Mirror

Old friends and new hobbies

Mason POV

I head down the hall to my room for the evening. It's not a lot, but it's what I can afford in this small village. It has a single cot off to the side, a lantern, and a small fireplace. I remove my clothes and slip under the wool blanket. Definitely not as comfortable as my bed, but that’s to be expected. Nothing feels as good as home. I wonder how Sadie is doing. I hope she has stayed put in the cottage. I worry for her. I cannot imagine where she has traveled from. I need to find Clara to get some answers.

I hear a soft knock on the door. Great… I get up to answer. I know who it is before I opened the door.

“Hi,” Rosalyn says.

“Rosalyn, it is late and I am not interested.”

“Not even for old times sake?”

“No, I am sorry, but I really do need sleep. Goodnight.”

I start to close the door when I hear a sob. Perfect… I opened the door again and looked at her pretty face. Her soft brown eyes look so sad and lost. Her golden hair wraps around her face and waves down to her shoulders and back down her arms. She once was my only solitude in this dreary world. After her husband died, I was that for her too. But now, we both need to see it for what it was. Comfort. I’ve tried to explain this to her more times than I can count but the loneliness doesn’t get easier on her.

“Rosalyn, please don’t do this again. You know we cannot see each other anymore and I am not changing my mind. You are beautiful and wonderful and you will find someone out there for you. But that person is not me. Goodnight. Please leave.”

With that, I shut the door and lock it. Sliding back into the cot, I blow out the lantern and try for some sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am awakened by the sounds of birds chirping and the smell of cold air hitting my nose. I sit up groggily and scan my surroundings. Oh yeah. I'm in this strange place, in a strange time, in a strange man's bed. Kicking the blankets off, I stand up and make my way out to the living area. The embers are still burning but need to be rekindled. I add some small pieces of wood and restart the fire. Once I have that going, I grab the kettle again. Tea is needed.

I grab my mug and sip slowly in the chair, watching the fire. This is very soothing. I really hope that I can figure this all out. It’s great that Mason is helping me. I don’t know what I would do here alone. Like where even is here? The thought makes me uneasy and I shift lower into the chair. I fight off a shiver creeping up my spine. I just need to trust that Mason’s intentions are good and that we will figure this s**t show out together.

Placing my mug down on the wooden side table, I lift myself off the chair. If I am to stay here, I need to make myself useful. This sitting around moping is not for me. I think ill clean up for him. It takes me awhile to find everything I need to start tidying. I wipe down the glass windows until they shine, I sweep the floors, I wipe the wooden counter tops and table tops, I fluff his pillows and straighten his sheets and blanket. Not a lot I can do in his bathroom as there are no chemicals I can find, so I make a note to ask him about that later.

Heading back into the living area, I noticed the wood supply is getting lower. It's not too bad, but if I filled it back up then he wouldn’t have to do it when he got back. But he told me not to leave the cottage…. I'm not sure what to do as I juggle that thought back and forth in my head for what feels like minutes. Screw it. I wont be long and he's not here anyways. I'll be quick and then back in here like I wasn’t even outside.

I open the cottage door and take a deep breath before I step outside. It's a cool autumn day. The sun is shining and speckles my face with little nibbles of warmth. I love days like these. I look around for his stock pile. When I find it, I start looking for the ax. I wonder how many I should chop? Is it hard to chop wood? I mean, I like walking and doing the odd Pilates class, but cardio is not my forte.

I decide on six logs to chop. “Okay, here I go…”

I line up the ax with the wood and bring my arm up and swing down. The blade digs into the wood but doesn’t do anything but stick. Seriously? After a few minutes of trying to remove the ax from the wood, I finally get it unstuck. Okay, let's try this again…

A swing and a miss. I keep trying for what feels like hours, but I'm sure it's only like fifteen minutes. I’ve managed to chop two logs, extremely uneven, but whatever. I try not to be frustrated, but I'm upset I can't help with this seemingly easy task. I gather up the chopped wood and head back inside. I hear a sharp c***k of a stick or something coming from the woods. I look quickly in that direction but see nothing. I quickly look around the woods but see nothing. A feeling of uneasiness and of being watched suddenly hits me. Okayyy back inside Sadie.