The (un)Lucky Girl

A surprisingly spry old man opened the door, a lit cigarette in his hand. He had white wispy hair, and was wearing a flannel shirt with his sleeves rolled up. A pair of glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, and as he noticed their presence, he huffed. "Oh. You're the one that wanted to pet my Scottish Highland cows." The man extended his hand, which Marcellus took into a firm handshake. They both introduced themselves, as did the farmer. "Let me get my coat. I'll give you the full tour. I reckon you'll be pleased to know that the youngest calves are little more than a month old. Very small," he said - speaking in a way that made it adamantly clear he was proud of his cattle. "They've been vaccinated and everything, so it should be alright for you to pet them." He grunted as he stepped back and pulled a grey pea-coat over his shoulders. "Come, come, I'll show you around."

The farm was picturesque, draped in untouched snow, and the sunlight made the whole landscape glitter. The farmer told them a little bit about the history of the place, what animals they kept, and what they sowed on the farmlands. As they walked across the yard towards the barn, a big black and white dog came running over to them - panting happily, wagging its tail. The man leaned down to pet him, then led the couple inside of the barn. There were cows all throughout the building, laying on their straw bales or standing in stalls. The smell of manure was strong, but that was to be expected. The farm itself was built of wood, crimson red with white trimmings - the same as nearly every country house in Sweden, part of the culture. It had clearly seen better days - but it was warm, and the animals had plenty of room.

"We keep the younger calves here with the mothers," the old man said, motioning to one of the stalls where two mother cows were cuddling a pair of babies, their tails gently swishing back. Selena's eyes were wide, and she stood still, staring at the scene like it was some kind of heavenly vision. Marcellus couldn't help but grin at her, squeezing her hand as he waited for her to process it all. Then she ran over to the cows, letting go of his hand as she crouched down, trying to get a look at the tiny calves without touching them. She seemed mesmerized by them.

"Do they have names?" she asked quietly, her voice trembling slightly - whether with excitement or anxiety, Marcellus couldn't tell. The adorable little beasts certainly seemed to impress her, and even the babies had thick coats of hair. Most of them had brown fur, but some were black, and a few were white.

The man didn't answer, only snorted with amusement as he stood there, watching Selena interact with them from afar. When she walked up to one of the cows and carefully petted its head - scratching her chin like it was some sort of affectionate lap dog, the man gave a grunt of approval. "They love the affection," he muttered. The older man then made a motion with his hand. "Alright. I'll leave you two lovebirds alone in here." He gave Marcellus a nod brimming with masculine energy. "Take your time. I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon."

After the man had disappeared into the distance, Marcellus walked over to Selena, wrapping his arms around her from behind. He could feel how much her body trembled, but in a good way this time, and she leaned against him as she continued petting the bovine gently. "Do you think I can feed them?" she asked, and he kissed the top of her head. "Please? Can we feed them? They look so cute!" she pleaded, turning around to look at him with those wide, big doe eyes.

Marcellus smiled. "Of course. I don't think the farmer would mind if we fed them some hay."

Selena gave him a quick hug, then hurried over to the storage room, returning a few seconds later with a bunch of hay in her hand. She walked over to the closest cow, who was already laying down - making sure that she could pet it first before holding the hay up to it's mouth. It laid there patiently as Selena scratched her behind the ears, and the animal gave a contented snort, then lifted its head, crunching on the hay happily.

Even though the baby calves were her favourite, Selena petted every single cow in the barn. She appeared to be over the moon, and Marcellus ended up petting quite a few himself. Two hours later, the farmer returned - a pleased smile upon his face, and a clipboard in his hand. "Come over here," he said - seemingly in a better mood now than when they had arrived, and then pointed towards the two youngest calves. They were both black, had large brown eyes, and were pure sweethearts. One of them had a tuft of hair covering the left eye. "Let me see.." he hummed as Selena carefully petted them again, and Marcellus followed her example. "You asked about their names, hmm?" The old man shook his head with an amused chuckle. "These two little rascals? Well, I have their certificates here," he held out his clipboard, flipping through the pages. "I had not named them yet, so.. I've decided to go with Marcellus and Selena." He looked up at both of them.

