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The house was dark and empty.
From her perch on the edge of the divan, Anne could barely make out her surroundings. The sliver of moonlight that pierced through the velvet drapes reflected off the panes of the china cabinet, where Sarah Blythe's grandmother's tea set was proudly displayed. The varnish of one of the narrow, dark cherrywood parlour chairs, of which the twin loomed across the small round marble top table, glinted off the same moonbeam. At the other side of the sitting room, the tall, imposing grandfather clock. It was truly the worst piece of furniture in the room, of the whole house even, and they didn't even benefit of the excuse of having been a family heirloom. Rather, Gilbert had purchased it brand new. 'This way, you won't have to be running late all the time,' he'd announced upon its delivery, a present for their second anniversary. Late, late, late, the clock seemed to be taunting her with every swing of its ugly pendulum. Late, late.
Feeling light, as though her skin were a rubber balloon, and her insides, helium, she stood up and glided slowly towards it. The door yielded open without protest, and she reached in to grab the offensive appendage, bringing it to a stop. Her shoulders relaxed, and a sensation of peace blended with relief enveloped her. Shutting the door of the nightmarish timekeeper, she looked around the dark room once more, then headed upstairs to the bedroom. There, she pulled her old carpet bag from under the bed, packed her blue travel dress and another sensible outfit, some undergarments and an extra scarf. From her oak chest, she withdrew her notebooks and pens, her secret savings (twenty dollars, she would make them last) and the treasured amethyst brooch Marilla had gifted her on her wedding day.
Downstairs, she donned her jacket and pinned on her hat, and glanced back one more time at the empty domicile she'd been referring to as her home. So much for that, she thought without much nostalgia, or feeling of any kind, as she picked up her carpet bag with the broken handle and closed the front door behind her.