This was inspired by a DWP FB prompt from CrazyBeCat and was supposed to be a Christmas oneshot, but somehow it went off track and slowly evolving into something that I'm not quite sure of yet. (Other than my greatest fear... big multi-chapter fic... the horror...) Needless to say, I've been sitting on this for a while now and wasn't sure if I should post what I have now and update as I go or wait until I am nearly done, which will be a long while. However, with the pandemic going on, I figured why not. We all need some form of entertainment right? Maybe this will help inspire me to quit being lazy and type up the next portion that I've been thinking of but haven't.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy what I have so far. Please excuse the grammar, past tense/present tense issues. All errors a mine.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, just borrowing.
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From inside the warm cottage looking out, she can see the snow storm coming down full force. The beautiful view of the mountains, various pines and cypress trees, and the bare branches of the not so evergreen trees were gone. It was like the blizzard helped wipe the world clean, a blank slate. She can hear the wind blowing as she watched the many snowflakes hit her windows. Many people would have hated this sight, they wouldn't understand or see the beauty that she can see and enjoy. Every season has its own beauty, its own allurement. The ability to see and enjoy what mother nature had created since she was a child, helped her cultivate her artistic and imaginative skills. Just the mere thought of what she can create on her many blank canvases and the itch of letting the characters that are rumbling in her head out to play puts a smile on her lips.
'First another cup of hot tea, then a sketch or two before you can let them out to play.'
As she headed over to the kitchen and filled the kettle with water, she glanced over at Nala, her American Eskimo dog, to check and see if she needed anything. Nala gave her a brief look then went back to enjoying the warmth from the lit fireplace and her nap. 'Oh to have a dog's life.' Turning off the faucet, she put the lid back on the kettle and hung it on the cast iron hook over the fire, then went back to the kitchen to add fresh tea leaves into her Baby Nessie the Loch Ness Monster tea infuser and set it in her mug. Deciding to indulge a bit, she fixed herself a plate of homemade cookies she baked earlier. Sensing Nala giving her that look of 'If you're getting treats for yourself, you better get me some too', she grabbed two homemade dog biscuits.
When the kettle let out a loud whistle, she removed it from the fire, poured the hot water into her mug, then placed the kettle down on a trivet near the fire. Letting the tea steeps, she grabbed her sketch pad from the coffee table and sat down in her arm chair next to Nala and the fireplace. Nala looked up at her, waiting and giving her a 'Well?' look before letting out a bark. Andy chuckled and rolled her eyes before holding out one of the dog biscuits. Taking a bite of her own treat, she flipped her sketchpad open and started to sketch the many images that were swirling around in her head. Later, after she let the voices in her head out to play, she'll put these sketches onto her canvases.
Midway through the fourth sketch, Nala got up from her lazing position and ran over to the window by the front door of the cottage and started to bark. She hopped up, with her two front legs on the windowsill, and barked louder. When her mom just sat there looking at her, Nala hopped down and ran over to nudge her side, then whine and barked again. Her mom raised her brow then nodded her head in an 'Okay, okay,' and got up from her seat to walk over to the window. Before she even got to the window to investigate what had caused Nala's agitation, someone was at her door knocking loudly and rapidly. Then came the desperate voices calling out.
"Help!"
"Please!"
She flipped on the porch light and glanced out her window to see two little girls, who didn't look any older than ten or eleven, with no adults in sight. Quickly, she unlocked her door and opened it.
"Please help us!" Girl one pleaded desperately, tears streaming down her cheek.
"Our mom is out there," Girl two said, also crying.
"She tried to avoid a deer."
"But ended up hitting a tree."
"We couldn't get her to wake up."
"Please help!"
"Please!"
Quickly, she turned back into the house to grab her coat, boots, the essentials needed to go out in this snowstorm, along with a couple of blankets. Slipping on her knitted hat and tugging on her gloves, she walked out the front door with Nala following behind her and the girls taking the lead back to their unconscious mother. Once she got to the bottom of her porch step, instead of following the girls, she made a right and headed towards her outdoor garage. The girls not hearing footsteps behind them, turned around to see the woman walking in the opposite direction.