Selena stared at him, then back at the cows, and then at Marcellus. She was speechless - for several seconds at least, until she burst into tears and ran over to the farmer, thanking him profusely for the gesture over and over again. Marcellus looked on in surprise. The old man seemed mildly uncomfortable at first, her enthusiasm proving a tad bit too much for him, but he smiled nonetheless.

They stayed for another ten minutes, and Marcellus kept petting Selena - the calf, not the human - the entire time. As they said good-bye, Marcellus shook the farmer's hand with a grateful smile on his face. "Thank you, sir. I truly appreciate what you did for us today. How much do I owe you?"

"You're welcome. Your girlfriend is a good woman," the man responded. "And if you want to come see the animals again, feel free to get in touch." He handed Marcellus a hand-written card with his contact details. "It's completely free of charge. It was nice meeting you both."

The young couple stood huddled together, waiting for the taxi to come pick them up, as the sun was setting and the sky turned into shades of fuchsia and orange. They watched the dog that lived at the farm playing in the snow, barking excitedly, and jumping back and forth between large snow-piles that the ploughs had built up. Selena's arms were wrapped around her boyfriend's midsection, and she pulled herself closer against his side, leaning her head on his shoulder as they watched the sunset. It was getting even colder outside, and the sun was setting fast.

"If I die.. I want to be reborn as a cow, I think." She had a thoughtful look on her face, her eyes sparkling.

"That is cute, but I'm not going to let you die, darling." The thought that she might not survive was too much to bear, so he tried his best to put that out of his mind, as impossible of a task as it was.

"... I'll try my best to survive," she promised - and for the first time since they had met, she looked determined to fight. "Now that you've made life precious, I can't let it slip away."

--- 6 ---

Two days before the surgery, when Marcellus came home from work, Selena stood in front of his apartment building with a giant box in her hands. He could see it was heavy, and he quickly came up beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder as she caught her breath from the effort of lifting it. "Here. Let me get that."

"Thank you so much. It's for you, anyway! It's your Christmas present, so you can't open it yet!" Her eyes were wide with excitement, her cheeks a rosy pink, and she glanced up at him through her lashes. She looked particularly cute in that moment, Marcellus thought, and she was dressed in a fluffy sweater and tight jeans underneath of her coat.

"You didn't have to get me anything," Marcellus replied, though he couldn't keep the grin off of his face as he grabbed hold of one side of the box, hoisting it into his arms easily. "But thank you."

Once inside of the apartment, they shared a meal together, but Selena didn't give it much of her focus - instead smiling at Marcellus, staring longingly at him - like a young girl looking at the boy she knows she wishes to marry one day. Marcellus couldn't keep his thoughts away from the upcoming operation. If only he could stay by her side until the end, but alas.. Selena had told him he wasn't allowed to be in the room for the surgery. He was powerless to stop the situation.

"I took both tomorrow and the day after off," he let her know. "So we can spend all day together tomorrow, and I'll be in the waiting room in the hospital, even if they won't let me stay right by your side. I'll still be there for you."

Selena swallowed hard as she glanced away, trying to act strong - but it was clear to him she was still afraid of the unknown. "You know, we always do what I want to do. What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Don't you have one thing left on your list, darling? To speak with your parents?" He felt a bit torn about it - worried that it would only bring up feelings of resentment, pain and hatred - but it was her wish, and he would of course honour it.

"Mmmh.. Yeah.." she mumbled, still looking out the window. "We can do that in the morning. You'll come with me, right?" He nodded. "After that, I'm yours for the whole day. So what do you want to spend it on?"

Marcellus didn't respond at first, he simply smiled at her as his gaze wandered over her body, taking in her feminine form with those soft curves and her plump thighs. He got up from his chair and walked around the table to her, and she shivered visibly, leaning back in her seat slightly as she seemed to sense the incoming affection. Her cheeks were red and she bit her bottom lip. He leaned down to kiss her neck - then began placing kisses all over her face, trying to convey every emotion he felt through that one gesture alone, feeling her soft skin beneath his lips. "What I want to do is whatever would make you the most happy.." he murmured into her ear, then sucked on her lobe as Selena gave a little mewl of excitement.

