A Plagued Winter

Chapter 10

As the afternoon sky fades into a sheet of night faster by the day, and the chill in the air changes to that of a sharp icy blow, it soon becomes unclear how long this feeling of tranquility is willing to remain during the harsh call of the dark.

Carlee

I'd like to say I had a good weekend. Which was pretty much entirely dedicated to the boy I spent it with. Our conversations consisted mainly of teasing and making fun of each other. Whilst on the side, some horror video or movie was playing in the background. We even stayed up talking way too late Sunday and Saturday night and it took all of me not to admit to Andre that this was the first time, in a long time, that my insomnia hadn't kicked in for something horrifyingly damaging in any kind of way. I guess part of me wanted to let him know how greatly he was affecting my mood.

Still, as much as I wanted him to know his company was enjoyable, I didn't want to scare the guy away. Especially since he happened to be the main reason for the smile on my face this Monday morning, when smiling on a school day for a teenager was practically impossible. Of course, that isn't what I told my mom the other day when she had asked me why I was smiling so much. I had just told her that it was some video I was watching and she left me alone after that.
Little did she know it was the sarcastic, curly haired, lad that was bringing her daughter so much warmth in such a cold winter.

Waking up a little after my alarm clock rang at 6:00 am, I dragged myself out of bed and got ready for the school day.

After I finished freshening up, I grabbed my favorite dark blue Saints sweater and walked back into my room to change into jeans and a longsleeve shirt. Then, I grabbed my backpack and went downstairs to let my dogs out to use the restroom while I put their breakfast in their bowls.

The morning chill rushed the girls back into the house in a hurry after their business was through  and I shut the door behind them, purposely keeping my eyes on the doorknob as I did so. Instead of looking up at the heavy gaze of the trees beyond the backyard gate. Trying to shake that feeling that always came with looking at the forest behind my house. The feeling of being watched.
I shook my head once more and played with my dogs to pass the time by before I had to start walking to the bus stop.

When the time came, I kissed all three of them goodbye and left the house. Out into the cold I ventured, and onto the pathway that led to the bus stop.
I'm not sure if I could conclude my neighborhood as small but since I knew the place like the back of my hand it's impressive size didn't freak me out too much. Plus everything was open, sure there were many, many houses here but it couldn't have been more obvious where you were and where you could go to get to your house. Besides the forest that surrounded our neighborhood on all sides, my most favorite thing about the place I lived in was the secret pathways that could take you to different sections of the area in an extremely short distance.

There were four parks that the neighborhood owned and one of them was hidden in a tiny cul-de-sac that rarely anyone went to. The other parks were incredible, well at least two of them. The third park, that was located almost behind the houses, was meant mostly for babies.

Another thing I used to be deeply obsessed with was the sewers. A little ways past the ghost hole (which was a naturally made hole in the forest that used to serve as a base but was now converted into a hang out) there was this fenced off area that was located a bit of a ways back from the bus stop, the park, and the main office of it. Within that fence was this huge sewer opening that was big enough for myself to stand up and walk in with ample room. Of course, as you got deeper into the sewer tunnel it narrowed down until you had to crawl on your hands and knees but that was about as small as it got as far as I knew.