disclaimer: don't own.
a/n: probably will be my last work for a looooong time. gonna be busy this summer.
warnings: heavy spoilers. like seriously.
. . .
The signs come in bits and pieces.
It's not that it goes completely unnoticed—she's not that stupid—but she just didn't think that it was to be taken too seriously. After all, didn't she said it herself that she wouldn't—wouldn't—
She stops. She breathes.
The air tastes like ashes.
. . .
Annie gifts Eda many things.
She likes to give the generous woman soup, salad or even butterflies—it doesn't really matter. Eda says she's glad she even tries to visit. Annie reasons that they're neighbors and that it never really took much of her time.
She's not ungrateful, she repeats to herself. But sometimes she thinks Eda knows.
. . .
The pictures make her smile.
Annie doesn't know when she starts to notice the little things in the house, but she does and it makes her feel warm inside, knowing that there had been something else (better) before all these unfixed, creaking floorboards and the quiet that never ends.
. . .
It had shaken her.
Maybe Eda had thought implications would go unnoticed under all the compliments—she's not that stupid—but she sees, she hears and she knows.
It pains her. It confuses her.
This scares her.
. . .
Winter.
The wind freezes her face. Her cheeks are cherry red.
Annie stretches her limbs and inhales, feeling the cold seeping through her bones, blood rushing through her veins—
.
.
.
.
.
Her lungs burn. She thinks of promises and how she's forgotten that they're made to be broken.
.
.
.
.
.
They bury the pictures with her—body old, tired and resting at last.
The house is bare. Her soft steps echoes loudly as she approaches the shelf.
Annie doesn't know what to say to the dust and corners that reeks of solitude. Three seasons will never be enough. She doubts even years will.
With heart in her throat, she turns and leaves.
. . .
(As seasons pass, it will be easier.)
(Finally, Annie can answer her ghosts.)
. . .
—end—
. . .
a/n2: am i the only one who's kinda upset that eda's house kinda disappears with her barn and everything after winter 1.