The house was still when I woke up; the storm outside was long over and it seemed it might be a sunny day. Dad was gone to work already. I found the fridge and the pantry freshly stocked with groceries, all low-fat, low-cholesterol, healthy things, with plenty of fruit, vegetables and bottles of organic nectar. I smiled. My eyes stung a little.
With dad, one had better learnt quickly to read signals like these, I thought then; chances were I'd actually grow grey and wrinkled thinking my dad's never loved me if I didn't. He had his own language of love and words were not part of it.
I picked a Red Delicious apple, two red bell peppers and a peach nectar and sat down with it at the kitchen table, which stood in the bay window – again the view was lovely, just trees, moss, ferns and grass, no people. I pulled the jalousies up to see it better. Then I noticed an American SIM card and a note lying on the table.

Put me on speed dial. I'll come back around 12:00. Check the fridge and pantry and write down a list of what else you need. No dairy and no cheese – don't cheat, I read your doctor's instructions. Dad

I flitted over the lines once more and smiled again. He'll be a much tougher guardian of my health than mum – when I was small, he was the one almost never likely to cave in, no matter my puppy eyes. Or mum's, for that matter. I think that was one of the things she liked about him. He was principled.
I changed the SIM card and put dad on speed dial as instructed. Finishing my breakfast, I swallowed my portion of beta blockers and threw all the windows open to let the fresh air in. I stared at the forest for a moment. Two green and blue dragonflies were chasing after each other; and beyond them, in the thicket, it seemed to me I've glimpsed the head of a doe glancing towards the house.
Something about her made me shudder, I didn't know why.
I went up to unpack my baggage.

When I was done with it, I was very tired. I went to sit outside on a bench facing a patch of rose bushes to get some Sun. On the soil between the roses, a small blue dragonfly trying to get out of an ant's grasp caught my eye; I stood up and squatted close. She was such a beautiful thing, like she was made of mother-of-pearl and lapis lazuli... I felt a sting in my heart.
Humans shouldn't interfere in these things – how long does a dragonfly live, few days? A week? And how long does an ant live and how many other ants does it feed? Each creature needs to eat, that is the way of things. But no matter how I was telling myself this, my heart twisted in knots. I watched the beautiful dragonfly in a mortal fight, struggling desperately with her thin legs, and though much larger than the ant, even upon finding roots to latch onto her fight was futile, the ant was still dragging her away by her wing, still stronger and the dragonfly in all her iridescent charm was to be gone before her time. With a heavy heart, before knowing I'm doing it, I took a rose leaf and nudged the ant with it. It didn't release its hold. I brushed it off with the leaf and it retreated, while she struggled on her feet. She made few steps forward and shivered. I thought she'll take off straight away, or at least after a moment after she recovers, but she stood and didn't move, while the ant still circled around.
"Come on, fly," I whispered to her with my throat tight. "That ant will eat you if you don't."
But she stayed still, very still, still as my heart in that moment; and then she lurched and slowly fell. And she didn't move again. I waited for a long time, thinking she might yet wake up. But she didn't.
Have you lived out your week and would have died anyway?
Before your time, or exactly at the right time?
I gathered her in my hands and laid her down amidst cornflowers, feeling a hot tear tumble down my cheek. It was one of those tears I'd never tell anybody I shed. I went up to my room, kicked off my shoes and sat on the bed, wrapping my arms around my knees and drawing them to my chin, staring at the photo on the desk. I got so lost in thoughts I didn't notice dad has come back until he knocked on my door.
"Hey, Bells. Can I come in?"
"Yeah, sure."
He entered and glanced around. "It looks different. More like your old room in England."
It did; I changed the purple polyester bedcovers he had bought for white embroidered linen flounced with broderie anglaise lace from my great-grandmother's trousseau and hung my old white crinkled chiffon canopy above the bed; the walls were hung with posters of Aznavour, Piaf, and Montand; the purple curtains I replaced with frilled, white, dotted chiffon ones. Beside the photo on the desk, I put a snow globe with a fairy inside.
"You mind a lot I changed it?"
He shook his head. "Nah, Bells – just make this comfortable for yourself, alright? That's what matters." He cleared his throat. "I guess I didn't quite guess right what your taste might be. I asked the saleslady to pick up something nice for a teenager, but..."
"It's okay, dad," I hurried to say, crossing my legs under me and straightening up. "I know you tried your best – you really don't mind?"
He grunted something and shook his head. "I should have known you're the romantic type," he added, as if stifling a sigh, and picked up the snow globe, turning it in his hands. "Your mum was just the same. All fanciful and believing in fairies. I gave this to her when we were dating..."
"Do you want it, dad?"
He shook his head quickly and put it down, facing me and putting his hands into his pockets. "Nope. Keep it. It fits here. Well, that will be it – I'll shower and we'll get down to making the lunch, okay?"
"Okay, dad," I said and then added, tilting to the side: "Dad?"
"Hmph?"
"There's... there's a documentary projection about blue whales this afternoon, at the library. Would you like to go with me? And then we could grab some dinner, my treat?"
"I have to go back to work, Bells. And then I promised Sue Clearwater I'll have a look at some plumbing she needs repaired."
"Yeah," I blinked and tucked my hair behind my ear, glancing down. "Right."

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Author's note: Wow! Thanks to J'adoreSupernatural, prunelle05 and Kochabilka for subscribing to this story and big thanks to Kochabilka for reviewing! I can promise you you will find out about those skirts and of course, Garrett, in a couple of chapters:-) So here is the promised Chapter 2, I hope you guys enjoy:-) Subscribe, review, I love you all!