"You're hopeless," she giggled.

"On the contrary! I am hopeful," he said with a serious expression.

"If you truly want to spend the day making me happy.. Yet again.. Then I just want to spend the whole day in your arms, here in your home, doing nothing out of the ordinary. I just want to be with you, and pretend it's just another day. Pretend that I'll still be alive at the end of all of this, and that we have nothing to worry about, and.." her voice trailed off, and she glanced away again - swallowing audibly. "I'm scared, Marcellus. Terrified." Her hand flew up to her mouth to stifle something - prevent it from escaping - and her eyes welled up with tears, but they didn't fall. They stayed in her eyes like jewels in a treasure box, shiny as the glimmer of hope that remained within her heart. "I wish I had better odds."

Marcellus pulled her into a hug, then lifted her out of the chair - carrying her to the bedroom bridal-style and laying her down on the bed gently. "I wish that too," he whispered into her ear as he hovered over her - and there was a shared sadness between them that went deeper than words could express. Nonetheless, the kiss that followed was salty and full of emotions, and Selena found herself tugging at his clothes desperately - wanting to feel him pressed against her soft skin. Wanting to feel his warmth; the only cure for the horrible cold she felt inside of her heart.

They had met in freezing temperature, when her world was icy and lifeless - a place of gloomy grey, when she thought there was no light in the world. But he had proved her wrong, and lit up her life like the first rays of spring after a bitter winter. Marcellus made her want to believe in the impossible, melting away some of her sorrow, and filling her soul with warmth.

--- 7 ---

"So, these are my parents.." she said as she stopped in front of two gravestones - each a simple slab of granite, standing side by side. With a gloved hand, she brushed some of the frost off of them - though there wasn't really much to clear away. "They died doing what they loved," Selena said bitterly, contempt in her voice. "Overdoses. Both of them. You'd think mom would have learned after seeing dad kill himself with those needles, but nope! She went and did the same stupid thing less than a year later."

"Selena," Marcellus sighed, resting one hand on her shoulder. A nasty wind had come up - blowing fallen snow from nearby drifts along the sides of the road like a flood of white sand crawling across the graveyard, like a moving mist. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close against him in an attempt to provide comfort. The cemetery was small, located deep within a forest and not visited often, with trees towering over the dead all around them. The church was a simple stone structure, built sometime in the 1500's, lacking any extravagant flair.

She gave a shrug, then turned her attention towards the grave of her father - looking down at it, standing there with tears in her eyes as if staring into the abyss that awaited her. "But I have to forgive them, don't I? Some part of them loved me.. Didn't they?" She leaned forward and brushed her thumb against the engraved words - running over them with a look of recollection on her face.

"You don't HAVE to do anything," Marcellus said quietly. He took a few steps forward, standing beside her. "It's your choice. Just listen to what your heart tells you."

She turned to him, and gave him an expression that was hard to read. Part sorrow, part pain, part happiness, and part adoration. And yet none of those words could describe the sheer force of emotion present in those glistening eyes. "I love you," she whispered for the first time as she held his gaze intensely. "I'm so sad I won't get to keep you forever."

Marcellus pulled her in close and kissed her, letting her know with actions how he truly felt about her in that moment. Then he brought one hand to her cheek and stroked it gently with his thumb, looking into her eyes. She leaned against his touch as he wiped away her tears, attempting to smile at him. "I love you too. And you will keep me forever.." His voice broke ever so slightly at the end - as he found it hard to speak without feeling that overwhelming emotion threatening to overtake him. They were both at a loss of words - staring at each other as they listened to the wind whipping the tree-tops nearby, blowing through the branches like the gentle howling of fallen souls, welcoming their eternal slumber.

She took hold of his hand and squeezed it. "For the first and only time, can I please have a moment alone?" Her voice was calm, her eyes full of determination and resolve, but there was a tremble of uncertainty in her words.

She stood there in front of their graves for at least 30 minutes, a thousand-yard-stare, as if gazing into the void - a haunting expression on her face that made him worry tremendously. Marcellus waited by the rusted gates leading into the church grounds, waiting for Selena to return to him - pacing back and forth anxiously. When she returned to his side, he let out a breath he had been holding, his heart still pounding fast inside of his chest.