"Where are you going?"
"That's the wrong way!"
She ignored them and proceeded to open the garage door closest to the cottage. The door opened to reveal a beat up truck that was once blue and a snowmobile. She grabbed the keys to the snowmobile from the many hooks on the wall and walked over to start the snowmobile. Happy that it's running fine with plenty of gas, she drove it to the front of the garage, slipped off the mobile and lifted up the seat to reveal a storage place, which she placed the blankets in along with bungee cords she had taken off from one of the shelves. Done with that task, she headed back into the garage to grab the big sled and began to secure it to the back of the snowmobile.
Meanwhile the two little girls huffed in impatience. They glanced at the woman, then at one another, having a whole silent conversation of 'what is she doing?', 'why is she taking so long?', 'ugh! At this rate mom will probably wake up and freak out since we're not there.' Before they could verbalize their impatience and annoyance out loud, the woman got back on the snowmobile, drove it towards them, and stopped next to them. The girls looked at her and she looked back, then rolled her eyes and motioned for them to get on.
Once the girls were sitting securely behind her, with one wrapping their little, slim arms around her waist, she steered the snowmobile towards the direction that they had come from. She shouldn't have been surprised that there wasn't going to be any peace and quiet during this journey, after all, the girls were worried about their mom and wanted to get back to her as soon as possible. While going down her driveway and towards the road, the girls would shout out the directions and point towards the path that they had come from, as if Nala, who was ahead of them, isn't able to lead them there.
Finally arriving at their destination, she can see the charcoal Range Rover was nearly covered with snow. Stopping next to the car, the girls and her hopped off the mobile and set to work, with the girls going to check on their mother while she brought out the blankets and bungee cords she had packed back at the cottage.
"Mommy!" "Mommy!"
"Wake up mommy!"
"We got help."
The girls continued to frantically call their mom, tears streaming down their faces while they tried to wake their unconscious mother. The sound of their scared little voices yelling and begging for their mother to wake up caused a slight tug at her heart, the feeling so foreign to her now that it made her stop what she was doing for a few seconds to look over at them. 'Get a hold of yourself Andy. The sooner you help them the sooner you can be alone again.' Andy shook her head then went back to covering the sled with one of the blankets.
With the sled ready, she walked over to the little girls and their mother to examine the woman before transferring her to the sled. She gently nudged the girls aside so she could have access to the woman. The sight of the unconscious woman took her breath away. Though unconscious, she is still beautiful nonetheless, sitting there, with her head and back resting against the driver's seat. It was something she hadn't expected to encounter, but then she hadn't expected to encounter this entire situation. This Christmas holiday was supposed to be like all the other Christmas holidays, quiet, with just Nala and her. It's the way that she liked it to be. Needed it to be.
Giving herself a mental shake, she pushed aside the sudden attraction and went on to examine the woman, making sure there's no injuries to the neck and spine before she felt comfortable enough to move the woman without causing more harm. Once deeming that it's just a head wound caused by the steering wheel and airbag, Andy leaned over to release the seat belt and gather the woman into her arms. Laying the woman down gently on the sled, she wrapped the second blanket over the woman to keep her warm then looked back at the car to see the little girls sitting in the backseat talking quietly to, 'is that a horse?!' Andy walked over to the car to take a closer look at what looked like a small horse, but only to find out it was a St. Bernard.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Andy cast her eyes inside the car to make sure there are no other surprises. Seeing the back overfilled with luggage, she let out a sigh then proceeded to unload them from the car and onto the sled, using the bigger luggage as a border around the sled to ensure the woman is secure on the sled during their transit back to the cottage. Surprisingly, the little girls helped Andy by carrying the small and lighter bags, making the process go quicker. As the last piece of luggage is laid down, Andy gave the girls a thankful smile then went to secure the luggage to the sled with the bungee cords. It was another ten to fifteen minutes, before they were heading back to the cottage.