Oliver had waited a long time for this moment. Despite being ridiculed by his peers his mind was made up. What right had they to dictate how he should conduct his life, and what did they know about love anyway? Whatever, he couldn't give a hoot. Socially they may well have been as different as chalk and cheese but he loved Marina with all of his heart, and that was all that mattered.
The clock on the church tower read 12.45a.m. as the door opened. His heart skipped a beat, but there was his true love, her eyes shining like the stars in the heavens above. They slipped away as quietly as possible. They travelled light even though they knew this was to be a long and arduous journey. Ships stays serenaded them as they passed the line of boats at anchor at Plymouth Hoe. A worldly navigator Oliver immediately set course. Several times during the ensuing weeks they weathered severe storms while on calmer nights Oliver would point out various constellations and even sing the odd song to his true love.
Finally after four arduous months the coast of Queensland beckoned, west of the Great Barrier Reef. It was a truly awe inspiring site as palm trees swayed in the cool balmy breeze with mile after mile of pure white sand being caressed by crystal clear water. As promised a ring was bought and a very simple ceremony followed. They didn't know what the future held, neither did they care. All they knew was today was to be the first day of the rest of their lives together.
So touched was he by this fable of true love, that most famous of poets Edward Lear - 1812 - 1888 put it to verse:
"The owl and the pussycat went to sea in in a beautiful pea green boat..." 
Awe - bless X ((( ))). As I said in one of my earlier threads, I'm a creative writer. It was set as homework - a love story in under 200 words. Difficult. It's easy to expand on a story. The difficulty is compressing it . I sent it off to a couple of women's magazines as a space filler. The longer they have you ms. the better. They buy several but use only a few. Glad you liked it
