Fading With Time

Chapter 19

Friends in Old Places

                After Mason left Elizabeth decided to get out for the day.  She had been cooping herself up in the house way too much lately.  While she still didn’t feel completely up to socializing, a walk outside sounded nice.  She almost grabbed a sketch book and pencil on her way out of the attic.  It was more out of habit then being inspired.  She forced herself to walk down the stairs and out the door empty handed.  She had been staring at canvases and blank pages too long.  A break was indeed in order.  It would probably help with her current piece as well to step away from it all for a while.

                Stepping off the last step into the bright sunshine had Elizabeth squinting teary eyed around her.  Apparently she had spent an over abundance of daylight hours inside.  She felt a little like a vampire shying away from the light.  Heading back in she snatched a ball cap before braving the outdoors once again.  She was going to have to make more of an effort to spend sometime outside of her house.  If for no other reason then to see her friends.

                As she walked down the gravel drive to the road she pondered just what everyone had been up to.  The only one she saw daily was Jan and that was when they were working on the project.  As far as Jan’s life past the attic Elizabeth had no clue.  Not just about Jan either but all the others in Crystal Springs.  As well as her friends back home.  She hadn’t bothered to touch base with anyone too absorbed in her own dilemmas to give anyone much consideration.  She hadn’t even visited Addison or her new baby yet.  The last time she had even been in their company was right after Emily had been born.  She was such a heel as a friend.  She made a mental note to check in on everyone tomorrow.  Today was for her, however.  To reconnect with being present in her life rather than living like a hermit.  It was not how she had been before everything in her world went off the rails.  The antiques, the project even the letters had been an excuse to hide away.

                Groaning out loud Elizabeth’s steps faltered momentarily at the thought of all the letters.  She still hadn’t given William, and by extension Annabel, any response yet.  Would it be better though if she didn’t?  The longer she remained attached to a past that wasn’t her own the less she thrived in the present.  She wished she had someone to talk to about this.  The only one of her friends that knew anything was Lauren and she thought it was connected to Elizabeth’s grief.  A figment of her imagination.  No, she couldn’t contact Lauren, or she would risk her friend thinking she truly had gone mad.

                She thought Ryan might believe her if she told him everything.  Then again he may view it as an interesting study into the past rather than a problem.  No, she couldn’t talk to him either.  Never mind the fact that she had no way of reaching him anyway.

                Elizabeth turned her options over as she strolled down the road heading to town.  She was so lost in her thoughts searching for a confidant that she wasn’t really paying much attention to her surroundings.  She could vaguely hear the sounds of the people buzzing about their lives, but it was little more than white noise.  She had a brief thought of one of the people she had gotten to know a little calling out a greeting to her at some point initiating small talk. After all most of the residents of Crystal Springs had proven to be very friendly.  She needn’t have worried though as no one seemed to pay any interest in her as she walked.  Eyes glued to the ground and attention turned inwards she moved about unbothered.

                “Elizabeth!”  Her name was spoken loudly as the person latched onto her arm jerking her back into her surroundings.

                “Annabel?”  Elizabeth spoke with confusion as she blinked slowly trying to comprehend.  She was in fact staring into the face of William’s youngest sister.  Glancing around her in shock she only now noticed that the town was not as she knew it.

                “Are you all right Lizzy?”  The concern in her companion’s voice had Elizabeth turning her head back towards the other woman.

                “I’m fine just a little out of sorts.”  It wasn’t exactly a lie really.  Finding herself once again in the past hadn’t frightened her.  It was the fact that she found herself there outside of the house that had shaken her.  She didn’t even know when it had happened.

                “I worried I would never hear from you again.”

                “Why on earth would you think that?”  It was Annabel’s turn to look confused.

                “It has been four months since I saw you last.”  Elizabeth’s eyes widened in surprise.  In truth she hadn’t given time much meaning lately.  She just assumed that if she wrote to William again that it would appear in his box of stationary only moments after sending his own letter off.  It had never once occurred to her to ask.

                “Annabel, I saw you a couple weeks ago.”  Annabel’s nose scrunched up on her face as her eyebrows furrowed in thought.

                “It has truly only been such a short amount of time for you?”

                “Yes.  Why would I lie about that?”

                “This is most peculiar indeed.  Who would have thought time was passing the both of us differently.  That explains why we have not heard your reply I suppose.  You must have much to do where you come from.”  Elizabeth felt a pang of guilt hit her heart as she watched Annabel maneuver them both into continuing with their stroll.  She could almost see the wheels turning in her mind as the young woman considered Elizabeth’s words.  As she observed her silently from the corner of her eye an idea began to form.  She had been needing someone to talk too only moments before.  Who better than the openminded friend at her side?

                Taking a steadying breath Elizabeth worked up the courage to begin.  It wasn’t easy to get the words out at the start.  She found that the longer she poured her thoughts out the more natural it became.  Annabel listened on quietly.  The only time she spoke was for clarification.  There was no judgement in her actions at all.

                Elizabeth finished by admitting the one thing she hadn’t spoken to Mason about that morning already.  She hadn’t wanted to confess her thoughts on responding to Annabel’s and William’s letters.  If she wanted an honest opinion though she needed to lay it all out in the open.  Annabel showed no ill feelings to what she was told.  Only nodding while organizing her thoughts.  It was as if she understood Elizabeth’s reluctance.  Elizabeth was truthfully amazed by herself.  It had been twice in one day that she had confided her secret musings and fears to a friend.  Because she realized that she did consider Annabel a friend.  Which only served to make her feel worse about the words she had spoken.

                They continued to walk about the streets in silence making a circuit around the town.  Elizabeth was tense with impatience but held her questions in while Annabel processed.  As they stopped at the next corner to wait for a car to pass Annabel turned to look at her.  All of the adventurous charm she usually exuded was now replaced with seriousness as she met Elizabeth’s worried gaze.

                “You know what I think?”