Love in Ruins

 In the midst of fitful dreams, mysterious voices summoned me to the Priory ruins of Dudley.  They were persistent...I felt compelled to obey their ghostly calling.

By the time I reached the Priory, it was daylight, but ominous clouds and an eerie silence - save for the low moaning wind caressing ancient stones - made me feel somewhat out of step with time.  Should there be any question that the barrier between the spirit world and ours was weakening, just around a darkened corner, the sight of a windswept harpist upon her lofty perch, removed all doubt.

Ms Lewis-Freeman was watchful, beneath her blackened veil, in mourning for her lost love, but answering a time transcending calling from him.

She felt his presence on the wind.

Noa, the harpist, too, sensed time and tide shifting; something was about to unfold.

Some kind of energy crackled, like electricity, on the breeze.

Ms Lewis-Freeman began to walk through the ruins, where several lifetimes before, she had confided her love for the elusive Mr Moore.  She searched high...

....and low.

Noa, initially fearful of the strange forces that had conspired to bring her here, hid her own face behind a veil.

Whist Miss Lewis-Freeman and Noa joined forces to find the former's lost love...I encountered a pale stranger, seated on the old garden bench.  I walked alone, back towards the ruins.  I swear the stranger had remained seated...

...but suddenly, he was there in front of me again.  I confess I was startled.  But then, a momentary distraction - the calling of a crow - and I found myself alone once more.

At once, the music started...mesmerising, like a siren's call.

Could it be?  

Could it really be?

Together at last...

...they fed off each other...both for sustenance and in an ungodly act of vampiric intimacy.

They roamed and reminisced like the old acquaintances they were...  

...entertained and bewitched by Noa's playing.

Immortality requires endless patience.  Noa observed from a distance.  She now had a better understanding of her otherworldliness and the complicated feelings created by eons of solitude.  She had found her kind.  The undead.

And so the music played on...and nothing else mattered.

Winter Peach Photography (@winter_peach_photography) | TikTok

                                                                                                        THE END

And back to reality!  These photos are the result of a Steampunk elopement shoot I had originally planned for a late September Sunday at a different location.  Forced to postpone due to the abysmal weather forecast, those of us located closest to each other, namely Sonia, the make-up arist, (Sensual Passions), Noa Harpist and Tracey and Kevin, major players on the Steampunk scene (and all round good eggs), were keen to risk it.  We hurriedly hatched our plan B, a Spooky Season photo shoot amongst the atmospheric Priory ruins in Dudley.  

In spite of the deliberately dour expressions, we all had a blast and attracted a fair bit of attention on the day.  Numerous people stopped us to ask us about the shoot or requesting photos.

The hours passed quickly and the whole team brought their A game.  It's not every day you get to hang out with Dracula and his missus to the heavenly sound of harp music.  

Because my skills don't stretch to fading out a soundtrack and overlaying an alternative audio track, I'm sharing a clip here of Noa playing the Metallica classic.  Isn't she great?

Winter Peach Photography (@winter_peach_photography) | TikTok

Thanks to all involved for making a miserable Sunday so memorable!  

Run Away With Me

 Our tale begins with a pair of runaways who needed no one's approval, only each other.  

They ran to their favourite woodland glade, close to the beating heart of England, and tried in vain to stop their own hearts racing...  

...as they awaited the arrival of the only other person in possession of their secret.

And she would perform a rite, 

as they delivered their handwritten promises to each other, crafted from a commitment that will anchor them both like the roots of the trees that bore witness.  

Emotions ran high...

...feelings deep.  

A kiss to the applause of rustling leaves.

No plaudits or speeches; just a seating plan for two...

...and the freedom to delight in the most special of days,

to walk and talk without obligation to, or distraction from others, to drink in the atmosphere only nature's church can provide....

...and perhaps a little wine.

No outfit change, just his jacket around her shoulders to keep out the chill,

a view enjoyed with thoughts of a future unfolding....

....and the long walk home, wherever that may be.

 The End

With thanks to Jazz and Mark and Sharon Gordon Celebrant (Wild at Heart Ceremonies)