, but today was not a normal day.
The nursing staff had grumbled when she’d summoned them to help her. She knew they dismissed her as a mad old Pole who’d long since checked out of the real world, but she still had some steel about her, insisting they dress her and wheel her down to the water’s edge in time for sunrise.
They had lingered, of course, fearing perhaps that she intended to throw herself into the lake, as if she would have the energy for such a thing.
‘Are you sure there’s nothing I can bring you? A blanket? Some breakfast?’
‘No, thank you. I have all I want.’
Still the nurse hesitated, clearly unnerved by Wieslawa’s lucidity and sense of purpose. They were more used to her singing nursery rhymes, or muttering to herself, than issuing orders.
‘Go, child. I’m quite all right.’
Reluctantly she withdrew, leaving Wieslawa alone. And now the old woman returned her attention to the lake, drinking in the sight of the sun’s rays stealing across the huge body of water. She knew she should feel sad today, but somehow she couldn’t find it in herself. It was true that she had lost her only visitor, that she would never see her little cukierku again, but both of them had known this moment was coming. And wasn’t it true that it was the ones left behind who really suffered?
What would Natalia be feeling now? Had the authorities already delivered their grim news? Despite their many troubles, the old woman’s heart bled for her daughter – she knew from bitter experience what it was to lose a child. But Wieslawa herself felt no pain. Kassandra’s gift had always been a curse, as it had been for her, and the poor girl had been tortured by life until the end. But it was over now.
Would they come to tell her the news today? Or would they think the old goose was too senile to understand, too fragile to endure another bereavement? The thought amused her. Most days she was lost in a haze of painful memory and fanciful abstraction, but today she could see clearer than anyone. Today she could see all.
A beautiful, tortured soul had departed. Wieslawa mourned her passing, but would lay eyes on her again soon enough. Indeed, she was already looking forward to nightfall, when she would drink in the sight of a new star in the heavens. That would have to wait, however. For now, she had to content herself with the sight of the vast, golden lake and the happy, carefree birds who called to each other, as they circled above. Looking out at the majestic scene in front of her, Wieslawa felt a smile spread across her face.
At long last, her beloved Kassie was free.