𝙲𝙰𝙺𝙴: 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚠𝚘 (𝙰 𝙵𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙻𝙶𝙱𝚃 𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕) 🍰

⑩ 𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚂𝙴𝚆𝙸𝙵𝙴

~~~

Skyler

I'm going to have to get used to watching Charlie leave at eight in the morning every day. It makes me feel so empty, the sight of him disappearing beyond the horizon, watching from the front porch. It was like he was leaving to enlist in the armed forces. I don't know why it had such an emptying effect on me.

I hate that life just had to hit me with a cold during one of the scariest parts of it. If there's a storyteller who writes the plot of all our lives, mine really got lazy. Whoever they are, they just can't seem to let me catch a break. I just want to stay with Charlie... Go where he goes... Stay by his side... I would travel the world with him. I really would. I love him so much, yet, here I am. Stuck at home.

I decided to spend the rest of my morning continuing the wall painting. I used up valuable hours layering on a few more shades of blue, dark blue, a couple subtle purples and earthy greens, and finally, traces of white. I was now at least two-thirds done. There would be some finishing touches needed, and then I would have to remove all the tape, the blue tarp, clean all the equipment, put away all the paints... It's complicated being an artist, but, at least it's something I enjoy doing. I have a habit of looking for the beauty in little things.

As I finally finished up and took a short break, I heard my phone ring on the bedside table. I turned around and walked over to it, noticing that the caller ID read as 'Claire'. My paws were splattered with paint, so I leaned over and touched my nose to the answer button and then directed it to the speaker icon.

"Hey, bestie!" I heard an overly cheery voice holler.

"Hey!" I responded with a smile, walking back over to my station of paints, grabbing a roll of paper towels off the tarp and ripping one free. "It's been a while, how have you been?" I called out as I wiped my paws, dirtying the towel.

"I've been good!" Claire expressed. By the tone of her voice, I could tell she was smiling, too.

"How's it going with the new house? And Jonathan?" I asked as I picked up the dirty brushes and tossed them into a messy bucket. The bucket itself was marked with splotches and splatters of different acrylic paints and substances that built up over the years.

"We're fully moved in! I'm so grateful, the house is beautiful. I'm thinking of throwing a housewarming party sometime soon. How about you?"

I looked around the half-finished room. The empty spaces with no furniture. The mattress without a frame.

"We're... almost done, too!" I tightened my grip on the handles of two paint cans to carry in each paw, ready to carry them back into my art studio.

"Sounds awesome! I can't wait to stop by and check it out!"

"Um... When do you think that will be—?" I began to lift the heavy cans with a grunt as Claire interrupted.

"Hey, do you need a new bed frame?"

"What—Yeah, how did you know that?"

"There's one on your lawn."

"There is..? How did—"

"Come outside, bitch!"

Claire hung up the phone.