"I forgave them," she said softly. She didn't smile. "It's over. My list of wishes has been completed. I'm ready."

--- 8 ---

They spent the entire afternoon cuddling up to each other. It was difficult to pretend it was just another day when they both knew that today might be their last. When they both knew the odds were stacked against her survival. Marcellus felt helpless in the face of it all - there was nothing he could do but accept the inevitable and remain strong for her sake, and not ruin the day, but it proved exceptionally difficult. He held her tight against him, not wanting to let go.

Even as they got undressed, and her voluptuous naked body was on full display, getting in the mood was no easy feat. She was kneeling in front of him as he sat on the couch, licking at his tip, trying to turn his semi-erect member hard. It was the first time she'd attempt to give him a proper blowjob, having only given his cock a few licks and kisses prior. "Am I doing it wrong?" she asked with a hint of desperation in her voice, pulling back.

"No, darling. You're wonderful." It was true, too. Even though Selena wasn't particularly experienced, she had already learned quite a few tricks during their time together - and her tongue felt like a treat, working its way over his length. Then she wrapped those soft lips around him, taking him into her mouth as far as she could without gagging - swirling her tongue around, then suckled on his tip. She kept looking at him through half-lidded eyes, and that was enough to get Marcellus' libido going. He moaned quietly, resting his head against the back of the sofa and running one hand through her dark locks. It felt incredible to see her there on her knees in front of him, willing to do anything he wished - and his body felt warm all over as she sucked on his cock with enthusiasm, her hand cupping his balls extremely gently as if the slightest amount of pressure would break them.

"Mmmh.. You're good at this. So good," Marcellus sighed, resting one hand on the top of her head - and the smile across her face was instantaneous, blending in perfectly with the erotic expression she had when her lips were wrapped around his shaft. After a minute or so, she let go of his member with a 'pop', then kissed the tip - her hand stroking him up and down slowly as she looked up at her boyfriend.

"Will you cum in my mouth please?" Selena asked - a glint in her eye that was almost challenging. It made Marcellus groan as she immediately put him into her mouth again. That was also something they had not tried yet. Selena looked adorable sitting there with his cock in her mouth - looking up at him as if waiting for his permission, even though she already had it. "I want to swallow it," she breathed timidly after a while, looking surprisingly bashful all of a sudden.

"You are incredible," he moaned softly, enjoying the way she licked and teased him, savouring his taste - the little noises she made that so clearly gave away her eagerness. "Of course, darling. You can do that. I'd love it if you did."

After a few more minutes, Marcellus could feel his balls begin to tighten - and Selena took notice, bobbing her head faster; and as the seed erupted inside of her mouth, she slowed down, taking her time with swallowing it down as if relishing both the sensation and the flavour. She had a blissful look on her face - as if there was nowhere she'd rather be, nothing else she'd rather do.

"You look beautiful," Marcellus whispered, his eyes half-closed as he let the afterglow wash over him. His muscles were relaxing, and he felt himself slipping lower into the seat - her lips still wrapped around him with a shine like polished rubies. "I could get addicted to that."

"So could I!" she giggled, licking him clean as he lay there in post-orgasmic bliss. "It's yummy!" she said with a mischievous grin. Then Selena pushed herself off the floor, laying down on the couch and pulling him close. Marcellus laid down beside her, wrapping his arm around her midsection. She kept nuzzling against him - happy, satisfied and comfortable.

It took less than an hour before they were at it again - this time on the bed, spooning with their naked bodies entwined. Marcellus rubbed his cock up and down her folds, spreading her wetness around - then grabbed hold of her delightful bottom, digging his fingers into the soft flesh - and sunk himself inside of her warm insides. They moved as one - both aware that these may be their last moments together - and for a time, Marcellus was able to push his worries away, focusing solely on her. His senses became filled with the feeling of her, every curve of her body worthy of his adoration, every touch of their skin a treasure, every whimper, sigh and moan like the most moving of music. "You feel incredible," he whispered sensually, nibbling on her ear. "So hot and tight, squeezing me just right.."