A Distant Flickering Light

Tracy, Lily and Jake were spending a few days at the family holiday bungalow in a game reserve, that was owned by Jakes father. All went well until Tracey saw a flickering light in the distance that she knew should not have been there. The longer she watched the light, the more she thought about Johnny, her husband that had died a year ago.

Then a few days later, when she was alone at the house, she smelt smoke on the breath of the wind. She couldn't actually see any smoke from a fire, so feeling curious, she walked out into the veld to investigate. She knew the danger of a velt fire, especially when the grass was as dry and brittle as it was presently, but as she found a pathway that led towards the place where she'd seen the light shining from, she decided to follow it.

She hadn't gone far when she spotted a figure in a green anorak walking just ahead of her, so although it felt a little scary because Johnny had always worn a green anorak, she followed him anyway.  He walked rapidly and she could barely keep up the pace, but once they had crossed a stone bridge that spanned a broad river, his pace slackened off slightly.

He followed a path that went through thick bushveld and she lost him after a while, but still feeling curious, she continued in that direction and eventually came to an old burned out farm house. Most of the walls had tumbled down, but she wallked from room to room as she stepped over the foundations. She wondered who had once lived in the house. Then walking through the frame of the old front door, she looked around for the figure she had been following, but she couldn't find him anywhere.

She spotted an old orchard up ahed and walked towards in, when suddely a sharp crackele drew her attention to the fierce fire that was now raging on the far side of the river, where she'd recently been walking. Feeling terrified that the flames might jump the river, she hid in an outhouse and when the threat had passed, she continued to walk a little further.

She came to an old graveyard, where some of the lettering on the stones had worn away, but once she'd rubbed some ash into the stonework, she was able to trace the letters. To her surprise the name Andersen emerged, which was Johnny's surname and now also hers.

She felt terrified and amazed all at the same time, but acknowledged the fact that she'd been led to safety from the fire by a vision of Johnny and decided that this had taken place due to his love for her and also the game reserve.