Change of Fate

Part 6

"Why are you taking pictures again?"

"For memories." Ethan shrugs, bringing the phone camera up to our faces to take another picture.

The amount of times we've done this and I'm still not used to it. I look at Ethan for guidance, once again seeing the giant grin on his face and I try to do the same.

Emphasis on the word 'try'. If you could even call it that, the painfully awkward smile on my face says otherwise.

The strawberries I got from the market are sweet and savory as I take a bite, slightly warm from sitting out in the sun as the flavor explodes in my mouth. And by 'I' I mean Ethan, he's been nagging me on how I haven't eaten anything so he offered to buy me whatever I wanted.

I guess I haven't been paying attention to how long I haven't eaten but it has been a few days. The hunger didn't hit me until now and I have to force myself not to scarf down the entire cup of strawberries.

The town is lively with people walking about with their families and friends, shops and small markets are at every corner with quality goods. We've been stopping every so often to take pictures by random spots and whatnot.

It's starting to get a bit annoying, but the smile on his face makes it hard to complain. I can't say I'm not feeling winded though, the throbbing in my leg is getting harder to ignore and all I want to do is sleep for a whole month.

"How are you feeling, quinny?"

"Tired." I can't help but be honest, another hour of being in public with a bunch of people and I actually might break down. I haven't had the chance to actually rest and the nerves are eating me up, that with the cabins he's offered to take me too and this whole new place in general.

Talk about being overwhelmed. That word doesn't even do it justice to what I'm actually feeling right now.

"We'll leave the rest for another time then." He answered, and I almost cried with relief.  "I know this is a lot to take in, I hope I didn't push you too much."

"You didn't, thank you for showing me around Ethan."

His face lights up and he gives me a smile as we start walking away from the town center. It gets noticeably quieter, the path turns into a slight trail as we get further away from town.

"The cabin you'll be staying at is near the lake, I don't live too far from you so you'll be seeing me more often." He said, "The pack has their own spot not far from here."

"Pack?" I asked, and I could see his face pale.

He clears his throat, "uh yeah, there's a pack of wolves that usually hang around that spot so you should be careful."

Can you blame me for being slightly afraid of being so close to those things? With everything that's happened it seems like wolves are always going to be a common thing for me.

"They're harmless." He assured me, "just don't get too close to that area and you'll be fine."

I gave him a hesitant nod as the area came into view, around 8 wooden cabins evenly spread out and surrounded by trees. The sunlight peeked through them and glistened on the lake water not far from where we are.

"I'll be right back." Ethan says as he walks away. I watch him as he heads towards a cabin that's just a bit bigger than the others and he knocks on the door.

My head seems to choose this as the perfect time to start reminding me of all the fucked up shit that's happened, I feel overwhelmed, trying to make sense of everything and it's just too... too much, I can't.