His Oblivious Mate

Catherine felt the sun shine on her face. A happy smile bloomed on her face. She slept like a baby on her first night in her very first property. The cabin needed some work, but it was hers, and she made a mental list of all the things she needed to get to lighten up the sombre atmosphere of the small double story cabin. This is her new beginning of a life she always wanted for herself. She got out of bed lazily and walked over to the window, looking out at the woods beneath. It is winter and there are no birds, but if she closes her eyes, she can almost imagine what they would sound like, chirping in the trees outside, once Spring came. For now there was a slight wind, stirring the branches in a silent dance. She glanced over at the boxes stacked in the corner of the room and groaned inwardly. She still has to unpack all of them, finding place for the things she collected during her 27 years on Earth. She was not looking forward to it, especially since she isn't the world's most organized packer. She just randomly packed items in the boxes untill they were full. Walking down the stairs to the kitchen, she looked around the cabin and joy bubbled up inside her. Fortune really smiled upon her when she got the chance to buy the land with the cabin and an attached shed. She never met the previous owner, as the estate agent and lawyers dealt with all the paperwork and legal mumbo jumbo, but she thanked him in her mind for the decent sized shed, attached to the cabin with a door in the kitchen. It is the perfect place for a studio for sculpting. She loved the feeling of being isolated from civilization. She felt so akward and uneasy living in the city. 'This cabin is so much better than the shoe box apartment I had to live in" she thought to herself, "I can dance and sing like nobody is watching, because there isnt anyone to watch me". Preparing her favourite breakfast meal of muesli with yoghurt and orange juice, she hummed to herself. Staring out the window while she ate, she made a mental note to go exploring in the woods when she finished unpacking and sprucing the place up a little. Her thoughts returned to what she needed to change the mood of the cabin to reflect her personality. The ground floor consisted of an open plan living area and kitchen. She adored the fireplace, and the little reading corner in the living room. "Cream coloured paint with a lime green border at the bottom would liven the dark room up" she murmured to herself, adding it on her mental list. "And sunflower yellow and blue for the kitchen". She had a thing for sunflowers after learning that they are always facing the sun. And when it is cloudy and the sun not visible, they turn facing each other. She even tried planting them once, but she did not have a green thumb, and none of them ever survived to bloom. She cleaned the kitchen and jogged up the stairs to her bedroom. The second storey consisted of her bedroom, a guest room and a nice sized bathroom with a bath and a shower. She needed to get curtains and bedding, as well as paint. She already decided that her bedroom will be done over in lavender and olive green, the bathroom in sea green and the guest room in grey and red. Not that she ever intended to have guests over, but one never knows. She dressed quickly in a comfortable track suit, and then made her bed. She heaved the first box onto the bed with a deep dramatic sigh, to start the process of unpacking. Several hours later, she placed the framed photo of her parents on the mantelpiece. It was the very last item to be unpacked. There was a stab of sadness in her heart, and she wiped a tear away as she looked at their faces with longing. "Mom, Dad, I miss you guys so much. You would have loved this place. I wish you were here" she whispered to the photo. Her parents were killed in a car accident while she was attending a course on sculpting, several years ago. They used to love her work and encouraged her to learn all she could about her passion in life. She also remembered how they would pester her to go out with other people her age and have fun, but she always preffered being in her studio, getting her hands dirty with clay, or working with her chisel and hammer. She is an only child, so she grew up making friends with solitude and the peace that came with it. The grumbling of her tummy reminded her that she worked all through lunchtime. She made herself a ham and cheese sandwich and a cup of hot chocolate. She could feel the cold creeping in. She placed her meal on the little table in her reading corner, and lit a fire in the fireplace, watching the flames dance while she ate. She turned on some soft music, just for background noise, as she has never had the desire to own a TV. She rinsed the dishes and packed them away, swaying her hips in time with the music, before settling down with a Stephen King novel, under a warm blanket, on the couch. She got lost in the book for a while. Yawning, she got up, and went up to her bedroom. "Cathy, my girl, you did good today. You unpacked all the boxes and you didn't even procrastinate once. I am so proud of you" she told herself in the shower while the hot water soothed her tired muscles. "Tomorrow I will go exploring, and maybe take some photos to frame and hang on the walls" she smiled, excited about what the new day had in store. She dried herself with a fluffy towel and dressed in her unicorn fluffy onesie. She made a face at herself in the mirror. Although she is a grown woman, she could not resist buying the pajamas on a whim. It might look silly and childish, but it was warm and very comfortable. She even had unicorn slippers to match. She got into bed and stared at the moon rising steadily in the night sky. It was almost full and looked eerily beautiful, framed by the window. She could also see thousands of stars, which felt like magic because she could never see many of them in the city. She loved the absence of city noises, sirens blaring, traffic, people shouting and dogs barking. Her mind felt more clear, away from the noise and pollution. She felt like she finally came home after being lost for a long time. Outside on a tree branch, a huge brown owl was watching her curiously, with his head c****d to the side, as she drifted off to sleep with a serene smile on her face. He kept watching as the moon passed overhead, the rays gently caressing her face and strawberry blonde hair. He kept watch until long after the moon went down, and the first rays of the winter sun was kissing the horizon, before flapping his powerful wings and flying off into the disappearing darkness.