His Wild Blue Air

Day 11

Thursday

For the first time in three days, Skylar was able to sleep without any disturbances, in her own room. To be honest, she couldn't even remember getting up to her bedroom and falling asleep. She guessed it was just the fatigue working its way in her system.

At seven in the morning, even without the assistance of an alarm clock, her eyes slid open to the morning light. Her lips quirked into a soft smile when her skin was bathed in the warmth of the morning sunlight and the glow of the white washed trees. She heaved a pleased sigh before rolling onto her back and stretching her limbs to the maximum to get rid of the kinks and cricks.

She didn't allow herself any time to wonder why exactly she was able to sleep so soundly last night. A part of her knew but she'd be dead before she acknowledge it. Hence, she let it pass and went along with her morning routine.

She moaned in satisfaction when the warm water hit her naked skin, washing away whatever germs and dirt that decided to lodge themselves on her skin during the night. She washed herself thoroughly before stepping out of the shower and wrapped herself in a comfortable fleece bathrobe.

Upon changing into a comfortable long sleeve fleece shirt and a pair of thermal jeans, she retrieved Dog's leash from the study and went downstairs to put on her winter gear. Dog was more than elated that he would finally get his morning walk after missing it for two days.

Once outside, she couldn't be gladder that insomnia had decided to pass on her last night. She truly missed the sunup fresh air where everything was just brighter and crispier. The snow felt crunchier under her boots and the trees just seemed more lively. She patted Dog's head before beginning their walk down the path.

Apparently, the saying 'early bird gets the worm' was true because she could hear the winged creatures everywhere. Some were flying above her; some were perched on the trees to her right; some to her left; there were even some halted on the path, pecking the pebbles for worms, probably. They were eventually chased away by an eager Dog.

In spite of the chirps and whooshes of tiny wings, she found serenity and tranquility in her surroundings. She wished Ethan was awake to experience this. He probably would be scowling for the first five minutes but she couldn't imagine anyone not reacting positively to this kind of harmony, so he would probably then started to realize exactly how uplifting it could be and the scowl would vanish, replaced by a reluctant smile and awe. And then, as they watched Dog's antics of prancing around and chasing his own tail, he would laugh and find himself enjoying the morning.

Skylar came to an abrupt halt, which subsequently led to Dog choking on his leash momentarily before he started to circle her as if he could sense her trouble. Not that she would be able to see it, because she was utterly in a world of her own.

Her gaze were settled upon nothing. Her mind's eye had taken over her vision. Images consisting her illusions of Ethan joining her morning walks invaded her inner thoughts like the images on an age-old film roll. The sounds of his voice, his laugh, the crunches under his heavy footsteps, the rustle of his clothes rubbing together; they simultaneously joined the images, creating a short movie in her own mind.

She could even picture herself laughing along with him and rejoining him in his lame jokes. She could see herself linking arms with him and walking with him like there were no worries in the world and they were in their own little universe.

All these instilled the fear of god in her. They froze her to her core. She wasn't supposed to be envisioning this sort of delusions, but alas, she was. And she was shaking from it all.