The Smoke That Haunts Me

3

Ash went to a cupboard and pulled out a computer. She turned it on and showed the screen to me.

"This is where I wanna live. I have saved up enough money to live there forever. I don't want to be lonely though. If you want to, you can come with me. I am going in about a month." Ash said.

I looked at the house. It was in the center of the woods, 2 stories. It was surrounded by tall trees and a river. It was the house of my dreams.

It was all I really wanted in life. I looked at Ash, who was admiring the house on the  screen.

"I would love that." I said to her and watched as her eyes filled with joy.

"Yeah, why not." I said. She squealed in joy and began showing me all the rooms of the house. She giggled and my chest felt as if my heart would burst out of it. 

"There are 3 bedrooms in the house, so you can have your own room if you want. Like this one." She said and showed me a spacious room with an amazing view of a mountain.

You can have your own bathroom and everything. It'll be amazing, I have the money, I just have to call the agent." She continued. A bubble of hope formed inside of me. I would finally have a home, in the woods. I would be free, and I might not even have to kill all the Wolves to do it.

I was scared they would follow me anywhere, they would track my name, I would never be free to live alone. I let out a slight grin at the idea of no guilt of the deaths on my hands.

Ash stood up and I stood up after her. We went to the water and lay on the golden sand. The warm sun shot its rays onto my body. I studied Ash's beautiful body. Her dark skin seeped in the sunlight, her small rolls on her thin stomach, her small waist, her stretch marks on her legs, she was perfect. 

Her sunflower bikini contrasted well against her, and perfectly reflected her personality. Her bubbly, kind, optimistic, thoughtful self reminded me of a sunflower. I looked up and I began to study her face. 

Her small nose, covered with freckles. Her long eyelashes, her prominent jawline. Her rose-coloured lips, her green orbs. Her dark frizzy hair. She was so beautiful, but I doubt she could see that. 

Whenever she would look in a mirror, She always seemed to frown. Her perfections didn't seem to be perfect to her. I truly wished she saw herself the way I saw her.

She turned her head over to me and gave me a small grin. We sat there, looking into each others eyes, the waves crashing in the background. She was my best friend, my only friend at that.

I wanted to spend eternity with her. When I was with her, nothing else mattered. The whole world disappeared. Her smile could melt reality, until only a world of imagination and dreams existed.

"Hey Ryn," Ash began.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"What's your favourite colour?" She asked me. It was such a simple question, so basic, yet it meant a lot to me for her to wonder such a thing about me, to wonder about my interests.

"Forest green." I answered. 

"I like that. It is a nice colour. Mine is yellow." She replied. I let out a small smirk. Of course her favourite colour would be yellow.

I sighed and looked out to the turquoise sea. I watched as the water created small white bubble lines with each wave. Seagulls flew above us, squawking aggressively.

"Those creatures are some of the most wretched things in the planet. Those and mynah birds." Ash said. I laughed.

"That they are." I agreed and we began to giggle at some of them fighting. It was moments like these, only small moments, that made me see the beauty in friendship and life.