Author's Note: Hey there! This is just a tester chapter. If I get reviews and such, I will probably end up continuing this. I do have other things I have to write, if my muse and schedule will ever work this out. So sorry if the update time is lazy. I am just determined to finish something for once, so make this it, you guys!
In my mind, there is nothing more beautiful than winter. How silent it is. The peace it brings. Not to mention the seemingly endless string of holidays that initially call for peace and love among everybody.
But recently, I have been getting a bit overwhelmed with everything. Fall seemed to take forever to get there, and it did not even bother to bring me any joy whatsoever. The leaves were just pests around my feet, and the weather decided to be the perfect in between of summer and winter.
Now, I was finding myself driving all the way to my late uncles cabin all the way in Montana. He had it right next to a lake. It was great during the summer, and he always wanted me to come during the winter. Never before had I gone during anywhere near this time of year.
Funny how I wanted to grant his wish after he passed.
My car bumped and rattled over the gravel road as civilization slowly slipped away and pure wild took over. Soon, I would have to abandon my car and trek the the cabin. Finally, I got to the end of the road.
I slowly got out of the vehicle, staring at my reflection in the mirror before doing so. The bags under my eyes were too great for somebody my age. I was only nineteen, for heavens sake, and I already looked like I was a stay at home mom with three little ones with another on the way. My black hair was in a messy braid, small bits of hair having freed themselves, and my blue eyes looked like lazy splotches of paint in my eyes. Even my skin looked dead, ashy.
My feet hit the ground, and I stood as straight as somebody can after being in a car for a seemingly endless amount of time. It was only twelve or so hours, but still. That was half of a day.
Now with my backpack, I headed off to go see the cabin.
My mind was off in the other world it went to. What a lovely place that world was. It was the place without the pressures of college, peers, or parents with dauntingly high expectations. It was the world of my snow forts, my snowmen army, and the sound of music in the otherwise silence. There myths were real. There I was who I wanted to be. There is where I wanted to be.
And then I saw where I was.
The cabin was quite a beautiful building. Two stories, heated by a wood stove, a functioning kitchen and more books and blankets than somebody like me could wish for. It was also a few miles away from where you could get any sort of wifi or cell phone signal. A refreshing break from everything, really.
I opened the door, which squeaked loudly in protest. A wave of nostalgia hit me like a ton of bricks at that moment, standing in the door way with my stuff on my back.
Memories of the bittersweet summers washed over me. Playing with the dog in the yard, throwing the ball as far as I could. My family sitting on the porch. Knowing that the days of some of them were numbered. The romps to and from the lake, full of some form of dance and song that made traveling through thicket bearable. The laughs of others as I simply forgot the ability to give a damn. The nights by the camp fires, being read tales by the glow of the fire.
I placed my bag right next to the door, somehow finding it in myself to move forward. One foot after the other. My body only let me move to a chair before I collapsed and started crying like a little child upon finding out that magic was not real.
The door was still open, letting the slightly chilly air in. A small gust of wind pushed it, making it bump on the wall. I looked up, hardly caring if the cold over took me at this point.
Reluctantly, I stood. Sitting in the chair and wallowing was not going to get the car unloaded. Besides, I at least had to close the door.
On my way over, I spotted something on the table. I picked it up and brought it in to better lighting, although I already knew exactly what it was. The story book.
It had a hard cover, worn and slightly faded from one to many times off the shelf. All books should have a look like this. The slight crack of the spine as I opened it reminded me of its age and uses. A slight scent of smokey nights escaped from it. My mind screamed and pulled at me, beckoning to go to where all of my memories were. The good ones of the last summer and each and every single one before that.
My fingers flitted over the pages, turning them one by one until I finally reached the back cover. With the most satisfying feeling known to me, I closed the book and savored the noise that resulted.
I returned the book to where it had been, then I made the walk all the way back to the car. I picked up the boxes from the trunk, determined to make this in one trip. It would otherwise take me forever to make the trips required.
Struggling with them removed any grace I had held before. Not that I had much to begin with, but I liked my small grace over no grace at all. When I got to the door, I simply fell forward onto the wall, narrowly missing the mass of boxes I had tried carrying, eventually having to do some form of pushing across the grass. The ground was just frozen enough to allow this.
This was probably why I never came out here during the colder seasons. The cold air, the loneliness, the emptiness of it all. With summer, there was always a pack of family to welcome you. But now, I was all alone.
Rather than get depressed, I decided to go make a list of pros and cons. It kept me quite busy while I got the boxes situated inside and their contents put away.
Pro: The winter. It was always my favorite season.
Con: I was all alone.
Pro: I didn't have to deal with people.
Con: I didn't have people to deal with.
Pro: I could do what I wanted here. Nobody was there to interrupt or stop me.
Con: I did not have anybody to share things with.
Pro: I got to put off all bad news and everything I had been hiding!
Con: I would have to return to the world.
Pro: I had a chance to sort myself out.
Con: I could get addicted to this.
Pro: I could get addicted to this.
Author's Note: Jack will show up later! I just felt like he might need to wait a little while so I can get things set up for him. No forced entries, you guys!